Lotus Elise
A bonded aluminium chassis and very little weight let a modest engine make this tiny roadster feel alive.
1996 Lotus Elise S1 at Haynes International Motor Museum · Hugh Llewelyn · Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0
Research pending
A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.
Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.
More than a set of wheels.
Lotus revealed the Elise at Frankfurt on September 12, 1995 and began production in 1996. Julian Thomson's team wrapped composite body panels around a bonded, extruded-aluminium chassis. This page follows the original 118 bhp Series 1 launch car, not later 111S, Sport 160, Exige or second-generation models.
Look a little closer.
The car was named after Elisa, granddaughter of then-chairman Romano Artioli.
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
Lightness was the main technology
Lotus combined aluminium extrusions with adhesive bonding to create a stiff, very light structure. The official history lists early Elise weights across 690–770 kg, depending on version, so Joyride does not pretend every S1 weighed exactly the same.
Source: Lotus Cars · Elise story ↗Launch performance, not later performance
Lotus records 118 bhp, a five-speed gearbox and 0–100 km/h in 5.9 seconds for the launch configuration. Later S1 derivatives reached as much as 190 bhp, which is why this article names its exact version.
Source: 1996 Lotus Elise sales brochure ↗Where these facts come from
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed September 29, 2026.