Exotic Four Seater: 1976 Lotus Elite

For sale here on Facebook Marketplace in San Antonio, Florida, with an asking price of $7,000, is this restoration-in-progress 1976 Lotus Elite, wearing its original yellow paint. These cars are pretty rare. The owner informs us that only 220 Lotus Elites were imported into the U.S. between 1974 and 1981. This one has a mere 12,311 miles on the odometer, but that doesn’t mean it’s ready to roll. The owner says he’s “reassembling” the car. A restoration has been started, “and the more work I do the higher the price will go.” If he gets it running, he’ll be at $9,000 firm, he insists. The car is complete, and it comes with a four-speed transmission installed and a five-speed that would bolt in, along with extra suspension pieces and wheels. Thanks to Chuck Foster for this tip.

The Lotus 907 engine with Euro-spec dual Weber carburetors is “very rare,” we’re told. The engine looks fairly tidy, as is the fiberglass body in its original paint, but we only get three photos, and none of them show the interior. Said interior is “complete but in poor condition”. The Elite was available with either a four- or five-speed transmission, explaining this owner’s inclusion of the five-cog unit. An automatic was optional, starting in this car’s year of 1976. The aforementioned 907 engine was a two-liter, four-cylinder unit that produced 155 horsepower, enabling a top speed of 125 mph and a 0-to-60 time of 8.1 seconds. Impressive then, not so much now. Oddly enough, the aforementioned Jensen GT also used the Lotus 907 motor. Performance in the Elite was aided by the car’s low weight, just 2,300 pounds.

These four-seat Lotus cars (much bigger than the Elan Plus 2 they replaced) were offered as the Type 75 and, later, as the Type 83. This is the former. The idea with the Elite was to show Lotus’ growing sophistication and an evolution from the kit cars the company had previously built. The styling is rather handsome, and the “shooting brake” (station wagon) body is reminiscent of the Jensen GT, another limited-edition British exotic that came out around the same time (1975). The Elite continues Lotus’ lightweight fiberglass body structure, and as in the Volvo 1800ES (another contemporary) there’s a big opening glass hatch that gave it some utility. The car has four-wheel independent suspension with coil springs.

The Elites were slippery, with a 0.30 drag coefficient. And they were expensive, with an MSRP of $19,615 in 1976. The owner of this car entices buyers with the notion that restored Elites are worth $40,000, but Hagerty says only $10,400 in “good” condition. These are high-strung, finicky cars, and it takes a lot to make them perform up to capacity. These were the last Lotuses that the late Colin Chapman had much to do with—he reportedly sketched the basic chassis and suspension designs before Oliver Winterbottom sculpted the body.

There were four trim levels for the Elite, 501 through 504. With the latter, you get air conditioning, power steering, and an automatic transmission, so this is not a 504. In 1980, the Type 83 was introduced, featuring a Getrag five-speed gearbox (replacing the BMC unit), electric rather than vacuum-operated headlights, a front spoiler, a new rear bumper, and Rover-branded brake lights. Not a big change. It’s always challenging to buy a restoration in progress, and this one is more of a mystery than most because we don’t even get one interior photo. If the owner says it’s in “poor condition,” then I’m sure it is. Imagine trying to source trim pieces when only 220 Elites were imported! Buying parts from England will incur tariff costs, no? The economics don’t quite add up here. The owner wants the customer to pay $9,000 for a running Elite with (only one of its likely ills) a trashed interior, when good examples are only $1,000 more.