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45-476: The first edition in 1899 was won by René de Knyff driving a Panhard et Levassor at 30 mph (50 km/h). Organized by Le Matin , under the control of the Automobile Club de France , held July 16 to 24, in seven stages: Paris-Nancy; Nancy-Aix-les-Bains; Aix-les-Bains-Vichy; Vichy-Périgueux; Périgueux-Nantes; Nantes-Cabourg; Cabourg-Paris. Out of 49 starters, 21 vehicles finished. The 1908 event

90-473: A Lotus Elan include: Despite the fact that the Lotus Elan has been (and continues to be ) used extensively for racing it was Lotus' first car that was not designed with racing in mind. (The earlier Lotus Elite was designed as a road car and also to compete in high-efficiency classes at Le Mans . ) Nevertheless, because owners assumed that all Lotus cars were designed for racing, it soon found its way onto

135-588: A minimal number of specialized aluminium castings to create a power unit and transmission suitable for a high performance sports car: These three items were unique to the Elan (although the engine was subsequently used widely in other vehicles). The 1,558 cc " Lotus TwinCam " engine was based on the Ford Kent Pre-Crossflow four-cylinder 1,498 cc engine, with a Harry Mundy -designed two-valve alloy chain-driven twin-cam head. The rights to this design

180-431: A president of Commission Sportive Internationale ( CSI ), now known as FIA . Between 1897 and 1903 he took part in 18 car races, 5 of which he won (Paris-Bordeaux 1898, Spa-Bastogne-Spa 1899, Tour de France 1899 , Circuit du Sud-Ouest Pau 1899, and Nice-Marseille-Nice, 1900). He drove all the races in a Panhard & Levassor , wearing a captain cap which he always lost right after start. During his racing career, he

225-408: A weird, physics-defying sense of zero weight transfer in corners, provides a sensation akin to flying just over the ground. I'm convinced there's a powerful pleasure center in the brain that remains untapped until you drive an Elan. It's almost a drug. Motor Sport : The tremendously responsive steering and handling requires similar qualities from the driver and the speeds achieved round corners and on

270-567: The Tour Auto . It is held in April and features both a competition and a regularity class. The format is a 5-day event combining about 2,500 km of roads, 4 or 5 circuit races and 6 to 8 hillclimbs. The start is always in Paris, whereas the finish alternates between various southern seaside towns like Biarritz, Cannes and Nice. Patrick Peter of Agence Peter is the organiser. The winning cars over

315-552: The 1960s Elans. The second range of cars (1989–1995) comprised: This second model was also produced in South Korea by Kia Motors between 1996 and 1999, rebadged as the Kia Elan . The Lotus Elan was the first Lotus road car to use a steel backbone chassis with a fibreglass body. This style of construction was to be repeated in subsequent Lotus models for nearly three decades. At approximately 1,500 lb (680 kg),

360-637: The Elan Sprint. Production of the Sprint ceased in 1973. The standard S2, S3 & S4 models were also available in a slightly more powerful and luxurious "Special Equipment" variant, generally referred to as the SE (e.g. Lotus Elan S3 SE). In the UK the Elan was offered as a fully assembled vehicle and, for tax avoidance purposes, as a lower cost kit for final assembly by the customer. The total production number for

405-586: The Elan embodied Colin Chapman's minimum weight design philosophy. The Elan was technologically advanced with a DOHC 1,558 cc engine , four-wheel disc brakes , rack and pinion steering, and 4-wheel independent suspension . Gordon Murray , designer of the McLaren F1 supercar , reportedly said that his only disappointment with the McLaren F1 was that he could not give it the perfect steering of

450-454: The Elan's most highly regarded features. Lotus relied heavily on suppliers of mass-produced parts to create the Elan. These included: As with all Lotus cars, attention to minimizing weight was a major factor during the Elan's design and manufacture. Its diminutive size (while offering room for drivers over 6 ft (1.83 m) tall and practical luggage carrying capacity) provided the foundation for its low weight. The Workshop Manual lists

495-412: The Lotus Elan comprised a fabricated mild steel backbone chassis, similar to a double ended tuning fork, and a fibreglass body. The chassis was the primary stressed component, providing the necessary bending and torsional rigidity. The fibreglass body was solidly bolted to the chassis at 16 points, fitting over it like a saddle. While not highly stressed the body nevertheless added to the overall rigidity of

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540-430: The Lotus Elan is not definitively known; however John Bolster, in his book "The Lotus Elan and Europa: A Collector's Guide", provides a number of 12,224 (S1-3: 7,895; S4: 2,976; Sprint: 1,353). This number was occasionally used by Lotus itself. See below for +2 production. Meanwhile, Paul Robinshaw and Christopher Ross, in their book "The Original 1962–1973 Lotus Elan", assert that Lotus' somewhat erratic record keeping at

585-470: The Lotus Elan. In 2004, Sports Car International named the Elan number six on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1960s . The original version of the car was designed by Ron Hickman who also designed the first Lotus Europa as part of Lotus' GT40 project bid and made his fortune having designed the Black & Decker Workmate . Because of its successful design and rigorous attention to cost control on

630-548: The SE variant at 115 bhp (86 kW), noting high lift cams, carburetor re-jetting and a four branch exhaust. The final version of the Workshop Manual revised these numbers, as shown in the following tables. The increased power of the Sprint engine was primarily due to slightly larger inlet valves, so it was named the Big Valve engine (it has been widely reported that the combination of 'hotter cams', rejetting

675-590: The Sprint was an exceptionally rapid car and quite lived up to its name. It embarrassed almost every other supercar at the time in terms of outright acceleration up to about 90 mph. This electrifying performance was accentuated by the brilliant handling and road holding, allied to the small size and weight of the Elan, which meant that a well driven Elan on a dry road could outclass any other non-Lotus road car. Although performance results achieved by testers are affected by many variables (e.g. differential ratio, weather/road conditions, gross vehicle weight, DHC vs. FHC, etc.)

720-472: The availability of constant velocity (CV) joints . In the case of the Elan, which had exceptionally supple rear suspension that allowed significant vertical wheel travel, the deformation of the Rotoflexes in operation resulted in some "wind up" of the couplings. This could be readily detected by the driver, especially at takeoff and during gear changes, and was slightly disconcerting when driving an Elan for

765-504: The best acceleration, were often favored by purchasers of early cars, while 3.55 differentials became more common in later cars (especially the more powerful Sprints) to provide more relaxed cruising on newly built highways. The final drive used four Rotoflex couplings to connect the differential output shafts to the rear hubs. These "rubber doughnut" couplings were widely used at the time for road vehicles (e.g. Hillman Imp , Triumph GT6 ) and racing (e.g. Ford GT40 , Lotus 21 ), prior to

810-551: The best champagne, cigars and Rhine wine ), and interest in many other sports , such as tennis , shooting , cycling , and also hunting . His cousin Gaëtan De Knyff (1871-1933) was also active in cycling and car racing. This biographical article related to French auto racing is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Lotus Elan Lotus Elan is the name of two separate ranges of automobiles produced by Lotus Cars . The first series of cars

855-622: The best-handling sports car that's ever been made... If anybody wants to know what good steering is, just jump in the 60s Elan." This generation of the two-seater Elan was famously driven by Diana Rigg in the character of Emma Peel in the 1960s British television series The Avengers . The reference to a car accident in the Beatles song " A Day in the Life " was apocryphally based on Tara Browne 's fatal accident in his Lotus Elan. Famous celebrities, past & present, who owned and/or drove

900-406: The body, chassis, engine and transmission, the Elan become Lotus' first commercial success and contributed to the funding of its achievements in racing over the next ten years. It revived a company stretched thin by the more exotic, expensive to build, and rather unreliable Lotus Elite , which used a fibreglass monocoque body/chassis and all aluminium Coventry Climax engine. The original Elan 1500

945-472: The carbs and big valves improved performance of the 115 bhp SE by only 11 bhp. As a marketing exercise to increase sales of the new Sprint model, Chapman saw to it that published bhp figures for existing models be downgraded to increase the apparent improvement in performance): The Elan utilized modern technologies for its suspension, steering and brakes. The overall design was simple and easily maintained. In common with many Lotus cars they were perhaps

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990-573: The competition class of the Patrick Peter organised event 7 times (1993-1999-2000-2001-2004-2006-2007), more than any other entrant, with a Ferrari Daytona Gr. IV, Shelby Mustang 350GT, Ford GT40 (twice) and a Lotus Elan (3 times). Ren%C3%A9 de Knyff Chevalier René de Knyff (December 10, 1865 in Antwerp , Belgium – 1954 in France) was a French pioneer of car racing and later

1035-458: The end of the arms hold the suspension springs & dampers). This design resulted in light weight, high rigidity (by contemporary standards), and easy driver/passenger access through wide door openings with low sills. Driver and passenger protection from front and rear impact was acceptable for its time, but side impact protection was minimal. The engine, gearbox and differential were all sourced from Ford UK components. See below for details on

1080-560: The engine. The gearbox was a high volume unit used widely across the Ford range ( Anglia , Cortina , etc.). Lotus offered regular and close ratio versions. The differential unit was also sourced from Ford but converted for independent rear suspension use (contemporary Ford cars used live rear axles ). Three differential ratios were offered at various times during the production life of the vehicle: 3.55, 3.77 and 3.9. Most Elans were fitted with 3.77 differentials. 3.90 differentials, which provided

1125-457: The first time. In practice drivers typically adjusted their clutch technique within a few minutes and no longer noticed it. In recent years the uncertain quality of replacement Rotoflex couplings, combined with the availability of half-shafts built with CV joints, has resulted in many Elans being converted from Rotoflex to CV joint drive. A notable feature of the drive train design was its use of standard, mass-produced components in combination with

1170-490: The following tables provide an overview of the car's capabilities. The following excerpt from Robinshaw & Ross summarizes Elan performance for each Series: A few additional figures for the Sprint: The Elan was widely admired and praised by customers and reviewers, noted for its exceptional handling, roadholding, steering, acceleration, braking and comfort: Car and Driver : The Elan very simply represents

1215-551: The following weights: Lotus marketing material from the S1 period quoted the weight as "11 1 ⁄ 2 cwt" (1,288 lb (584 kg)) and from the S3 period quoted as "from 1,232 lb" (558 kg). Meanwhile, reported weights in magazine road tests varied from 1,260 lb (572 kg) (Elan 1600, Cars Illustrated, August 1964) to 1,630 lb (739 kg) (S4 FHC SE, Road & Track, January 1969). The figures above show that

1260-402: The sporting motorist. While the structure of the Elan followed an entirely traditional approach for sports cars of the time - front engine, rear wheel drive - its design included novel ideas that found their way into the designs of other manufacturers' vehicles. Examples include: The car designer and engineer Gordon Murray said "Series 3 Lotus Elan... it's still, in my opinion, probably

1305-488: The sports car developed in tune with the state of the art. It comes closer than anything else on the market to providing a Formula car for ordinary street use. And it fits like a Sprite, goes like a Corvette, and handles like a Formula Junior. Driving it is very simply another sort of automotive experience altogether. Most people tend to come back from their first ride a little bit glassy-eyed... Road and Track : The light and tactile steering, combined with supple suspension and

1350-568: The stage race was also opened to sports prototypes, so that racing cars like the Ferrari 512 S , the Ford GT40 or the Matra MS650 drove hundreds of kilometres on public roads. The 1960 Tour de France took place between September 15 and 23 that year. Starting at Nice it visited Mont Ventoux , Nurburgring, Spa, Montlhéry , Rouen and Le Mans with the finish at Clermont Ferrand. The event

1395-403: The straight are deceptively fast. This, therefore, calls for a lot of concentration on the driver's part. Once mastered, however, the Elan is the nearest thing to a single-seater racing car one is likely to be able to drive comfortably on the road. To master the car and explore its tremendous handling potential along that delightfully twisty piece of road one knows so well is close on perfection for

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1440-426: The structure. As such, the chassis should more properly be considered a subframe - it is readily changeable and most Elans on the road today have had a new chassis fitted at some point, either due to accident or decay. The engine & gearbox are located between the front fork arms and the differential between the rear fork arms. The front & rear suspensions attach to the ends of their respective arms (turrets at

1485-454: The time meant that vehicle serial numbers were not entirely sequential or consistent. Their assessment suggests the actual count to be in the range 8,676-9,153 (S1: 900; S2: 1,250; S3: 2,650; S4: 2976-3,000; Sprint: 900-1353). As of April 2018, the voluntary, and thus inevitably incomplete, Lotus Elan registry lists approximately 1,100 known remaining vehicles (including approximately 330 +2 models) in over 30 countries. The basic structure of

1530-432: The track, however unsuitable. Lotus resisted modifying the car to make it more suitable for racing but eventually created a racing version of the Elan. Robinshaw/Ross quote Colin Chapman : "When we announced the Elan we said 'This is a touring car, it is not intended for racing and have done no competition development on it.' The fact that customers bought them and tried to race them was originally no concern of ours, but in

1575-465: The triumph of Alfonso de Portago in 1956, Olivier Gendebien won with partner Lucien Bianchi three times in a row (1957, 1958 and 1959). The 1956 event was won by de Portago /Nelson in a Ferrari 250 2.9 with Moss/Houel (Mercedes 300 SL) in second place. In 1958 the British racing driver Peter Whitehead had a fatal accident on the tour driving a Jaguar with his half-brother Graham Whitehead , who

1620-526: The weight of the vehicle changed during its production lifetime, in general tending to increase. Additional features such as electric windows, more luxurious carpeting, and larger wheels and tyres all contributing to the gain. The performance of the Elan was derived from the combination of its powerful engine (by contemporary standards) and light weight. The roadholding and agility of the car also meant that high speeds could be maintained on corners, which allowed for high average speeds. By contemporary standards,

1665-975: The years (since 1996 only pre '66 cars can win overall, even though cars up to 1974 are allowed) include the Ford Shelby Mustang 350GT, Ford GT40, AC Cobra 289, Lotus Elan , Ferrari Daytona Gr IV. Drivers who won the competition class include Jürgen Barth , Henri Pescarolo and Walter Röhrl . Previous winners of the original Tour de France Automobile who have participated in the Historic Tour Auto include JC Andruet, Jean Ragnotti, Bernard Consten, Gérard Larousse, Johnny Rives. Other famous entrants since 1992 were: Stirling Moss, Danny Sullivan, Phil Hill, Ari Vatanen, Emanuele Pirro, Eric Comas, Bobby Rahal, Rob Walton, Walter Röhrl, Jürgen Barth, Yannick Dalmas, Thierry Boutsen, Romain Dumas, Nick Mason, Olivier Panis. Dutch racing driver Hans Hugenholtz won

1710-453: Was considered a reliable co-pilot in long-distance races. On September 21, 1958, after dark, Graham was driving when the car broke through a rotten bridge railing in Lasalle, Gard , near Nîmes , and crashed into a ravine. In the 1960s, French racing and rally driver Bernard Consten ( fr: Bernard Consten ) won the race five times, making it the record winner to this day. In the same decade,

1755-531: Was famous for his gentlemanship and sportsmanship . For example, during the Paris-Bordeaux race in 1895, he saw his great rival Fernand Charron who was sitting on the road next to his undependable car, tired and desperate. De Knyff stopped, asked Charron if he could help him somehow, gave him a glass of cognac and encouraged him to go on, which Charron did. He was a popular figure also due to his enormous beard, bohemian lifestyle (he knew where to get

1800-671: Was introduced in 1962 as a roadster . After a very short production run of just 22 cars the engine was enlarged and the car was re-designated the Elan 1600. An optional hardtop was also offered. The Elan 1600 of 1963 was replaced by the Elan S2 in 1964. In 1965 the Type 36, a fixed head coupé version of the car, was introduced while in 1966 the drop head coupé Type 26 was replaced by the Type 45. Both Types, 36 & 45, were offered initially in S3 form, followed in 1968 in S4 form, and finally in 1970 as

1845-588: Was later purchased by Ford, which renamed it the "Lotus-Ford Twin Cam". It would go on to be used in a number of Ford and Lotus production and racing models. Lotus reported different power outputs for the Twin Cam engine during the production of the Elan. Prior to the release of the Sprint the following outputs were reported in the Workshop Manual: Lotus marketing material from the S3 period quoted

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1890-485: Was produced between 1962 and 1975 as a rear-wheel drive vehicle. The second series was produced between 1989 and 1995 as a front-wheel drive vehicle. The first range of cars (1962–1975) comprised: After the S2 was released the original Elan 1500 and Elan 1600 models were typically referred to as the S1 (Series 1) although the car was never explicitly marketed as such. Today, all models (S1-Sprint) are often cited collectively as

1935-625: Was won by Clément-Bayard . The first event after the war took place in 1951, organised by the Automobile Club de Nice  [ fr ] , and was won by Pierre Boncompagni "Pagnibon" /Barracquet in a 2.6-litre Ferrari 212 Export . The event visited the La Turbie Hill Climb, near Nice. The 1954 event was won by the 2.5 litre Gordini of Jacques Pollet and M. Gauthier, on the traditional Nice to Nice route. Scuderia Ferrari won eight times between 1951 and 1962. After

1980-486: Was won by Peter Procter / Andrew Cowan in a Ford Mustang , entered by Alan Mann Racing . The A.C. Shelby Cobras of Maurice Trintignant , Bob Bondurant and André Simon all retired. The 1980s saw the event incorporated into the European Rally Championship which saw an influx of new competitors. The last event was held in 1986. The event was revived in 1992 for historic cars , now known as

2025-729: Was won overall by the Ferrari 250 G.T. of Willy Mairesse / Georges Berger . The Jaguar 3.8 litre Mk. II of Bernard Consten/J. Renel won the Touring category with the BMW 700 coupé of Metternich/Hohenlohe winning the Index of Performance. Willy Mairesse won again in 1961 together with Georges Berger . The last Ferrari victory was in 1964 with Lucien Bianchi /Georges Berger driving a Ferrari 250 GTO , entered by Ecurie Nationale Belge . The event started at Lille, visiting Reims, Rouen, Le Mans, Clermont-Ferrand, Monza and Pau. The Touring car category

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