How about a classic sports car good enough for F1 stars, Hollywood leading men and mysterious secret agents? It’s an athletic machine that trades luxury for lap times.
Meet the Lotus Elan.
Lotus released the Elan for 1962, filling its tidy package with a lot of contemporary, cutting-edge technology: four-wheel disc brakes, front and rear independent suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, fiberglass …
The Elan was way ahead of it's time, but it is an old car with all of the complications and lack of safety that the article outlined. If old and ill maintained, the rust can be a serious issue but if you buy one that somebody else just went broke restoring with new chassis etc., it will last you a long, long time.
The question is whether you are content with the level of safety - if not, something like the Miata is a better bet, but the Japanese stylistic sense has always been a bit lacking (or just odd, with a few exceptions like the Toyota 2000 GT and the Datsun 240Z) to the North American eye.
I have wondered whether a body kit for the Miata that made it look like and Elan would have a following.....perhaps with the option of fitting a modern Ecotec turbo engine. Glad that there isn't such a beast as I might have to buy one if there were!
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