Lotus Elan

A small, light sports car with a glass-fibre body and a steel backbone.

The Elan was one of the most enjoyable cars to drive of the 1960s. Mazda took it as a model when it made the MX-5 in 1989.

Materials: Steel backbone chassis, glass-fibre body; four-cylinder engine

Manufacture: Made in Cheshunt; the chassis was a beam running through the car.

The pop-up headlamps.

The small, rounded shape.

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