Monaco Sprint: ’72 Lotus Elan Sprint S4
When you hear Lotus, you think of all of the innovation Colin Chapman brought to the art of sports car manufacturing. It became the essential British Sports Car of the ’60s. Light weight, a reasonably stiff backbone chassis, a willing twin-cam engine and a perfectly tuned suspension translated into loads of fun…if you were under 6 feet tall. Elans are pretty small. At 1420 pounds it could sprint to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds. Not too shabby. This Elan Sprint is totally restored and from a well-known dealer in the Northeast. It is actually the dealer’s personal baby. It was originally a European car delivered to the first owners in Monaco. All of the big things were attended to and improved sympathetically. The Elan has lots of new parts and the restoration pictures on the auction site are very telling. We like the Minilite knock-off alloys and the dark green color. The engine has had its share of attention – ported, polished, gas flowed, headers, electronic ignition. Connect that engine to a 4-speed semi-close ratio transmission snuggled into that sophisticated chassis and it is a recipe for a good time. See it here on eBay.