Really Early: ’64 Lotus Elan Series 1
This is the essential 1960s British sports car – the tiny Lotus Elan – and it remains a benchmark for nimble handling. With its pop-up headlights, curved windshield, and roll-up windows, it was a symbol of Swinging London. So hip the cat-suited character Emma Peel in The Avengers television series, chose to drive an Elan to emphasize her vitality and independence. That could be said of anyone who wants a Lotus Elan. It will also signal that person is under 5′ 10″ tall. The Elan was built with a backbone frame and a fiberglass body, and had four-wheel independent suspension. Its Ford 1600-cc four-cylinder engine developed 105 hp and featured Lotus’s own twin-cam head. Weighing only 1,420 pounds, early cars could do 0-60 mph in 7.1 seconds, with the quarter-mile in 15.7 seconds at 87 mph. Read More