Lotus Elise
| Lotus Elise | |
|---|---|
Lotus Elise S Club Racer (Series 3) | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Lotus Cars |
| Production | 1996–2021 35,124 produced |
| Assembly | United Kingdom: Hethel, Norfolk, England Malaysia: Shah Alam (Lotus Cars Malaysia: Series 1, 1997–2000) |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Sports car (S) |
| Body style | 2-door 2-Seat Targa Top roadster |
| Layout | Transverse mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive |
| Platform | Lotus small car platform |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Lotus Elan |
| Successor | Lotus Emira Lotus Theory 1 |
The Lotus Elise is a sports car conceived in early 1994 and released in September 1996 by the British manufacturer Lotus Cars. A two-seater roadster with a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, the Elise has a fibreglass body shell atop its bonded extruded aluminium chassis that provides a rigid platform for the suspension, while keeping weight and production costs to a minimum. The Elise was named after Elisa Artioli, the granddaughter of Romano Artioli who was chairman of Lotus and Bugatti at the time of the car's launch.
Production of the Elise, Exige and Evora ended in 2021. It was replaced by the Lotus Emira.