Lotus Elan News

The epitome of 1960s cool, the Lotus Elan sports car was featured in the television show The Avengers alongside the high kicking Emma Peel in skin tight leather cladding. The Elan was launched in October 1962 at the British Motor Show, just as the Sixties started swinging. Jaguar had launched the E-Type the previous year, AC had the Cobra and Ferrari the GTO. But the Elan was very different and typically Lotus ultra modern, lightweight, rapid and huge fun.  It was technically innovative with the first backbone tube chassis of any road car, a fibreglass body, four-wheel independent suspension, 670kg with a peachy power-to-weight ratio, bang up-to-date styling beloved by Kings Road cruisers and a liberating, rock n' roll attitude. The Elan came with luxuries that were a rarity at the time, like electric windows, carpets, a heater, and in vogue wooden fascia, but it was still light enough on the scales to outrun other automotive competition not to mention groupies. The Elan Sprint, a more powerful 1973 alternative, could hit 100km/h in 6.6 seconds, which even now would be considered respectably fast. Four different series were produced up until 1973, including a coupe version. The car was designed by Ron Hickman, who went on to make millions when he patented the Black & Decker WorkMate. He died last year, having earned an OBE for services to industrial innovation. The Elan was the design inspiration for the Mazda MX-5, which was one of the biggest selling sports cars of the 1990s.  

It was love at first sight."They were light years ahead of the opposition," says Geertsma, now 70."They were lighter, had four disc brakes, a wheel in each corner, independent suspension and a stiff chassis. Lotus was first in many areas with fibreglass bumpers, Formula 1 ground effects, monocoque chassis and the engine as part of the car itself."During the '50s and '60s, Geertsma saw Lotus founder and engineer Colin Chapman driving an Elise and legendary F1 driver Jim Clark in a Lotus 25 at the circuit. It's little wonder, then, that the Ipswich businessman got into racing Lotuses after he migrated to Australia."I had my leg amputated from cancer in 1957, so when I got into racing in 1994 I went looking for race car drivers," he says."We had a Lotus 18 Formula Junior with several different drivers, but the best was Jerry Perkins, brother of Larry. Terry and Larry raced in Europe. Larry won the Formula 3 championship and Terry had won the Copenhagen race. Terry always put in 10 out of 10 in performance whenever he got behind the wheel and they are both very good mechanics."The racing team folded in 2007, but Geertsma's love affair with Lotus has persisted off the track. He bought his first road-going Lotus, a 1960 Elite he picked up in Melbourne in 1985 for $19,000."I thought, 'What have you done, you idiot?'," he says.The original car with chassis number 1082 was a Lotus demonstrator with a Maxima body which was destroyed in June 1960 in north Wales when Lotus sales manager Ian McLeod drove head on into a bus. McLeod was severely injured while passenger and Canadian motoring journalist Tom Davenport died on impact.The current car uses the gearbox and a few other parts from the original but now has chassis number 1449 with a Bristol body. It is powered by a four-cylinder 1216cc engine with a lightweight alloy head and block.Lotus rated power at a tiny 56kW and torque at 104Nm, but because the fibreglass monocoque vehicle only weighed about 660kg, it was super-quick and nimble.It's now worth about $75,000 and Geertsma wouldn't part with it."I'd sell my family before I'd sell the Elite," he says. "The Elite is Chapman's first road-going car. It's virtually a race car for the road. You could just put a number on the side, race it and be a winner."He also had a 1977 Porsche 911 which he crashed and burnt. In 1990, he replaced the Porsche with a 1967 Lotus Elan SE he bought in Sydney for $17,500. It is now worth about $40,000."It was partly restored, but it wasn't a good job, so I had to start the restoration again from the beginning," he says.He replaced the gearbox with a four-speed box from an MG Magnette, but the rest is standard. It is powered by a 1558cc four-cylinder cast-iron block and alloy-head engine with 78kW and 146Nm.Geertsma says it's not only more powerful than the Elite, but smaller in every dimension and weighs only about 640kg."I'll be keeping these cars for the kids," he says.