As Colin Chapman and Lotus became more successful on the race track, he realised he needed a complimentary business in series production cars. The Lotus IX was the first car to be bought by enthusiast drivers in meaningful numbers. The Type 14 Elite was then introduced in 1958 as Chapman’s first foray into a closed car designed for the road, though it too found its way rapidly onto the track following first deliveries. Unfortunately the car failed to make money for Lotus and in the early 1960s Chapman sought to introduce a car that would help establish him as a serious manufacturer. The M2 design project under Ron Hickman became the Type 26 Elan and was introduced to an appreciative public at the 1962 Earls Court Motor Show.

The Elan at its inception was primarily about the chassis design and the engine. Both were to influence other Lotus cars on and off the track for over ten years.

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Elan 1600: The first Elan series was the 1600, though it is now more commonly referred to as the S1. Some reckon this to be the purist form of the Elan, , lacking as it does the side window frames and slightly chunkier body of the later Series 3 and 4 versions. Units A, B & C were the M2 prototype cars. Unit 0001 was registered 997 NUR and given to Jim Clark; it is the red car he is sitting on the bonnet of in the iconic Lotus advert of the time. Unit 0002, registered NPN 169, was the first Elan sold to a member of the public, Mr Richard Foster. READ MORE

• Elan 26R: Colin Chapman apparently indicated that the Elan was never intended to go near a race track. But new owners thought otherwise and many private racing teams saw the potential of the Elan as a race tool during 1963, notably Ian Walker. . READ MORE

For those of us of a certain age, our first introduction to the Elan was watching Emma Peel of the Avengers TV series. She actually used two cars, a white S2 and a metallic blue S3. READ MORE

Elan S3: In June 1966 Lotus Sales Director Graham Arnold got what he wanted with the introduction of the S3. The car gained further refinements, including such luxuries as electric windows, which required window frames to be fitted to the doors, revised bodywork, full width teak finished dashboards and other changes. At the same time the Type 45 Elan made its debut. It was the Drop Head Coupe (DHC) version of the S3. Elans always had black interiors, though a small number, probably no more than 30 S3s, were fitted with red interiors; now very rare, of course. Speak to the men at the factory building and testing Elans at this time and they tend to agree that the S3 was the best of all versions of the Elan. It certainly sold very well for Lotus and, by the time production ended in May 1968, 2,084 cars had been built.

Elan SS: By the middle of 1967 the motor industry, particularly in North America, was coming under attack from safety campaigners such as Ralph Nader. Safety features had to be built into new cars and this preceded an upgrade to Elans. However, as an interim measure Lotus produced the SS (Super Safety) version of the S3, principally for the North American market, though some SS Elans were sold in the UK. They had flush fitting instruments, were fitted with the later style rocker switches, with red as opposed to the later white lettering, and had collapsible steering columns and inward facing wheel spinners, as well as several other features. Some cars had all of these items, others just a few, in typical Lotus fashion! Unit 7400 was the first SS Elan and they were phased out after the introduction of the S4; some 350 to 450 having been produced.