The Elan that never was?

[inkitin]

I'm sure many of you knew about this but I didn't until I stumbled on it whilst looking for something else on Google.

The question is, if this had gone into production would our Elan ever have been produced?

Elan M90 and Elan X100

Interesting loose association to the MR2 as well.

[nitroman]

The 1st-gen MR2 with supercharger was one of the all-time great rides, especially with the optional 4spd automatic. It had that trait in common with turbocharged Maseratis, as the auto-tran in either meant you did not lose boost as you let off the gas (in the manual only) to change gears. The auto-box in either had quicker 0-60 times.

[theelanman]

you guys missed the presentation given by mr stevens then......
Im trying to cobble together something for donington from various sources including the PS design stuff....
be there or be square........
failing that I may try to get something in video format that I could post or stick on you tube....

[lotos]

And don't forget the M200, the Speedster body style of our car, which premiered at the Auto Show in Frankfurt, Germany in 1991

[Fubar1764]

For those curious, the M90 is owned by my friend, Andy Baron, a prof of material science at Rice University.

[tigerdog]

For those curious, the M90 is owned by my friend, Andy Baron, a prof of material science at Rice University.

It would be great to see some higher-resolution photographs of this car. Or maybe it could be an "Honorary LEC member" and share the stand at some future gathering.

[ektrolleyboy]

It's very interesting, but this car was never anything to do with the ELAN that we know, nor was it ever to be called.
Toyota owned a majority stake in LOTUS at the time and LOTUS decided the time was right for a roadster. It wasn't but that's another story!
Then GM bought LOTUS and decided it didn't want to use the Toyota bin but liked the idea of a roadster. The project was handed to Peter Stevens and you're driving that piece of history.