This month a picture of an Elise Sport160 caught our eye. Taken by owner Richard Barrow, the Elise is his 2nd small platform Lotus and the picture was taken on the notorious A537 between Macclesfield and Buxton. We’ll let Richard take up the story of his ownership.

“If you were not actually considering buying a new Lotus, the worst thing you can do is take one for a test drive.

Back in 1999 when I was living in London, having read such great reviews about the Elise…I rang up the South Kensington Lotus dealer and popped in for a quick test drive thinking the reports must be exaggerated. Once behind the wheel, I could not believe the directness of the steering and the perfect driving position. It was like taking my 100cc kart out on the road. I had been bitten and put down my £1k deposit as soon as we arrived back at the dealership knowing that the 12 month waiting list would give me some time to try and work out how the hell I was going to find the rest. 12 months later I picked up the car (the first new car I had ever purchased) and all of a sudden had a permanent smile on my face.

Not long after I traded up to the sport 160 elise (one of the first 50) and loved the firmer suspension, lightening acceleration and higher grip levels.

One of my favorite holidays was driving to Barcelona with the Easytrack boys back in 2000 right at the height of the petrol strike. Driving through France and the Pyrenees with a convoy of Elises was something I’ll never forget and we had the roof down all the way. 14 hours driving a day on empty roads, with the sun beating down on us all the way, stopping at the odd cafe/restaurant for some refreshment. Ever since then I have not been able to part with this beautiful car.

For me the best Elise shape and model of them all without a doubt.”

There are 3 versions of the image for you to download as wallpaper. Click the image to open it then right click and select ‘save as’. Enjoy!

1920 x 1080 (Widescreen)
1440 x 1080
1920 x 1440
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