The year was 1995, and at the Frankfurt Motor show the Lotus Elise made its debut, described as one of the world's most advanced sports cars. This lightweight two-seater sports car was designed in-house by the team at Lotus. The main chassis consisted of an epoxy-bonded extruded aluminium chassis, which was a new innovation, pushing the boundaries of lightweight production cars and automotive engineering. 

The bodywork was made from composite materials also making it much lighter. With the lightweight body and unique chassis, the Elise was fitted with double wishbone suspension, coil springs, anti-roll bar to the front and double wishbones with an anti-roll bar to the rear. 

This coupled with 15” front wheels and 16” rear wheels made for an excellent set up car for either the spirited road or track driver. The powerhouse side of things is taken care of by Rovers K-Series engine which comes in at an impressive 118 bhp, which is coupled to a 5-speed manual gearbox. 

The Elise proved to be a huge hit, winning over audiences with its sublime handling and back to basics packaging. The final Elise was produced on the 22rd December, 2021, cementing it's place as a future collectible.

The seller of this lovely, extremely low mileage 1998 Lotus Elise, has owned the vehicle since 2019. Already a huge Lotus and sports car fan with two Excels, a VX220 and an Esprit GT3 in his arsenal, adding an Elise to the mix was the natural thing to do when he spotted this 19,804 mile stunner for sale in Guernsey. 

The Lotus Elise was originally registered in Guernsey in December 1998, where it remained with the original owner until 2019, until finding its new home in the UK with the previous owner and then subsequently into the hands of the current custodian.

As you probably already know, this is a Series 1 Lotus Elise, but the vendor is keen to point out that it also came with the more desirable Metal Matrix Composite (MMC) brake discs, which were only installed up until chassis number ending in 3714, and this car ends in 2414, so making them standard fitment. 

The V5 is present and shows that there is 1 previous keeper, and the car was registered in the UK on 11th January 2019. 

Included are the owner’s handbooks and wallet, complete with the service booklet which has 10 service stamps showing, detailed below. There is some other paperwork for work and parts the seller has had carried out when he purchased the car. 

Lotus Motor Mall, 2/3/1999, 347 miles

Lotus Motor Mall, 12/3/2000, 891 miles

Lotus Motor Mall, 31/1/2001, 1287 miles

Freelance Motors Guernsey, 18/2/02, 1953 miles

Lotus Motor Mall, 10/4/04, 4807 miles

Harrison Automotive, 7/2/2007, 8912 miles

Guernsey Porsche, 21/5/2010, 12532 miles

Silverline Garage, 8/2/2013, 15742 miles

Silverline Garage, 11/3/2016, 16994 miles

Esprit Cars, 5/2/2019, 19015 miles

Chris Foulds Motors, 16/10/19, 19 450 miles (clutch hose change)

Very useful to have included are two binders complete with a parts and workshop manual. 

There is currently no MOT on the Elise, but the seller will be putting a full MOT on the car ready for the new owner, at the end of the auction. 

Inside of the Lotus, as I'm sure you are aware, is suitably practical. Lightweight is the name of the game in the sporty two-seater. The tan leather seats are in very good condition, showing just a small amount of wear to the driver’s side, as to be expected when you see how far down they sit into the car. 

The mix of aluminium and composite sheet makes up the floor which is all in good order, with just some menial scratching, as you would expect, from general use. As you open the door, there is a material padded section to protect the sill which has a small wear mark to the edge, again just caused because of how low the seats sit. 

The dashboard is in perfect condition, with no noticeable scuffs to mention. Again, very functional with a few buttons to the right of the steering wheel and the heater controls to the left. The buttons are all in good order with no wear to be seen. The Stack branded instruments light up as they should, with the odometer showing a reading of 19,804 miles. 

There is a radio fitted, but unfortunately the code is missing. A Lotus dealer may be able to help with this, but do you really need a radio in a Lotus Elise? The luggage area is just big enough for a couple of overnight bags, and is clean with no obvious wear to the carpet. 

Finished in the lovely Azure Blue, the Elise looks stunning and even more so when the sun gets on it, as it really brings out the colour of the paintwork. 

With such low mileage, the Lotus is in excellent condition for the age of the vehicle regarding any stone chips, these are at a minimum. There is the odd little mark and some swirl marks which can be seen in the sunshine, but these could be reduced with a full machine polish. The lights are free from any chips or cracks. There is some light tarnishing to the inside of the driver’s side headlight, and the bonnet aligns up as it should. 

Moving to the sides, the doors look to align nicely as you would expect. The door mirrors have just a couple of very small chips and the windows are in good order with no noticeable scratches to mention. The roof has had a full overhaul which has included replacing the plastic lip, rebinding the edges, restitching and replacing the tail piece elastics to ensure a nice tight fit. 

To the rear, again there are no scuffs to mention, the engine cover lid opens and closes as it should. The rear lights are all in good order with no splits, and finishing off the rear is the twin tail pipes exiting the centre of the car. 

The wheels are all in excellent condition with no kerb injuries. These are fitted with matching Toyo Proxes, which have a good amount of tread remaining. 

Fitted with a Rover K-series 1.8 litre mid-mounted engine, the Lotus Elise produces 118bhp which may not sound a lot, but in a car which weighs 731kg and with go-kart like handling, this is plenty to give you the grin factor. 

As you can guess with just over 19,000 miles covered and an extremely healthy service history, the Elise is running just as it should. The car starts on the button and there are no untoward noises coming from the engine or reported to come from the transmission. The car pulls well through the 5-speed gearbox, propelling the car from 0-60mph in just 5.5 seconds. 

The seller has had the Pink clutch hose replaced with a Goodrich braided item by Chris Foulds Lotus in 2019. More recently in May 2021, a steering rack gaiter was replaced and also the catalytic converter. 

As mentioned earlier, the brakes are Metal Matrix Composite (MMC) as standard on this chassis number, and these bring the car to a halt in a straight line and very quickly. 

If you are in the market for a two-seater sports car designed and built by some of the best people in the game, then there really is no further place to look!

We have a 2 previous owner, 1998 Lotus Elise S1, with just 19,804 miles and a full service history, which have obviously been carried out on time rather than mileage. Perfect for the coming summer months to blast around the twisty B roads, or maybe even the odd track day should you dare?

With production of the Elise now over, early S1 Elises in particular are tipped to rise dramatically in value, making it a fantastic investment but perhaps more importantly, offers a look through the looking glass to the golden age of British motoring.
A truly wonderful package that rewards keen drivers with wonderful handling, yet offers low maintenance costs and a great parts network.
The S1 Elise is one of the all time greats - will it be yours?