1997 S1 Lotus Elise with the Bell & Colvill Super 160 Engine Upgrade finished in Azure blue.
The Bell&Covill Super 160 engine upgrade included camshafts, a flowed head, sports exhaust, decat and an induction kit, this increased the power from 118bhp to around 160bhp.
The car is on 111k miles, but an engine swap carried out by Maidstone Sports Cars in 2008 with the new engine and gearbox being on roughly 46k miles. Part service history and plenty of receipts included totalling over £11k.
While this car has got more mileage than the average Elise it has been maintained throughout it's life receiving significant upgrades along the way. It is very clean and has all the upgrades you'd want to do, so it is ready to go out and enjoy.
Goes really well and sounds amazing, goes through the gears well with the upgraded linkage and short shifter. Handles great and really feels nimble with the early Elises weighing in close to 700kg thanks to the MMC brakes which are still present on this car.
Recent work
Full respray - have pictures of the whole process
New ECU and fuel pump - £1, 188
Upgraded rear toe links - £600 (known weak point)
NS2R tyres - £500
Anti roll bar links
Full service - plugs, rotor, cap, oil, filter
Brake fluid replaced - Motul RBF 600
Stainless steel braided lines
New splitter
Carbon side pods
New Battery
Wheels refurbished
Upgraded gear linkage
EP Short shifter
Other upgrades/ work - most carried out from 2019 onwards over £11k in receipts
Alloy Radiator + fresh coolant
Close Ratio gearbox
AP racing clutch
Lotus Stage 1 sports exhaust
Genuine S2 Exige Y spoke alloys
Corbeau seats for extra comfort
Momo Team 280mm steering wheel
Full carpet set
Rear spoiler
S2 Bilstein shocks
Steering rack replaced
New Lambda sensor
Waterpump
Multiple cambelts/ tensioners
Upgraded head gasket
Upgraded throttle linkage
Lots of documentation for work done
Starts and drive fantastically, and has plenty of go!
What I would do next personally apart from go out and drive it more often:
- Refurbish the cloth roof, it is presentable, but would benefit from a refurb estimated at £250, I was hoping to get a hardtop so it didn't bother me.
I drove a Cayman as I thought that's what I needed next but then I drove an S1 Elise and it was night and day difference. The Lotus is more exciting compared to a Cayman in every way, it looks like a mini super car, it is unbelievably light at around 700kg and you can really feel it.