Lotus Elite & Eclat (Project M50)

Video showing the design and development of Lotus M50 which was to become the Lotus Elite and Eclat. The video features interviews with Colin Chapman, Tony Rudd and Oliver Winterbottom.

[@bobolulu7615]

I have wanted one ever since I saw one in the flesh. Fast forward 40 years and I am picking mine up tomorrow 29/2/2020 Yay!!

[@westhamwilko]

Use to have a 504 Elite back in the 80s, MPG408P, loved it 👍🇬🇧

[@robertwillis4061]

Hope you still have it today. Very Jealous. I went the ' 7 ' route back in 1999. Still brings a big grin

[@craigyirush3492]

What a rare documentary; thanks for posting. Rudd is hilarious - ‘we rejected the idea of developing a special breed of passenger’!

[@stewwho6044]

I love that almost everyone in the video, including factory floor workers, has both a 70s shag hairdo AND a tie!! Then, in total anachronism, an older car reviewer in full Sherlock Holmes deerstalker & houndstooth coat gives the most British review ever! (23:00)

[@aureliobrighton1871]

... of cahzzz .. well, lets see how she goes . that grin would scare it out of Professor Moriarty 😭

[@martinclapton2724]

Stew Who ; the gent in the deerstalker gear was non other than Formula 1&2 driver, John Bolster who wrote for Autosport magazine , reporting on motorsport and car show events whilst road testing car reports. His reports were very accurate, observant but not overly harsh when he picked up design faults. Still a qualified motoring journalist unlike a large percentage of writers today.

[@mikemartin2957]

@@martinclapton2724 yes ,the designers for big car UK makers of the day ; BL, Ford, Rootes/Chrysler & Vauxhall , certainly took notice ,when John put more modest cars through their paces, especially when he would revisit a car that had been facelifted or revised.

[@judethaddaeus9742]

I’ve always loved quirky cars, and the Lotus Elite II is one of them. It just looks better, and Chapman more prescient, with time.

[@ministrone]

RIP Oliver Winterbottom.

[@MrGoneTroppo]

I went to the factory to pick up a new Eclat in 1978. Got home yesterday!

[@frankpineda1832]

I live in the US, I owned 3 lotus, esprit, elite and the eklat, they are the best cars I EVER owned, I’m looking for one right now, I’m in California amazing video 👍🏼

[@hotelgulf]

The best Elite 501 S1/2 history I've seen so far. An absolute must-see for the enthusiast of this stunning marque.

[@davidwells3614]

Thanks for finding this gem of a movie My Elite has been sitting for three years on a 4 post life in my Three car garage It has been forgot in due to other projects This year look like I will show some love for it Thanks to this Movie Thank

[@dipling.pitzler7650]

Rare to see all the important people together at Lotus like Chapmann Winterbottom Rudd and all the others!

[@begent73]

What a gem from the Colin Chapman/Lotus archive. Shame they couldn't have linked up with Martini Ads, great music, drink and a British car! All classics of their time in the 1970s! These people behind the car and Lotus were all interesting individuals with character. So unlike the robots that are forced upon us these days!

[@Stratoszero]

Thanks 1,000,000 for hosting this!

[@PeteretePeter]

Thanks for sharing this. Great stuff!

[@jackthehatphoto]

Loved Sherlock sliding it around the corner at 24:40 😂

[@peterfranks6243]

Ever since I was a kid when I saw Roger Moore being given one in Sardinia in The Spy Who Loved Me, it was always the Esprit

[@Matnrach2-mf9qr]

that was an Esprit not an Elite

[@domingogorriz245]

Great video, great car, thanks for uploading this!

[@caravanstuff2827]

Colin Chapman was a legend.... lotus was never the same after he died!!!.😪💕🇬🇧

[@krisvandermeulen253]

Thank you for this video... These images might have gone missing from the collective archive ... I love Lotus and certainly for the Elite Mk2 version there is is not a lot of material out there.

[@Santos.Sarmento]

Great video with this rare statement of Chapman, a piece of history.

[@DL-ls5sy]

Tony Rudd : the man who make the BRM H 16

[@davidfoster3814]

The Elite is still a great looking car. Did chuckle at the 2:52 reference to the engine being so successful that it was being sold to Jensen Healey . In truth the engine hadn’t been fully sorted and gave JH all manner of problems.

[@mrrolandlawrence]

300 miles in 3 hours ;) wow back in the day when you could cruise at 120mph in france! 23:04 John Bolster, wow he loved that hat! so glad he recognised that the steering wheel was in the right place..

[@FridgeProductionsLtd]

Fabulous film.

[@zakizain8683]

Funtastic video.

[@AdamOrban123]

LOVE IT!

[@davidclowsley8081]

wow brilliant stuff for a Lotus Elite owner nutter like me....................

[@gtrman9706]

My dad bought a new gun metal grey 501 in 1976.The universal joint hadn't been greased and squeeked,one of the Morris Marina door handles fell off and one the head light dropped down and would come back up.7,000 quid. 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂

[@mikemartin2957]

Don't knock the Marina door handles Rover were still using them well into the 90s on Range Rovers , Discovery's & many prestigious sports cars &kit cars!

[@fnutboy]

If you ever get the chance to visit Colins grave, do so....just a little church, small graveyard. It made me feel humble. Antony Colin Bruce Chapman.

[@pchurchill]

AHa!! i see why the rear was so wierd looking now .. winterbottom's original styling was a fastback ! ! .. nice ..like a urracco.. . he managed to return to it more with the eclat/excel.. ..

[@tz6414]

Bugger me ,that journalist was hammering it and some poor soul was sitting in the back.

[@dog6647]

23.00 Stigs Grandfather.

[@edgworth]

I wonder what happened to all these wind tunnel and mock up models. How collectable would they be?

[@TheLotusRanch]

Great cars, handling is still awesome! We have two Eclats and one Elite that will be futured in our video soon...please check it out!

[@frankpineda1832]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@a34rwl]

Groovy...

[@sdc8547]

Always loved the Elite (after the Esprit of course). Superb design, beautiful cars. Shame about the quality 😢.

[@Tikkar]

I have 1974 502.

[@stringer-ik1pc]

Makes a Ferrari look tacky.

[@englongbow]

300 miles into 3 hours... Hmmm

[@hurricanearthur9742]

23:10 Sherlock Holmes & Lotus Eclat

[@stringer-ik1pc]

Elite.

[@psk1w1]

2:47 "The Type 907.... It proved so successful that Lotus are now exporting it to another car firm, Jensen Healey." Actually, the Jensen Healey went into production before the Lotus Elite, was the first car to use the new Lotus engine. They were a disaster, with many development issues not resolved. One of the reasons for this was that most of the development work was done using the cylinder block of the cast iron Vauxhall ohc four, instead of Lotus' aluminium version of the block. 'Motor' magazine's long-term test car memorably destroyed its engine when the timing belts jumped a few teeth, and the valves clashed with the pistons. These problems let to the acronym LOTUS - Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious. Having said that, I think the Elite M50 was a brilliant design let down by insufficient development - now I wonder if that has ever been said before?

[@DL-ls5sy]

Yes lack of development...but this engine is a good one. I have a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus with this engine and I have no problem. it is powerful, tractable but a little thirsty with its two dell'Orto carbs (45). I really love this engine and the ZF gearbox, too..

[@zaphodbeeblebrox5973]

Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious dates back a long time before the Elite if Jensen Healy! It was already in use during the original elite’s production run!

[@mikemartin2957]

@@DL-ls5sy yes the Little Sunbeam Lotus was a brave design of a car that has its origins from the Rootes/Chrysler Avenger. Great fun to drive & had good success in Rallying in the late '70s / early 80s

[@davidorama6690]

Those panel gaps but!

[@heeltoeautomotive4962]

Idk why people think this car looks good. It looks like a Lancia Stratos got drunk one night and thought an AMC Gremlin was a Ferrari and later that year popped out the Lotus Elite

[@CherylCold]

Ahead of his time.

[@wilburmcbride8096]

The Elite to me resembles the AMC Gremlins. I prefer the Eclat over the Elite.

[@fredhor7437]

It's subjective, I prefer the Elite over the Eclat.

[@stanleymasterson1135]

Correct, the Eclat is far better looking. I was a Lotus dealer in the late 70's and we all quietly hated the design of the Elite

[@paulhunter123]

All designers agreed a minger with lot of trouble usually serious held together by BL

[@barenekid9695]

Unsurprisingly It proved to be an Unwanted POS. Dying on the sales floor and for those dim enough to actually buy one... dying in use. . Due to the Usual (and by then expected.. Abysmal Lotus construction quality.

[@melvynwoodman5787]

Personally I think this era was awful for Lotus making oversized and ugly cars. The Esprit was beautiful but still oversized for a two seater with limited luggage capacity. They only returned to their core values with the Elise in the late 1990s.

[@ThunderAppeal]

'3 and a half to 5 thousand pounds, between 40 and 55 years of age.' Yes thats me, I'll take a few of them thank you very much.