Classic Lotus Cars: Seven, Elite, Elan Plus 2, Giulietta Sprint, Europa

What Is Your Favorite Car Of All Time?

Lotus Cars - Part 1

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The Elite, Elan and Europa produced by Lotus during the 1960s and 1970s will be remembered as delectable - and affordable - high performance road cars, that pushed forward the frontiers of vehicle technology, at a time when much of the British motor industry was bogged down with technical conservatism.

Lotus Seven 1957-1963

Having established Lotus in the 1950s with a series of racing sports cars, Colin Chapman then set out to widen the scope and appeal of his business, partly to provide financial backing for his motor racing ambitions. On the one hand he conceived the technically advanced Elite, and on the other he developed the rugged little Seven.

Lotus Elite 1958-1963

The sleek Lotus Elite was the first Lotus to be conceived entirely as a road car and as one might have expected from the technically adventurous Colin Chapman, its design was quite unconventional and remarkably advanced for the period.

Lotus Elan 1962-1973

The replacement for the Elite, the Elan, was a model that brought respectability and more importantly profit to Lotus Cars. Reverting to a separate backbone chassis for the Elan, power came from the Lotus Ford twin-cam and in just over ten years, 9,659 were produced in four series.

Lotus Elan Plus 2 1967-1974

Combining most of the qualities of the two-seater Elan in a longer wheelbase, with a bigger and more roomy glassfibre coupe body, the 2+2 was produced between 1967 and 1974. Graceful from any angle, the Elan Plus 2 offered considerably more room than the Elan and handled just as well. 4,798 cars were built

Lotus Europa 1967-1975

Although Lotus took very little time to bring mid-engined racing cars to a high state of mechanical excellence, it was several years before Colin Chapman was ready to use the same basic layout in a road car. The Europa appeared in 1967 and initially used Renault power before changing to the Lotus twin-cam engine in 1971.

Lotus Elan Sprint 1971-1973

The year 1971 saw the final development of the two-seater Elan with the announcement of the Sprint. Fitted with the new big-valve twin-cam engine and producing 126bhp, it was the last and fastest of the popular model. Total Sprint production between 1971 and 1973 stood at 1,353 cars.

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Alfa Romeo Car Giulietta Sprint, Giulia, Sprint GT

Do you remember the classic Alfa Romeo Cars below?

Alfa Romeo

This is one of many illustrated classic car guides I've created for the eBay community. I hope you enjoy it and if you would like to find out more about the classic Alfa Romeo art featured in this guide please click here.

Until the Second World War, Alfa Romeo built only limited numbers of costly and exotic motor cars but the scene in Milan was transformed in the post-war years as the state-controlled company set out on a programme of massive expansion, first with the 1900 saloons and then from 1954 with the Giulietta range of models. For the 1960s, Alfa Romeo achieved the difficult task of replacing the successful Giulietta range with the launch of the exciting new Giulia. In keeping with now well established Alfa traditions, a styling and production agreement was reached with Bertone and Pininfarina for the coupe and spider versions of the Giulia. In 1970, the Montreal became the production version of Alfa Romeo's 'dream car' first seen at Expo '67 in Montreal.

Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint

One of the best loved post-war Alfas, the Giulietta appeared late in 1954 as the Giulietta Sprint, a sporting closed coupe designed by Bertone. Like the 1900 before it however, the Giulietta was not to be a single model range and the Sprint was joined in the following spring by the Giulietta saloon and later in the summer of 1955 by the Giulietta Spider by Pininfarina. Coupe and Spider versions originally had 80bhp, but from 1956 they were also available as Veloce models with 90bhp.

Alfa Romeo 2600

The Alfa Romeo company went back to using six-cylinder engines with the introduction of the 2600 in 1962. It featured a 2,584cc engine with an output of between 130 and 145bhp, depending on the model. The saloon was accompanied by the Sprint, designed by Bertone, the Sprint Zagato and the Spider Touring.

Alfa Romeo Giulia

In 1963, Alfa Romeo replaced the Giulietta family by an even better and more attractive range, called the Giulia. Giulias were bigger, faster and more modern looking than Giuliettas, drawing on the experience and reputation built up with the original cars. The saloon as before was intended to sell in the largest numbers, while the same styling and production arrangement was reached with Bertone and Pininfarina for the coupes and open-top spiders.

Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider

The Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider was released in 1966 with an engine of 1,570cc, followed two years later by the Spider 1300 using the 1,290cc engine. To some Alfa fans these new two-seaters lacked the elegance and balance of the earlier Pininfarina design, produced originally as the Giulietta Spider, but in time they became deservedly acclaimed. The original rounded tail was replaced by the chopped-off Kamm variant in 1971.

Alfa Romeo Sprint GT

The first true Giulia coupe, the Sprint GT was introduced in 1963, An elegantly simple piece of work by Bertone designer Giorgio Giugiaro, its 105-series body was manufactured and assembled at the new Alfa Romeo facotry at Arese. In 1965 a four-seat convertible, the GTC was offered and later, the lightweight aluminium bodied GTA. Veloce tune came in 1966 with the Giulia GTV.

Alfa Romeo Montreal

The Alfa Romeo Montreal was in production between 1970 and 1976, selling approximately 500 cars per year. Its eight-cylinder 2,593 cc engine produced 200bhp at 6,500rpm, giving a top speed of 137mph (220km/h). Developed from the 33 prototype, it had Spica fuel injection and dry sump lubrication. The design was by Bertone. A worthy successor to the 8C 2300 and 2900 series four decades earlier.

Thank you for reading my guide and I hope you found it interesting!