The Lotus Grand Tourers

I would like to share with you November 1976 Road and Track - a magazine which is produced the other side of the pond.

The 2nd paragraph refers to the citizens of this country struggling to say Éclat, and called the car Egg Clair. Obviously, egg clair does start with an E, which is a good start, but common sense prevailed and so according to the article the car was renamed as the Lotus Sprint. I have typed Lotus Sprint into Google images, and the result does not show any Éclat based Sprints.

The thing which catches my eye are the lovely wheels, which the article states were a $245 option - has anybody seen these wheels on a car this side of the pond?

The article states that the engine managed to produce 140bhp and the car took 9.7 seconds to get to 60mph

Does anybody know anything to add to the information in the article. Marcus

I’m sure I’ve seen a photo of an Eclat or Elite with the same/similar wheels that was for one of the Lotus Directors or senior managers. The photo showed it on the production line.

Can't see enough of the hub detail, but it looks to me like any number of quite common aftermarket wheels sold for American muscle cars in the 70s. I'm thinking its one of either Western Cyclone II, American Racing Hurricane II, or Fenton Fanjet II. There were a bunch of them that were pretty much identical. Heck, even Carroll Shelby sold them. On the east side of the big pond they were sold by 100+ International which made a six-wheeled Jaguar XJS show car with them. I think they were all manufactured by Rockwell International (which owned Western) and just sold under various brand names. The only thing that gets me is I count 13 spokes on the Lotus photo and all the pictures I could find online for this style show 15 spokes. Could be that everybody was buying the 15" wheels for their muscle cars and so that's the only pictures I could find. Perhaps they just reduced by 2 spokes for the smaller diameter to maintain the same aesthetic. I don't know if that helps or sends you down a rabbit hole.

The Eclat Sprint at Castle Combe had the 'usual' wheels

I'm sure I heard that the Sprint was a cheaper model which, in the UK came with steel wheels.

TAR wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 05, 2023 20:18

I'm sure I heard that the Sprint was a cheaper model which, in the UK came with steel wheels.

The Sprint in the UK was effectively a paintwork option on top of a standard Eclat - which could have been 520, 521 etc as long as it was white! The 520 was the entry level model with a 4 speed box and 13” steel wheels.

The Sprint in the USA was simply a different name for the Eclat, as described above.

Cheers, Richard

richardw wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 05, 2023 22:38

The Sprint in the USA was simply a different name for the Eclat, as described above.

Cheers, Richard

I didn't know that Richard - still learning!

Tanz wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 06, 2023 18:06

richardw wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 05, 2023 22:38

The Sprint in the USA was simply a different name for the Eclat, as described above.

Cheers, Richard

I didn't know that Richard - still learning!

Nor did I!!

Pete

I hadn't realised that the Eclat (and by extension probably the Excel too) had so much more luggage space than the Elite - as a pseudo-estate-ish car I'd have expected the Elite to be more gifted in that department. That said, I did take the opportunity at the NEC in November to compare the Elite to a Scimitar and it's remarkable how much more space the Reliant has in the back, for an essentially similar profile.

Tanz wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 06, 2023 18:06

richardw wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 05, 2023 22:38

The Sprint in the USA was simply a different name for the Eclat, as described above.

Cheers, Richard

I didn't know that Richard - still learning!

So am I. I think I’ll ask to be buried with my old satchel!

rbgosling wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 06, 2023 18:44

I hadn't realised that the Eclat (and by extension probably the Excel too) had so much more luggage space than the Elite - as a pseudo-estate-ish car I'd have expected the Elite to be more gifted in that department. That said, I did take the opportunity at the NEC in November to compare the Elite to a Scimitar and it's remarkable how much more space the Reliant has in the back, for an essentially similar profile.

The first negative impression I had about the Excel was the apparent reduction in rear passenger space compared to my previous Elite 501. I never got the tape measure out, but I swear the Elite had more rear passenger leg room, and certainly more head room. Are the boot floor lengths the same? I don't know.

Lotus-e-Clan wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 06, 2023 23:15

rbgosling wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 06, 2023 18:44

I hadn't realised that the Eclat (and by extension probably the Excel too) had so much more luggage space than the Elite - as a pseudo-estate-ish car I'd have expected the Elite to be more gifted in that department. That said, I did take the opportunity at the NEC in November to compare the Elite to a Scimitar and it's remarkable how much more space the Reliant has in the back, for an essentially similar profile.

The first negative impression I had about the Excel was the apparent reduction in rear passenger space compared to my previous Elite 501. I never got the tape measure out, but I swear the Elite had more rear passenger leg room, and certainly more head room. Are the boot floor lengths the same? I don't know.

I think the seats (at least in the Excel SE) are bulkier than those on the Elite. The front seat backrest is particularly important. Oliver W wasn’t too keen on the Elite seats - he had designed much slimmer items precisely in order to maximise space.