Just as fast and fun as the real thing – for far less money. It's an ideal pick for vintage sports car racing.
When you're talking classic British roadsters, the Lotus Elan is at the top of the heap. It's so influential, in fact, that Mazda cited it as a major influence for the Miata. Now that's high praise.
The standard versions of the Elan were great cars, but if wanted the ultimate in performance, you wanted the Elan 26R. Simply put, it took everything that was great about the standard Elan and pumped those attributes up even further.
Like all Lotus cars, the Elan 26R valued low weight – just under 1,300 pounds, to be exact. The 26R combined that with a relatively powerful engine, which was good for 180 horsepower. This, combined with the suspension tuning wizardry Lotus is known for, created a giant-killer on the race track.
Real Elan 26Rs are exceedingly rare and valuable. However, it's entirely possible to build a standard Elan into a race-ready machine in the 26R's image. That's exactly what the Avant-Garde Collection of Portland, Oregon did.
This racy-looking green Elan looks as if it could have competed in the 1960s, but it's actually a new build. It's been built with the best parts available, and is likely to make big smiles and impressive lap times for its lucky new owner.
The build was based on a 1966 lotus Elan S2. The fiberglass body is from Tony Thompson Racing, while the chassis was sourced from Modsports. It's powered by a 1.6 liter twin cam inline four fed by a pair of 45mm Weber carburetors.
If you'd like to add this classic British roadster to your personal racing paddock, act fast. It's currently offered for auction on Bring A Trailer.
