Not to be confused with the Lotus Elise

Lotus Elise

The 1996 Lotus Elise weighed . Because of its relatively low weight, it was able to accelerate 0- in 5.8 seconds despite its relatively low power output of...

.

The Lotus Elite name was used for two vehicles from Lotus Cars

Lotus Cars

Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield in Norfolk. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and fine handling characteristics...

.
The first Elite

Elite

Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...

 or Lotus Type 14 was an ultra-light two-seater coupé

Coupé

A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...

, produced from 1958 to 1963.

Making its debut at the 1957 London Motor Car Show, Earls Court

British International Motor Show

The British International Motor Show is an automobile show held biennially in the United Kingdom. It is recognised as an international show by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles. The 2008 was the last event with no news of a return of the British International Motor Show...

, the 14 spent a year in development, aided by "carefully selected racing customers", before going on sale.

The Elite's most distinctive feature was its highly innovative fiberglass

Fiberglass

Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...

 monocoque

Monocoque

Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...

 construction, in which a stressed-skin unibody replaced the previously separate chassis and body components.