Lotus Elise

The story

The Elise chassis is made from aluminium extrusions bonded with aerospace glue, and weighs just 68kg. The whole car is about 725kg, so a modest engine gives it real pace. It rescued Lotus and its chassis idea was copied across the industry.

Inside

Bare aluminium, two thin seats and two dials. There was no carpet, no power steering and no radio unless you asked.

In period colours

Tap a colour to respray the drawing.

Meanwhile, in 1996

England hosted Euro 96, and the Spice Girls released Wannabe.

Best-selling single of 1996: Killing Me Softly by Fugees

Before you buy a 1990s car

• On petrol engines, check the cooling system and any sign of head gasket trouble.
• Ask when the timing belt was last changed, where fitted.
• Parts for mass-market cars are widely available; specialist and low-volume models can be hard to find.

General notes, not specific to this model. Check the model's own history before buying.

Rivals of its day

Picked automatically: cars on sale at the same time with similar size, speed and price.

See the real thing

These open in a new tab: the car on Wikimedia Commons, the interior and the badge as Google image searches.