Late 1989 saw the new Elan join the Lotus range to take the company back into the open 2-seater market (with hindsight, a market they should never have left).

Powered by two Isuzu based engines (Isuzu was part of General Motors like Lotus) either Turbocharged or Normally Aspirated 1588cc 4 cylinder 16 valve units with fuel injection.

The new Elan was significant for Lotus because it was the first front wheel drive car the company had produced. And for a first attempt its handling was exemplary, some say unmatched, even now.
The reason for this was a patented raft subframe front suspension system, which was fixed to the backbone chassis.

Although the Elan was undoubtedly one of the best cars in its class, it proved too expensive, due to it being costly to build and resulted in making no profit for Lotus.

The Elan carried on until late 1992, when it was axed along with the Excel.

That is how it would have stayed, but new owner Bugatti decided to bring the car back into limited production in 1994 to clear a stock of 800 chassis that were at the factory.

The S2 Elan had new wheels and some detail changes. The turbo engine was fitted, along with a numbered plaque on the dashboard.

The Elan has refused to die though. The whole production process was bought by Kia Motors and transferred to the Far East, where the Kia Elan is now being produced, with only detail changes from the Lotus version.