It seems that removing the roof and windscreen from a car is a recipe for increasing its value. McLaren, Ferrari and Aston Martin have made a decent business of charging wealthy car collectors a premium for the speedster treatment, but Lotus did it back in 1991 with the Elan M200. Built for that year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, it remained a one-off concept, and it recently sold via online auction for $62,500.

The M200 was based on a regular Elan M100 that was returned by a customer, so rather than being a visual mock-up it’s a fully working car. The M100’s Peter Stevens design was reworked by future Elise S1 designer Julian Thomson. It was a radical yet sympathetic revision to the Elan’s wedgy look, the removal of the windscreen and roof working well with the M100’s inherent form.

In creating the double-bubble aeroscreen, Thomson was inspired by the Ferrari 312BB Formula One car. Up front, the pop-up headlights were changed for slimmer fixed units while a rollover hoop and bar to dissect the cabin added to the flair. Elsewhere, new mirrors were incorporated and the built-in rear was exaggerated. 

The bright yellow bodywork was contrasted with mottled purple upholstery inside the car. The eye-catching fabric was set against black leather and Alcantara elsewhere in the cabin. Interior designer David Brisbourne – now Design Manager at Jaguar Land Rover – took his inspiration from female swimwear.

The M200 concept no doubt did a great job of putting the spotlight on the showroom M100 model, but you can’t help winder whether Lotus could have capitalised on it by putting it into production as a limited run with a marked-up price. This one-off hasn’t been seen in public in recent years. We wonder whether we’ll see more of it following the recent change of ownership.