Absolute Lotus magazine
January/February 2026 – Issue 48
Elise Sport 160 – The former Lotus trader’s ‘keeper’
Elan sprinter – The 90-year-old competitor
Stratton GT – On the road in the most hardcore Ever
Jamie Turner – Inside Hethel with former Lotus Chief Engineer of Powertrain Research
Elan M100 – Former PR car that’s now part of a Lotus collection
Great Race – 1968 London-Sydney Marathon
Weekend Workshop – DIY gearshift upgrade for the Elise, Exige and Evora
PB Racing – Emira action from the European GT4 Championship
…and much more!
Why is this Lotus Elise the best of 300?
If the lairy Scandal Green and naughty exhaust note wasn’t enough, this Elise Sport 160 is also prone to stabbing flames from its centre-exit exhaust. It’s so good that James Merrett has owned it twice, and as a former Lotus trader he has had more than 300 Elises pass through his hands. But the Sport 160 was always the one he wanted to keep for himself, even at a time when work was so busy he hived it off into storage for years on end. We met him to find out what makes it so special, and the full story is in Issue 48.
Meet the 90-year-old still competing in his Lotus Elan
It’s no exaggeration to call Dick Swindall a Lotus lifer. He bought his first Elan new in 1970, and saved the purchase tax by building it himself. It was his daily driver for five years, until his son was too tall to sit between the seats (“His feet began to interfere with the gearlever,” says Dick). In 1980, he started hillclimbing and still competes in the car every year. It has clocked up more than 560,000 miles, a total that’s increasing every year. The yellow car here is a second Elan, bought in 2000, that’s primarily a road car. His remarkable story is in the new issue of Absolute Lotus.
On the road in the most hardcore Lotus Evora
The Stratton GT had a slightly complicated gestation. It originated from Lotus Motorsport’s endurance racer programme and came to market via the factory’s nearest dealership in 2017 when Roger Bennington of the Stratton Motor Company struck a deal with Lotus to buy the remaining chassis and parts to assemble the cars in its own name. The wild widebody styling is backed up by a supercharged Toyota V6 tuned by Swindon Race Engines. It has 438bhp, but that only tells part of the story. Its the way it revs and the noise it makes that create the drama. All ten were built in left-hand-drive and two remain available. We grabbed the opportunity to drive one while we still could!
Time with former Lotus Chief Engineer of Powertrain Research Jamie Turner
Jamie Turner started working at Lotus 1988 and remained there until 2012 (aside from a brief spell at Cosworth). He rose to the position Chief Engineer of Powertrain Research, the arm that worked as a consultant for OEM manufacturers around the world. A true Lotus man through and through, he gives us some great insight into a period where Lotus Engineering was a leader in engine technology, working behind the scenes on everything from two-strokes to diesels to hybrids. And why he believes internal combustion has a future.
A Lotus Elan M100 bought on a whim
Mark Powell hadn’t set out to buy an Elan M100 when this one popped into his email inbox. He already had a classic Elan and a modern Lotus in the garage, but there was something about the M100 that intrigued him. It was being offered at a bargain price and had receipts for lots of recent work the convinced him he wasn’t taking a gamble. It was also the very car that appeared in Lotus’s marketing materials when the car was new, so Mark recently retraced its steps and went back to the same Welsh reservoir to recreate the image.
Half a lap of the globe
The London to Sydney Marathon was a rally that required commitment and stamina. It was also the final off-piste outing for the works Lotus Cortina, and one that would prove gruelling in the extreme. Richard Heseltine tells the story of a competition that took the Lotus Twin-Cam powered saloon to the other side of the planet.
How to improve your Lotus’s gearchange
If the gearchange in your Lotus Elise, Exige or Evora isn’t feeling as fresh as it once did, the aftermarket is here to help get it back to feeling factory fresh. One offering comes from Italian company Dolomiti, and Evora owner Alistair Fuller was the first person to fit the kit to a right-hand-drive Evora. While it looks complicated, breaking the job down to a step by step process meant he was able to complete the job in his garage.
Lotus Emiras in the European GT4 Championship
Having first encountered PB Racing in Italy earlier in the season, Mike Rysiecki joined the Italian team in Barcelona to meet the team and its drivers for the final round. The team name means ‘Pleasure and Business’ and they certainly seem to mix fun with serious competitive intent. The full story is in Issue 48 of Absolute Lotus.
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