If anyone was confident about front-wheel-drive, it was Lotus. Its Type 26/36/45 Elan had redefined the small British sports car – but its successor had been delayed owing to shrinking company budgets and the death in 1982 of founder Colin Chapman. A pity, as a fitting Elan replacement, known within the company as X100, had been ready to go.
While it didn’t move the game on, it was definitely an Elan for the ’80s. A backbone
