The original Elan was introduced in 1962 as a roadster, although an optional hardtop was offered in 1963 and a coupé version in 1965. The two-seat Lotus Elan replaced the elegant, but unreliable and expensive to produce Lotus Elite.

It was the first Lotus road car to use the now-famous steel backbone chassis with a fibreglass body. At 1,500 lb (680 kg), the Elan embodied the Colin Chapman minimum weight design philosophy. Initial versions of the Elan were also available as a kit to be assembled by the customer. The Elan was technologically advanced with a twin-cam 1558 cc engine, 4-wheel disc brakes, and 4-wheel independent suspension. The Lotus-Ford Twin Cam engine was based on Ford's Pre-Cross-flow 4-cylinder 1500 cc engine, with a Lotus-inspired Cosworth alloy twin-cam head. This Lotus-Ford 4-cylinder engine would go on to be used in a number of Lotus production and racing models.

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1957 Ferrari 625 TRC Spider

This two-of-a-kind classic Ferrari is lauded by historians as one of the prettiest Ferraris ever built. The 1957 Ferrari 625 TRC Spider is an absolutely stunning automobile, one as dashing in the garage as it is at 120 mph. Its sleek, curvy body houses a 320hp V-12 engine that challenged the best German marques of its day, carrying the Ferrari name further into history. Its race performance and engine capacity are noteworthy, but the visual beauty of this automobile is what captures our interest. The shapely contours of this Ferrari are something rarely seen in automobiles today, a philosophy in design that is hopefully only dormant, not dead.

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