Lotus Éclat
The Lotus Éclat (internal type 76 and type 84) was a hatchback coupé with 2 + 2 seats made by the British manufacturer Lotus Cars from late 1974 to autumn 1982 . It was based on the Lotus Elite, which was built at the same time, and had a front engine. Colin Chapman , founder of Lotus Cars, presented the Éclat at the New York Auto Show .
history
The vehicles of the first series were built from late 1974 to mid-1980. They were powered by the Lotus 907 engine, a 2-liter four-cylinder with two twin carburetors . In order to shorten the construction time, Lotus based the dimensions of the engine block closely on those of the Slant Four from Vauxhall Motors , but used aluminum instead of gray cast iron as the material. On the one hand, this enabled Vauxhall crankshafts to be used in the early days (when the engine was used in the Jensen Healey), on the other hand, Vauxhall was able to use Chevette vehicles in rallying with the Lotus head mounted on the Vauxhall block. The vehicles were therefore disqualified. The output was 117 kW (160 hp).
In mid-1980, the Éclat S2, which had been modified in detail, came on the market with a 2.2 liter version of the engine called the 912 . Only 223 of the type 912 were built. A manual or automatic gearbox was available for power transmission.
The body made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic was 4.48 m long, 1.82 m wide and 1.21 m high. It was built on a central steel girder chassis that was galvanized from 1980 onwards. With a wheelbase of 2.48 m, the standard car weighed 975 kg. An optional air conditioning system increased the weight to 1,010 kg, with additional power steering to 1,026 kg. In the back seats you sit surprisingly comfortably in contrast to many of today's 2 + 2-seaters. At $ 28,400 (1979), the car was about the same price as a Mercedes-Benz 450 SL ($ 28,687).
From the end of 1982 a slightly modified version of the car with a gearbox from Toyota was sold under the name Éclat Excel . From autumn 1983 this version was only called Lotus Excel and continued production until summer 1991.
