Lotus Elite race car explained by Winni Reithmeier including period pictures

Launched at the 1957 Earl’s Court Motor Show, the Type 14 'Elite' was built upon Lotus’ previous race experience and marked their first serious foray into volume car production. A revolutionary fiberglass monocoque chassis was utilized, powered by the potent—and, importantly, lightweight—Coventry Climax FWE engine. The resulting kerb weight of just 500 kg afforded spirited performance, excellent road holding, and unparalleled driver enjoyment.
An estimated 1,030 units were produced between 1958 and 1963, and the car proved an immediate hit on the race track with the likes of Jim Clark, Trevor Taylor, and Les Leston proving practically unbeatable in the sub-1500 GT class in British Club racing. The Elite was, however, far more than merely a sprint machine, as demonstrated by the remarkable 8th overall (and 1st in class) achieved in the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hours by Peters Riley and Lumsden.

This particular S1 Elite was raced by a Lotus staff member between 1960 and 1962 and then sold to Dieter Schmid from Munich who raced it in the VSA (Vereingigte Súddeutsche Automotorsportler). Between 1962 and 1964 it raced among others at The Norisring,, Wallberg, Spessart, Neu Biberg, Schwäbische Alb, Augusta, Happurg, Eberbach and Bad Neuenahr, see period pictures.












In 1964 the car was bought by Winfried (Winni) Reithmeier from Starnberg Bayern, who held the car in hibernation for 52 years and kept it in exactly the same spec as it last raced in 1964. He restored the car in the mid nineties including a rebuild of the full race engine. Winni found that the body was in very good condition and without any cracks. Since then the car has driven less then 5 hours.

It is therefore ready to be enjoyed immediately either as a fast road car, or in prestigious series, including the GT & Sports Car Cup and Peter Auto’s 'Sixties Endurance' races—and, of course, at standalone events, including Tour Auto and Le Mans Classic.

The car comes with a letter from and a video interview with it’s long time owner Winni Reithmeier, detailing the full history.

In the UK the car was registered as 6577 AR.
In Germany it was only registered in 1965 and still retains the old style German “Kraftfahrzeug brief”.

The car offers a unique opportunity to own a continuous history, undisputed provenance, 3 owner original period race car with 20.000 real km’s on the clock. Importantly it also has a rather late and therefore better S1 body.


Some specs

• The lighter 500 kg S1 body
• Chapman strut rear suspension design
• Original Full Race FWA Race engine at 010 oversize
• Weber carburetors
• ZF gearbox
• Adapted race dashboard and controls