A review of the Lotus Eclat Sports Car, covering the development, significant features and technical data of this sixteenth model in the Lotus range.<\/p>\n
In this article, I offer a nostalgic look at the Lotus Eclat, one of the elite group of classic cars, which was manufactured from 1974 to 1982.<\/p>\n
In the basic design of the Eclat, Colin Chapman decided to include an element of practicality in this affordable four-seater.<\/p>\n
The car’s origins were firmly rooted in the Lotus Elite Mark 2, which was phased out in 1983.<\/p>\n
Thus, it had a rear body design, which represented a more practical solution for storage in the trunk.<\/p>\n
In 1973, when the Elite was in its prototype stage, the GRP bodywork was restyled in such a way that the front of the Elite was retained, but included a sloping roofline that blended seamlessly with the fastback’s tail in traditional hatchback form.<\/p>\n
This creation was initially designated the Elite Coupe, but was later renamed the Eclat.<\/p>\n
The car was launched in October 1975, and production continued until 1982.<\/p>\n
It was offered in a number of versions, such as the basic 520, which used an aluminum, double overhead cam, 4-cylinder, Lotus 907 engine, mated to a four-speed gearbox from a Ford Capri saloon, and a higher final drive ratio than that used in the Elite.<\/p>\n
However, in the 522 version, Ford’s gearbox was replaced with a five-speed from the Austin Maxi saloon, and it was better equipped, with luxuries such as air conditioning.<\/p>\n
The Eclat was a front engine, rear engine, three-door, 2+2, fixed head coupe.<\/p>\n
The Series 1 Type 76, introduced in 1974, was powered by the 1973 cc, Lotus 907 engine, which developed 155 bhp, as used in the Elite Mark 2 Type 75, and fitted with a Stromberg CD2 SE carburetor.<\/p>\n
The Series 1 model was phased out in 1980, replaced by the Eclat Series 2 Type 84, which featured the larger 2174 cc engine, the Lotus 912, as used in the Elite Mark 2 Type 83.<\/p>\n
This model had a compression ratio of 9.4:1, and was fitted with two Dell’Orto, DHLA 45 carburetors.<\/p>\n
However, in order to meet US emissions regulations, the 912 developed only 160 horsepower, compared to 155 horsepower with the 907 unit.<\/p>\n
These Lotus 900 Series engines proved to be very successful, and were subsequently used in the highly anticipated Lotus Esprit.<\/p>\n
The Series 1 Type 76 Eclat was fitted with a steel body that was attached to a fiberglass body at the rear.<\/p>\n
However, oddly enough, a felt strip was placed between the case and the body to provide a good fit.<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly, in humid climates, felt can absorb and retain moisture, which will accelerate corrosion of the metal structure.<\/p>\n
Since it was completely uneconomical to replace the bodywork of the Elite and Eclat sports cars of the Types 75 and 76, this had a devastating effect on resale prices.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, this drawback was overcome with the introduction of the Elite and Eclat Types 83 and 84 models, in which the steel body was galvanized, as standard equipment.<\/p>\n
The annual production figures for both types of Eclat were as follows:<\/p>\n
1975 = 16; 1976 = 212; 1977 = 133; 1978 = 258; 1979 = 232; 1980 = 95; 1981 = 25; 1982 = 143; Total = 1114<\/p>\n
This marked the end of Lotus Eclat<\/p>\n
This stroll down memory lane may have answered, or at least shed light on, a possible question: However, if that question remains unanswered, I will review, in some detail, in future articles within this site, the full range of Morgan sports cars that appeared in the memorable era spanning from 1911 to 1996.<\/p>\n I hope you’ll join me on my nostalgic travels “down sports car memory lane”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A review of the Lotus Eclat Sports Car, covering the development, significant features and technical data of this sixteenth model in the Lotus range. In this article, I offer a nostalgic look at the Lotus Eclat, one of the elite group of classic cars, which was manufactured from 1974 to 1982. In the basic design […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":85,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-cars","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ridetriton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ridetriton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ridetriton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ridetriton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ridetriton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ridetriton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ridetriton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ridetriton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ridetriton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ridetriton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
A Morgan sports car for you<\/em> favorite?<\/p>\n