Analogue Automotive’s VHPK weighs just 1,323 lbs and has a single centrally-mounted driver’s seat like early Elise racers
by Chris Chilton
2 hours ago
- UK-based Analogue Automotive has unveiled its VHPK Lotus Elise restomod.
- The tweaked S1 Elise has a carbon body to cut the already low curb weight.
- A single, centrally-mounted seat is inspired by the setup in early Elise racers.
If the original Lotus Elise’s sub-2000 lbs (907 kg) curb weight looked light at launch 30 years ago, it seems like witchcraft today when many family SUVs are three times as heavy. But now a UK company has released its own take on the S1 Elise that makes even the stock sports car look like it should be sent to boot camp.
It’s called the VHPK, and Analogue Automotive, the company behind it, claims it tips the scales at a hardly believable 1,323 lbs, which equates to a nice round 600 kg in metric-speak. To give some kind of context, the lightest new Mazda MX-5 is 2,366 lbs (1,07 kg), a Toyota GR86 weighs 2,813 lbs (1,276 kg) and Lotus quoted 1,665 lbs (755 kg) for a stock Elise in 1996.
Carbon Everywhere
Credit for that crash diet goes to new carbon fiber bodywork, carbon also being used for interior, wheels and the brakes. There’s a nice circularity to that last point because very early Elises used innovative Metal Matrix Composite (MMC) brake discs that, unfortunately, were soon swapped for cheaper, but heavier, conventional rotors.
Related: You’ve Never Seen A Lotus Elise Like This Before
The other big change, one that affects the whole driving experience, is the switch to a single, centrally-mounted seat layout. Besides helping cut overall weight, this also balances the weight distribution, and provides another nod to the Elise’s history, referencing the setup employed in the fixed-roof Elise racers that predated the visually similar Exige and competed in the long-forgotten Autobytel Lotus Championship. Check out the video at the bottom of the post to see them in action.
Pumping The Iron
Sticking true to the S1’s roots, Analogue Automotive has opted to work with the original Rover K-series engine, rather than the Toyota ZZ four used in late S2-on cars, or the Honda K-series many Elise fans have transplanted into their own S1s over the years.
Base 1.8-liter K-series Elises made just 118 hp (120 PS) when new, but the highly strung VHPD (Very High Performance Derivative) available in the Sport 190, 340R and Exige screamed its way to 187 hp (190 PS). AA’s version spits out 250 hp (254 PS), to give it a 400 hp (406 PS) per tonne power-to-weight ratio and has bespoke billet and forged internals to hold it together.
Exclusivity Comes Standard
Analogue is building just 35 cars, which will be available to order from next year. Prices are still under wraps, but while the original Elise was a bit of a bargain supercar, we’d expect the VHPK to require regular supercar-owning wealth of its buyers.
Analogue Automotive
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