Lotus Elan Plus 2

The Lotus Elan Plus 2, also called the Elan +2 and the Type 50, was a larger four-seat version of the Lotus Elan introduced in 1967. Lotus built it on a stretched steel backbone chassis, about a foot longer than the Elan's, with a track seven inches wider and an overall length 23 inches greater, under a fibreglass body with a wood veneer dashboard. It kept the Elan's 1.6 litre Lotus-Ford twin-cam engine, giving between 118 and 126 horsepower depending on the variant, and a four-speed manual gearbox. It was the first pure Lotus with more than two seats and the first without a kit version, and it was about 315 pounds heavier than the Elan but more aerodynamic. The range moved from the Plus 2 of 1967 to 1969 to the Plus 2S of 1969 to 1970 and the Plus 2S/130 of 1971 to 1974, with production ceasing in December 1974. Published production figures vary from 4,526 to 5,228, with about 4,600 the general belief at one enthusiast site and nearly 5,200 at another.