- Analogue Automotive finished the first single-seat Lotus Elise VHPK.
- The sub-600 kg restomod makes 250 hp from a tuned 1.9-liter engine.
- Production is capped at 35 units, priced from £350,000 ($472,500).
Lotus killed the Elise in 2021 and never lined up a replacement, which has done nothing to thin out the people who still want one. UK-based Analogue Automotive, a firm built entirely around upgrading the first-generation car, is now assembling the VHPK restomod. The limited-run build gets a lighter carbon fiber body, a central driving position, and enough chassis and engine work to push its power-to-weight ratio into territory road cars rarely visit.
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Exactly one year after announcing the project, Analogue Automotive has completed its first customer car. The donor, a ’90s Elise S1, was stripped and rebuilt with nothing left untouched before any of the upgrades went on. The finished car wears a bespoke PK Purple paint, matching Alcantara trim inside, and gold dual tailpipes.
The McLaren F1 Seating Trick, Applied To A Lotus
Stephen Simmonds / Analogue Automotive
The headline feature of the VHPK is its central driving position with a single carbon fiber bucket seat in the middle of the tub. The layout draws inspiration from the single-seat Elise racecars that competed in the Autobytel Lotus Championship. The interior is spartan, with A/C and a removable carbon hardtop listed as optional extras.
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Instead of performing an engine swap, the company stuck with the original Rover K-Series four-cylinder engine, albeit with performance upgrades. The displacement was increased from 1.8 to 1.9 liters, alongside the fitment of bespoke billet and forged internals. As a result, the engine produces 250 hp (186 kW / 254 PS), which is more than double the 118 bhp (88 kW / 120 PS) of the entry-level Elise S1 and comfortably surpasses the 190 hp (142 kW / 193 PS) of the high-performance factory variant.
400 HP Per Tonne
Stephen Simmonds / Analogue Automotive
While modern hot hatches make more than 250 hp, the VHPK is significantly lighter than practically any other production car thanks to the extensive diet. More specifically, it tips the scales at under 600 kg (1,322 lbs), translating to a supercar-rivaling power-to-weight ratio of 400 hp per tonne.
Power reaches the rear wheels through an upgraded close-ratio five-speed manual and a limited-slip differential. The suspension has been rebuilt around multi-way passive dampers, with an active setup available at extra cost. Forged alloy wheels are standard and carbon ones optional, and behind them sit carbon-ceramic brakes with 300 mm (11.8-inch) front discs and four-pot calipers.
The Price Of Subtraction
Stephen Simmonds / Analogue Automotive
Orders are open for the VHPK, with production capped at 35 cars. Pricing opens at £350,000 ($472,500) before taxes, and that figure includes the donor Lotus Elise S1. Low-mileage examples of that donor car change hands for around $28,000 these days, so the conversion costs the better part of seventeen times what the raw material does.
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Steffen Dobke, the CEO of Analogue Automotive said: “This isn’t simply a restored Elise. It’s a complete reimagining of what’s possible with the original S1 recipe – the legendary combination of the Type 111 chassis with that high-revving, lightweight K-Series engine.” adding that the finished product is “a car which is superior in every way to a brand new S1 Elise.”
