1991 Lotus Elan

by Steve Serio

Just 546 produced for the US.

Should the Harvard Business School need yet another case study in how a great idea can go counter-clockwise down a toilet if not executed properly, please have them refer to the launch/introduction/sale of the 1991 Lotus Elan Turbo SE in the US. Introduced during the same twelve-month period as the Miata, Geo Metro convertible and Capri droptop, the Elan was simply ignored by the American public. It was just another small sports car (with the Isuzu name staring back at you from the engine bay), and hugely overpriced at $40,000. You probably didn’t know they cost $43,000 each to manufacture—I guess they weren’t planning to make it up on volume with this one. Federalization snarls delayed introduction by months; a few dealers didn’t receive inventory until mid-1991 and then painfully stocked new product through the second quarter of 1993. Most Elans were sold at a rebated price of $32-34,000. 65% of these wonderful rockets were produced in Calypso Red...