Mystery of the Lotus Elise GT1 Homologation Model
Only one Lotus Elise GT1 road car is thought to exist. Or is it?
The problem with incredibly rare and one-off cars is, well, they can be pretty hard to track down information on. This is especially true of the infamous Lotus Elise GT1 homologation model, of which only one is believed to exist. That singular, special ride was once in the hands of a particular company, yet now appears to have been stowed away by the current owner. All of which has Team Speed member Sirius-R even more curious about it.
“This is the car that now poses as the road car. It seems to be nearly identical to Lotus Elise GT1 race cars, except for the foglights and light reflectors on the rear. Oh, and the 350hp V8, seemingly taken from an Esprit V8. Both cars use a Type 918 twin-turbo V8. But the ones made for the Esprit V8 are 350hp units, while the ones made for Esprit GT1 and Elise GT1 are 550hp). Quick research has shown that the car is (or at least was) private. It belonged (or still belongs, I didn’t confirm that yet) to Ed Morris’s XtremeTeam.”
Fascinating, indeed. But these loose facts only lead to more burning questions.
“However, I suspect that this car has originated as a race car and was later converted into a road car for two reasons.
1) It’s private. I see no reason why Lotus would sell their only homologation special car.
2) There was a different Elise GT1 road car, which had less extensive aero (it lacked a rear wing and roof scoop and had a different front end) and a fancier trim (such as an interior from an S1 Elise and properly retractable side windows).
The problem with the other Elise GT1 road car is that it, well, hasn’t really been shot by anyone besides people from Electronic Arts. So shots of that car from Need for Speed 2 seem to be the only proof of its existence.”
