ANALOGUE ELISE & ALPINE A110 R

No-expense-spared restomod Elise by Analogue Automotive makes an intriguing pairing with the lightweight, track-focused A110 R

-  JAMES TAYLOR

P OP! THE NOISE TAKES ME BY SURPRISE.

At first I worry that a tyre's blown or some piece of unseen debris has struck the Elise's aluminium underbelly. I slow down and turn the Lotus's tiny but beautifully formed steering wheel left and right to see if anything feels awry. All seems well, so gradually I up the pace once more, the modified K-series engine barking vocally on the way to its near-7500rpm red line and then, as I hit the brakes, there it is again: POP! Now I know what it is, and it's cause to grin rather than tip-toe back to the pitlane: the Analogue Automotive Elise SuperSport is spitting flames from its exhausts. Big ones.

This no-expense-spared restomod is one potent little car.

You might remember the SuperSport from evo 311, when John Barker and Yousuf Ashraf drove it back to back with Ashraf's more standard Elise 111S. This is my first time, and settling into its Tillett carbon-shell driver's seat, surrounded by neatly finished carbon trim and bespoke switchgear in place of the original Peugeot-sourced items, it feels a cohesive product rather than a tuning project. Which is Analogue's aim: to comprehensively restore and rebuild a Series 1 Elise as something tauter, faster, fiercer, without losing its essential character or the uniqueness of its driving experience.

The cost is the frightening part. Prices for a standard Analogue Elise (refurbished chassis, new suspension, brakes, rebuilt and upgraded powertrain and drivetrain with Quaife limited-slip diff, replacement fuel tank, radiators, retrim, repaint, and more) start at around £75k including donor car; this SuperSport (wider track suspension with new wishbones, bushes, hubs and Nitron dampers, plus the carbon interior package and forged pistons and throttle bodies taking the K-series to 210bhp) totals around £100k.