There were only two strips of steel in the car — a strip for the door hinges to attach to and a very small steel frame to which the engine and suspension were attached and, when combined with independent sporty suspension, a ZF gearbox, disc brakes, the Coventry Climax all-aluminum engine and a very low drag coefficient of just 0.29, it made for a great drivers' car.
The first 280 were built by Maximar prior to production transferring to Bristol Aircraft who built a further 750, however the Elite was very expensive to produce, especially the GRP monocoque which was extremely labor-intensive, and it's understood that they lost around £100 on every car with its successor, the Elan, returning to more conventional construction.
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