Honda S800 vs. Lotus Elan.
There are no two more different automakers than Honda and Lotus. One makes millions of sensible cars beloved around the globe, and the other makes a few lightweight sports cars. Founded in 1948, Lotus built its 100,000th car only four years ago., sold about 4.1-million cars around the world, plus 17-or-so million motorcycles and more than six million other things like lawn mowers, hedge trimmers and outboard engines.
What's astonishing is how Honda the S800 feels. Even though the S-series was one of the first Honda production cars , the connection with later Honda cars is apparent. You sit unnervingly close to the door, yet the ergonomics are excellent. Pedals and steering wheel are straight ahead, and there's no intrusion from the wheel wells. Honda's miraculous packaging was a thing from day one.Then, the gearbox. Mind-blowing.
While the S800 does not drive like a newer Honda, or even an S2000, the company's DNA is evident in abundance. Honda is an engineering company first and foremost, and the S800 is an engineer's car.So, there's a small problem here. This Elan isn't a roadster. Lotus offered a"fixed-head" version of the Elan starting in the mid Sixties, and mechanically, it's identical to the roadster.
The ergonomics are slightly wacky. A cutout in the door card leaves more room for the driver’s right arm than there is in the Honda, but the pedals are well offset and so tiny, it’s best to drive barefoot. This might not sound like a huge deal, but my size nines had to come off to drive comfortably and precisely. Once settled in, though, it’s a treat, and apparent why the Elan has been a ride and handling benchmark.
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