High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Lotus Elite name was used for two vehicles from Lotus Cars. The first Elite or Lotus Type 14 was an ultra-light two-seater coupe, produced from 1958 to 1963. Making its debut at the 1957 London Motor Car Show, Earls Court, the 14 spent a year in development, aided by "carefully selected racing customers", before going on sale. The Elite's most distinctive feature was its highly innovative fiberglass monocoque construction, in which a stressed-skin unibody replaced the previously separate chassis and body components. Unlike the contemporary Chevrolet Corvette, which used fiberglass for only exterior bodywork, the Elite also used this glass-reinforced plastic material for the entire load-bearing structure of the car, though the front of the monocoque incorporated a steel subframe supporting the engine and front suspension, and there was a hoop at the windscreen for mounting door hinges and jacking the car up. The first 250 body units were made by Maximar Mouldings at Pulborough, Sussex.

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