1999 Lotus Elise 111S

📸: Courtesy Pistonheads.com

English car maker and fabled Formula One legend Lotus set a small corner of the sporting car world on fire when it released the Series 1 Lotus Elise in 1996. Bucking the trend of massively overpowered sports cars, Lotus mined the "light is right" formula. The Elise was constructed of a hand-finished fiberglass body on an aluminum chassis, the resulting car only weighing an incredible 1,600 pounds! And even when matched with it's relatively low powered 1.8 liter four cylinder engine, the car is capable of accelerating quite smartly.

📸: Photo by Style for AutoGeSpot

The 111S version of the Elise was released in 1999, and featured a engine with a modified cylinder head with variable valve timing, along with a closer ratio gearbox. The Series 1 Elise was designed by Julian Thomson.