28. 1962 Lotus Elan
The Lotus Elan was first shown at Earls Court in 1962 and was the sports car by which others were judged for a decade. Lotus Elan is the name of two convertible cars and two fixed head coupés manufactured by Lotus Cars in 1962. The original Lotus Elan 1500 was introduced in 1962 as a roadster. After a short production run of just 22 cars, Lotus decided to increase the size of the engine and redesignated the car as the Elan 1600. The Elan was technologically advanced, equipped with a DOHC 1557 cc engine, disc brakes all around, rack and pinion steering, and 4-wheel independent suspension.