With cash readily available after General Motors purchased Lotus in 1986, Lotus decided to revive the Elan. Peter Stevens, who later went on to design the McLaren F1, penned the new Elan’s well-proportioned bodywork, and by 1989 the new Elan was finally revived and reached production. Lotus wanted to produce a relatively affordable sports car for the masses and went to extreme lengths to ensure the model was properly tested. Almost a million test miles were driven in Elans before production, and each car was driven 30 miles before delivery to ensure quality in production.

Power came from a compact 1.6-liter, 16-valve, dual-overhead-cam turbocharged Isuzu-Lotus engine powering the front wheels through a five-speed manual transmission. With a curb weight of less than 2,500 pounds, the new Elan was a worthy successor of the original. Unfortunately for Lotus, sales were disappointing, and just 3,855 examples were produced from 1989 to 1992.

This Elan roadster is still with its first owner and has been driven just 232 miles from new at the time of cataloguing. Optioned with blue metallic paint and an MSRP of $40,965, it is still in virtually as-new condition and is surely one of the best-preserved examples extant. Even the engine bay is nearly spotless, and the Elan looks like it just came from the Lotus factory. Included with the sale is the original window sticker, copy of certificate of origin, tool kit, and space-saver spare.