Welly 1:24 scale 2003 Lotus Elise 111S

Well as I write this the south just went through a major snow and ice storm, and I've spent two days in the house as school and work was cancelled. Kind of ironic that at this time I bring a car that is best suited for the summer months, and most of the time for the track. The 1:24 scale Lotus Elise 111S from Welly

The next stage of lightweight, production Lotus's

The Elise was released in 1996 as the second car in the Lotus line and one that would evoke more of the original Lotus 7 compared to the Esprit, which was getting heavier and a larger V8 motor for the first time. The fiberglass body sits on top of an all-aluminum frame with independent upper/lower control arms at four wheels to give the Elise a lighter curb weight of around 2,000 Ib's and typical of Lotus's heritage a superb-handling car for the track. The interior was spared of creature comforts save airbags, stereo, and ventilation controls, for the sake of a lighter weight and has seats that are not too supportive and designed for the slimmer bodies in us. Oh, and trunk space is limited to a few duffel bags. The engine is small and simple: 1.8L Rover I-4 featuring Rover's VVC variable valve timing to give the Elise 160 hp. through a 5-speed manual. The Elise has been praised by journalists for it's go-kart-like handling and excellent track manner, but once out on the road the mood changes as the Elise is definitely not for the daily drive!

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In 2001 the Elise gets a redesign to meet new European safety standards, and along the way got more sharper styling from the 340R and M250 Concept, which was a major improvement on looks compared to the kit car look of the previous generation. In 2005, the Elise was enhanced further to be imported to the U.S. for the first time. Along the way, the engine was changed to meet U.S. emissions requirements and simplicity of service: 1.8L I-4 from Toyota and a six-speed manual also from Toyota. Exige coupes were added after a few years of both Elise generations. In 2010 the Elise was dropped from the U.S. due to new safety requirements that the current platform could not adapt to; in Europe the Elise got a revised front end with headlights that look more in line with the Evora (the only car on sale in the U.S. at the moment for Lotus). The Elise has also seen duty in other automakers as the Opel Speedster and the Tesla Roadster.

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As for Welly, got for 1:24 scale!

I found this at Rite-Aid one day, and I was surprised that the car was intact (aside from missing a rearview mirror) despite being without a box and exposed to an environment where parts could be missing. I managed to save it before further damage was done! Welly offer 1:18, 1:24, and 1:43 pullback versions: The 1:43 seems less-inspiring without further details and an opening hood, while the 1:24 nicely serves the same as the larger-scale version. Why by the 1:18 scale when you can get the same at a smaller scale!

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The black exterior is nice and smooth, the silver base nicely mimicks the aluminum setup with gold control arms at all four wheels. Speaking of gold, would be nice with added gold accents on the exterior and the multi-spoke wheels with Lotus logo. The headlights and taillights are nicely detailed, as is the badges, grille and scoops, and lower rear panel with dual exhaust. The headlights feature a little orange dab for the inner turn signal lenses, but the black mask around the headlights seem a bit too high. The rear hood has functioning vents (so does the front), antenna, and a rear window with upper third brake light and 'Elise 111S' logo at the bottom of the window. It's also interesting to note that this is a very small car, yet still conforms to the 1:24 scale like every other vehicle in this scale.

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The engine bay and interior are areas that one up the pullback version: The Rover engine is nicely done with silver intake, white coolant reservoir, and block and airbox that stand out in 3D-like effect. The interior features silver, caramel, and black accents to really give a nice eye-catching effect. The seats look uncomfortable, but nicely detailed with seatbelts behind the seats as separate pieces. The shifter and E-brake join aluminum braces with holes drilled out for further weight savings. The passenger foot rest and driver's pedals also have silver accents. Note that I had to relocate the accelerator pedal because it was originally located to the left of the clutch (totally inaccurate!), so with a little glue I relocated the pedal to the floorboard and center brace. Now that looks much better! The dashboard features four air vents for the defroster, center gauges with tach and speedometer, 3-spoke wheel, ventilation controls in the center, with the stereo to the right making for an uncomfortable reach for the driver. Also note the speakers and air vents on the door tunnels and the door panels which are practically nothing except for a window hand crank.