Throughout the 1950's and '60's, few manufacturers acquired giant-killing status to rival that of Lotus, Colin Chapman's innovative designs dominating every class of racing they contested, from club level to the Formula 1 World Championship. Production models like the Type 14 Elite and Type 26 Elan helped finance the increasingly expensive factory racing exploits but were also phenomenally successful competition cars in their own right. Against the likes of Alfa Romeo's TZ and the Porsche 356 Carrera (both of which were considerably more expensive), the Elan proved an exceptionally fast and reliable contender for honours in the under 1600cc Grand Touring category.

In road trim the Elan was perhaps the definitive sports car of its era. Simple, lightweight and good-looking, the open-top Type 26 body style was joined in July 1966 by the Type 36 fixed-head coupe, a variant intended to be slightly more useable on a day-to-day basis. Subsequently, the ultimate incarnation of the Elan arrived in 1971 when Lotus introduced the much sought after Sprint. Most importantly, Elan Sprint's featured the new Big Valve engine with its re-worked twin cam cylinder head, higher compression ratio, modified camshafts and a straight through single pipe exhaust. The overall effect was 20% more power and considerably improved torque. Additionally, Elan Sprint's came with black wheels and duo-paint as standard.

Chassis 72120594E was supplied new to Frank Peaty of Palmers Green, London, through the Hexagon of Highgate dealership. Mr Peaty specified the optional Mono Paint in Lotus Yellow, Heated Rear Screen and Air Horns. Registered on February 1st 1973, Mr Peaty retained the car until December 2007 at which point it had covered 133,410 miles. Today the car is in a somewhat tatty cosmetic condition with a variety of star cracks, scratches, splits and air bubbles to be found compromising the paint. Inside, the headlining is poor, there is a tear in drivers seat bolster and the steering wheel is missing its horn push. Otherwise, 72120594E is in very good mechanical condition and provides no shortage of fun for the pilot. A replacement chassis was installed in the early 1980's. With the values of excellent Sprint's now heading north of £20,000, this represents a rare opportunity to purchase the ultimate Elan at a sensible price.