Get Misplaced, a Surrey-based firm led by motorsports photographer GF Williams, has created a hanging restomod of the Lotus Elise S1 known as Project Safari. This distinctive construct preserves the light-weight character and nimble dealing with that made the unique Elise well-known, whereas fully reimagining its function for dust trails and rally levels as a substitute of clean racetracks.
The Lotus Elise Legacy: A 90s Icon Reimagined
The Lotus Elise S1 holds a particular place in automotive historical past. When it debuted within the mid-90s, it captivated lovers with its pure, driver-focused expertise. The Elise represented Colin Chapman’s philosophy of “simplify, then add lightness” in its most distilled kind – a minimalist method that prioritized dealing with and driver engagement over uncooked energy or luxurious.
Whereas the Elise could have been overshadowed by extra mainstream sports activities vehicles just like the Porsche 911 in recent times, it stays an icon for driving purists. Its light-weight aluminum chassis, mid-engine structure, and responsive dealing with created a driving expertise that was unfiltered and exhilarating.
What makes Undertaking Safari so intriguing is the way it takes this track-focused sports activities automobile and fully reimagines its function. Slightly than enhancing its on-track capabilities, Get Misplaced has remodeled the Elise into one thing its designers by no means envisioned – an off-road journey automobile that maintains the core Lotus values whereas exploring completely new territory.
Philosophy: Extra Than Only a Modified Elise
Undertaking Safari isn’t merely a Lotus Elise with greater tires and a elevate equipment. As George Williams emphasizes, “This isn’t a modified Elise, it’s our interpretation of what the platform needed to supply. Every part has been thought of – from the design to the drive – all within the pursuit of making one thing enjoyable.”
This philosophical method is what separates true restomods from easy modifications. The crew at Get Misplaced approached the challenge with a holistic imaginative and prescient, rethinking each facet of the automobile whereas respecting its unique character. The result’s a coherent design that feels purposeful moderately than haphazard.
Williams’ background as a motorsports photographer provides him a novel perspective on automotive design. Having captured numerous race vehicles in motion, he understands how kind follows perform in motorsport, and this information has influenced Undertaking Safari’s growth. Each modification serves a function, contributing to the automobile’s off-road capabilities whereas sustaining the fragile steadiness that made the unique Elise so particular.
Chassis and Suspension: Elevated for Journey
Essentially the most elementary change to remodel the track-hugging Elise into an off-road machine is the fully reworked suspension system. Get Misplaced has lifted the automobile by 100mm (about 4 inches), dramatically growing floor clearance for navigating tough terrain. This isn’t only a matter of including spacers – your complete suspension geometry has been recalibrated to take care of dealing with traits regardless of the elevated peak.
Beneath, the automobile’s stomach has been strengthened with most safety to protect very important parts from rocks, ruts, and particles. This complete underbody armor ensures the fragile mechanical parts stay protected throughout aggressive off-road driving.
The bespoke suspension parts are coated in Cerakote – a ceramic-based end generally used on firearms that gives distinctive sturdiness and safety. This element reveals the thoughtfulness behind the construct, as commonplace paint would rapidly be chipped away by flying rocks and particles on rally levels.
Regardless of these substantial adjustments, Undertaking Safari maintains Elise’s trademark light-weight character. This cautious steadiness ensures that whereas the automobile can now sort out tough terrain, it hasn’t misplaced the nimbleness and responsiveness that made the unique so particular.
Exterior Modifications: Rally-Impressed Aesthetics
Undertaking Safari’s visible transformation is dramatic but purposeful. The unique Elise’s rounded headlights have been changed with rectangular items, giving the automobile a extra aggressive, utilitarian look. This wasn’t simply an aesthetic alternative – rectangular lights present higher illumination patterns for off-road driving.
Complementing these major lights are yellow auxiliary lights mounted on the hood, a traditional rally automobile function that helps illuminate dusty tracks and gives higher visibility in difficult situations. The colour alternative of yellow is deliberate – this wavelength penetrates mud and fog higher than white mild.
Giant fenders have been added to accommodate all-terrain tires, giving the automobile a muscular stance that contrasts with the unique Elise’s slender profile. These wider fenders aren’t only for present – they supply needed protection to stop rocks and dirt from being thrown up towards the bodywork.
Each exterior modification serves each kind and performance, making a cohesive design that communicates the automobile’s capabilities at a look. Whereas radically totally different from the unique, Undertaking Safari maintains sufficient Elise DNA to be recognizable as a distant relative of the track-focused sports activities automobile that impressed it.
Powertrain Upgrades: Extra Muscle for the Filth
Whereas we don’t know what engine now powers Undertaking Safari, it strongly hints that the unique 1.8-liter Rover Okay-Collection engine has been changed with one thing extra highly effective. This makes excellent sense for an off-road automobile, the place low-end torque is essential for navigating difficult terrain.
A particular mid-mounted roof scoop has been added, with an consumption that splits into two ducts feeding air on to the engine. This design component serves a sensible function – offering clear, cool air to the engine in dusty situations – whereas additionally including a particular visible component that instantly communicates the automobile’s efficiency intentions.
The exhaust system has additionally been upgraded, that includes zircon-coated twin pipes. This unique coating gives distinctive warmth resistance and sturdiness, needed for an exhaust system that might be uncovered to excessive situations. The dual-pipe configuration additionally suggests a extra highly effective engine, requiring better exhaust circulation than different High-Performance Exotic Cars.
These powertrain modifications steadiness elevated efficiency with the Elise’s light-weight philosophy. Slightly than merely putting in the biggest potential engine, Get Misplaced seems to have chosen an influence unit that enhances the chassis dynamics whereas offering the extra muscle wanted for off-road situations.
Rally-Particular Controls: Efficiency Past Pavement
To rework Elise’s driving dynamics for rally use, Get Misplaced has put in a number of specialised management techniques. Most notably, the automobile contains a rally-style limited-slip differential and a hydraulic handbrake – two parts which are important for off-road efficiency however weren’t a part of the unique Elise’s track-focused design.
The limited-slip differential gives essential traction management when driving on unfastened surfaces. Not like an ordinary differential that may permit one wheel to spin uselessly when traction is misplaced, a limited-slip unit transfers energy to the wheel with higher grip, serving to to take care of ahead momentum in difficult situations.
The hydraulic handbrake is maybe probably the most rally-specific addition to the controls. Not like an ordinary handbrake that merely holds a parked automobile in place, a hydraulic system permits for exact modulation throughout energetic driving. Rally drivers use this to provoke managed slides for navigating tight corners on unfastened surfaces – a way generally known as a “Scandinavian flick.”
These specialised controls remodel how the Elise behaves on unfastened surfaces, giving the driving force the instruments wanted to use the chassis’ potential in environments the unique automobile was by no means designed to come across.
Sensible Rally Options: Prepared for the Tough Stuff
Undertaking Safari incorporates quite a few sensible options that put together it for critical off-road use. Most visibly, a strong roll bar has been put in, offering essential safety within the occasion of a rollover – a real threat when driving at pace on unpredictable surfaces.
The rear deck has been redesigned to carry a spare tire, an important provision for distant driving the place a puncture might in any other case finish an journey prematurely. This spare isn’t merely bolted on as an afterthought – it’s elegantly built-in into the design with floating wings that echo WRC (World Rally Championship) vehicles.
These floating wings serve an aerodynamic function, serving to to handle airflow at pace whereas additionally offering a particular visible signature. The mixing of sensible components just like the spare tire into the general design aesthetic reveals the thoughtfulness behind Undertaking Safari’s growth.
Each part has been chosen and positioned with each perform and kind in thoughts, making a automobile that’s ready for critical off-road use whereas sustaining a cohesive design language that builds upon the Elise’s unique character.
Inside Refinement: Consolation Meets Functionality
Whereas the outside and mechanical adjustments are the obvious features of Undertaking Safari, Get Misplaced hasn’t uncared for the inside atmosphere. The automobile options bespoke seats trimmed in an surprising mixture of leather-based and tweed – supplies that mix luxurious with sturdiness.
This materials alternative is each sensible and stylistic. Leather-based gives sturdiness and water resistance, whereas tweed provides grip to maintain occupants in place throughout aggressive driving. The traditional British material additionally creates a hyperlink to the Lotus model’s heritage and the custom of British motorsport.
Though the article doesn’t element different inside modifications, rally automobiles usually function further instrumentation, simplified controls, and strengthened mounting factors for security harnesses. These components can be important for a automobile meant for critical off-road use.
The inside refinements display Get Misplaced’s complete method to the challenge. Slightly than focusing solely on the mechanical features of the conversion, they’ve thought of the driving force and passenger expertise, creating an atmosphere that’s each practical for rally use and pleasing for highway driving.
Undertaking Safari represents an interesting reinterpretation of a beloved sports activities automobile, demonstrating how inventive considering can breathe new life into traditional designs. Manufacturing is scheduled to start by the top of this yr, and whereas pricing hasn’t been introduced, this limited-production restomod will undoubtedly command a premium reflecting its distinctive capabilities and hand-crafted nature.
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