We don't think that's what Colin Chapman meant when he said: "simplify, then add lightness."
We never knew the Lotus Elise had the fastest roof-opening mechanism of all convertibles. All jokes aside, the owner of a Series 2 is causing quite the stir on the WatchPeopleDieInside sub-forums on Reddit with his video showing the British sports car going from coupe to convertible in the blink of an eye. To the delight of redditors, it was all caught on camera by what the car’s owner says is an Owlcam, which records both ways.
So, what exactly happened? As the Elise started to pick up speed (about 65 mph according to the owner), the roof’s front latch snapped off, which ultimately caused the rear latches to fail as well, thus sending the top up in the sky. As the car’s owner explains the odd incident, the top flew over three cars that were behind his Lotus, without hitting any of them.
It ultimately ended up on the bike lane without causing any damages, and while the owner managed to recover the roof, he says it’s banged up and will have to be replaced for an estimated $2,000. If he decides to go with a brand new roof, he might opt for a carbon fiber setup. It wouldn’t be the only upgrade for the little rear-wheel-drive machine from Norfolk as the mid-mounted Toyota engine was supercharged last spring.
When Things Go Wrong:
What actually caused the roof to fail is not known at this moment, but he’s not excluding improper installation. He had put the roof on about 10 minutes before the incident and was only a few minutes away from home. If you’re wondering where it happened, this orange 2005 Lotus Elise lost its roof in Saratoga Springs in Utah.
If there’s a lesson to be learned, always double-check the roof is mounted properly on your sports car, unless you want redditors to laugh at your expense by making Fast and Furious jokes, namely “ejecto topo cuz.”