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The original Elan was introduced in 1962 as a roadster, although an optional hardtop was offered in 1963 and a coupé version in 1965. The two-seat Lotus Elan replaced the elegant, but unreliable and expensive to produce Lotus Elite.

It was the first Lotus road car to use the now-famous steel backbone chassis with a fibreglass body. At 1,500 lb (680 kg), the Elan embodied the Colin Chapman minimum weight design philosophy. Initial versions of the Elan were also available as a kit to be assembled by the customer. The Elan was technologically advanced with a twin-cam 1558 cc engine, 4-wheel disc brakes, and 4-wheel independent suspension. The Lotus-Ford Twin Cam engine was based on Ford's Pre-Cross-flow 4-cylinder 1500 cc engine, with a Lotus-inspired Cosworth alloy twin-cam head. This Lotus-Ford 4-cylinder engine would go on to be used in a number of Lotus production and racing models.

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The Porsche 356 was the company's first production automobile. It was a lightweight and nimble-handling rear-engine rear-wheel-drive 2-door sports car available in hardtop coupe and open configurations.

The 356 has always been popular with the motor press. In 2004, Sports Car International ranked the 356C tenth on their list of Top Sports Cars of the 1960s. Today, the Porsche 356 is a highly regarded collector car. The Porsche 356 Carrera (with its special DOHC racing engine), SC, Super 90 and Speedster models are today among the most desirable 356 models. Few 356 Carreras were produced and these often bring well over $250,000 at auction. A fully restored 356 Carrera Speedster (of which only about 140 were made) will sell for around $300,000 at auction.


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1957 Ferrari 625 TRC Spider

This two-of-a-kind classic Ferrari is lauded by historians as one of the prettiest Ferraris ever built. The 1957 Ferrari 625 TRC Spider is an absolutely stunning automobile, one as dashing in the garage as it is at 120 mph. Its sleek, curvy body houses a 320hp V-12 engine that challenged the best German marques of its day, carrying the Ferrari name further into history. Its race performance and engine capacity are noteworthy, but the visual beauty of this automobile is what captures our interest. The shapely contours of this Ferrari are something rarely seen in automobiles today, a philosophy in design that is hopefully only dormant, not dead.

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