The first Lotus Elite was introduced in 1957. A lightweight sports coupe, the Elite was powered by a 1.2L inline four engine producing 75hp. Sportier variants such as the SE, Super 95, and Super 100 featured the same engine, but tuned to give a greater output. The Elite was largely built using fiberglass, with some aluminum supports, making the lightweight car capable of surprising performance, yet the nature of fiberglass at the time meant quality control was low, and the Elite ran into numerous production problems. The Type 14 Lotus Elite was built until 1963.