{"id":2123914,"date":"2026-09-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2123914"},"modified":"2026-09-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T21:00:00","slug":"the-first-vhpk-is-a-600kg-single-seat-lotus-elise-s1-that-costs-350k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2123914","title":{"rendered":"The first \u2018VHPK\u2019 is a 600kg single-seat Lotus Elise S1 that costs \u00a3350k+"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Lotus Elise S1<\/a> is already a bit of a lightweight marvel, weighing in at around 700kg. A company called Analogue Automotive has stripped yet more bulk out of the thing and given it a single-seat, central driving position. It\u2019s this: the \u2018VHPK\u2019.<\/p>\n

We first got \u2013 well not so much \u2018wind\u2019 because that\u2019d blow it away \u2013 but \u2018whisper\u2019 of it last year<\/a>, and now we have a full image set of the first customer car, resplendent in \u2018PK Purple\u2019 with a matching Alcantara cabin and gold exhaust tips.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Why \u2018VHPK\u2019? It\u2019s taken from the car\u2019s base engine. Rover\u2019s K-Series four-pot once boasted a \u2018Very High Performance Derivative\u2019 that was rather spicy. So, VHPD becomes VHPK. Doesn\u2019t roll off the tongue, admittedly, but because there\u2019s a single seat, you won\u2019t roll around either.<\/p>\n

This one gets a \u2018highly tuned\u2019 1.9-litre twin cam K-Series four-cylinder (up from 1.8-litres), rebuilt using lightweight billet and forged internals, and matched to a full stainless steel exhaust system, a limited slip diff and five-speed \u2018close ratio\u2019 manual. AA quotes 250 naturally aspirated, very hard-working horsepowers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Oh, right. Why a single seat in the middle? It\u2019s taken from the one-make Elise championship that supported BTCC back in the early Noughties. Those cars ran \u2013 that\u2019s right! \u2013 single seats. In the middle.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a carbon fibre bucket, surrounded by carbon trim, ensconced within a full carbon fibre body that hides a lightweight fuel tank and wiring loom. There are lightweight forged wheels, the option of even lighter carbon ones, and further options like exposed carbon body panels, electric air con and a carbon hard top.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We\u2019re told the chassis accommodates a \u2018wide-track\u2019 suspension system with aluminium uprights and steering arms, and passive dampers. No surprise that you can option an active damper setup in if you so wish.<\/p>\n

AA is building just 35 of these special extra extra-lightweight Elises, at a cost of \u2013 hope you\u2019re sitting down for this \u2013 \u00a3350,000. Plus tax. That does at least include a donor Series 1 Elise. Which start from around \u00a320k for a good used one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Lotus Elise S1 is already a bit of a lightweight marvel, weighing in at around 700kg. A company called Analogue Automotive has stripped yet more bulk out of the thing and given it a single-seat, central driving position. It\u2019s this: the \u2018VHPK\u2019. We first got \u2013 well not so much \u2018wind\u2019 because that\u2019d blow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,237],"class_list":["post-2123914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-topgear-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2123914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2123914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2123914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2123914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2123914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2123914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}