Spotted – Lotus Elan +2

Mazda could have done more with the ND MX-5 RF.

It just feels so…half-assed.

I get it. There’s budgets, getting type approval, and avoiding corruption of the MX-5 né Miata’s core mission of lightweight, uncomplicated fun. But they could have done more.

Imagine it. Instead of the awkward halfway house that evokes the image of a certain Teutonic sports-car, Mazda gave in to the desires of the Miata’s least offensive detractors and developed a fixed roof model.

Maybe slightly wider, slightly longer wheelbase, and rear seats for the average household’s 1.14 children. It could have a decent boot, appreciable headroom, and a devastatingly sexy profile the roadster will never match. For you who worry, it wouldn’t be the first roadster to lend itself to a coupe, as opposed to the other way around.

Presenting, the Lotus Elan +2

Five years into the Elan’s production in 1967, the Plus 2 was introduced as a two plus two variant of the Lotus Elan coupe. Despite stretching the wheelbase nearly a foot, the car lost little of the roadster’s agility.

Carrying over the strong 1557cc twin cam, amazing steering, and 4-wheel double-wishbone suspension, the Elan +2 carries sporting chops that many of the compromised coupes of today cannot answer to.

Sitting here at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, perhaps slightly lower than originally and shod in sticky Toyo R888s, one could be forgiven for envying the owner’s privilege of attacking the coastal twisties with their significant other and height-challenged offspring along for the ride.

Seeing as the Elan is oft credited with being the design inspiration of the original NA MX-5 Miata, it seems nearly necessary that Mazda take a sincere stab at creating a production fixed roof variant of the ND MX-5.

Hell, we could get wacky and imagine Mazda shoving a Skyactiv-D engine and a twin-clutch gearbox in it, the latter of which I’d almost accept for the chance to see the ND as an honest coupe. The real star-shot though, and what we all secretly want, is a slightly wider, slightly stretched fixed roof fastback with three pedals and a Rotary engine. A rev limit around 9500RPM, and the ability to option a bare bones stripper model with a (gasp!) clutch-type LSD would do nicely.

Oh those dreams, how they twinkle.