The Elite was followed by the Elan in 1962 which had a light backbone chassis. The backbone structure was originally built in 1961as a test chassis to hold a new twincam engine. Lotus was developing a twincam cylinder head to mate with the 1500cc, 116E Ford block. This high-performance engine was to go into the new racing Ford Cortina sedan, the Lotus Cortina, but also became the power plant of the Elan.

The 88-lb steel backbone chassis had a central box section with forked steel channel sections at both ends. These held the engine and front suspension in the forward section, and differential and rear suspension in the back section. The front suspension uprights were supported by the front channel sections and a box-section crossmember. The rear channel sections, with a open channel cross member, supported the rear suspension towers. The rear crossmember also provided mounting points for the differential. Chassis stiffness: 4500 ft-lb per degree of twist.

A standard double wishbone front suspension and a strut type rear suspension were fabricated and installed on the chassis. The rear drive shafts had rotoflex joints (rubber donuts) to take up any change in length as the suspension flexed. Semi-inboard disk brakes were installed on the rear with outboards on the front. A floor pan and temporary fiberglass body were fitted. This prototype worked so well that it was adopted for the new open-top Lotus sports car design, the Elan. Lotus used the backbone chassis for its road cars (Europa, sedans, Esprit) for the next 25 years.