Analogue Automotive VHPK: Lotus Elise S1 weight, power and price

Analogue Automotive has completed the first customer VHPK, a single-seat Lotus Elise S1 restomod weighing under 600 kg with 250 hp and a donor car included in the £350,000 price.

Author: Nikita Novikov

22:46 03-09-2026

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The first customer Analogue Automotive VHPK is complete: the Lotus Elise S1 restomod weighs less than 600 kg, produces 250 hp and costs from £350,000 before taxes. Buyers do not need to source an Elise separately, as the donor car is already included in that price.

The naturally aspirated Rover K-Series engine remains at the heart of the car, but displacement has grown from 1.8 to 1.9 litres, with forged components and parts machined from billet. The engine is paired with a five-speed manual gearbox and a limited-slip differential. On its official VHPK page, Analogue quotes a power-to-weight ratio of about 400 hp per tonne and a production run limited to just 35 cars.

The body is made from carbon fibre, while the driver sits alone in the centre. The layout is often compared with the McLaren F1, although Analogue itself traces the idea to single-seat Elises from the Autobytel Lotus Championship. The first customer car is finished in PK Purple, with matching Alcantara inside and gold exhaust tips. Carbon-fibre wheels are optional and save a further 12 kg.

The scale of the conversion becomes clear next to the original car. Depending on version, the Lotus Elise S1 weighed roughly 670–770 kg and produced 118–190 hp. That makes the VHPK more than 70 kg lighter even than the lightest S1 variants and about 60 hp more powerful than the Elise Sport 190. Low weight was precisely what made the early Elise stand out among four-cylinder sports cars.

For comparison, the modern Lotus Emira 420 Sport weighs 1421 kg after its weight-reduction programme. The VHPK takes the opposite route: rather than chasing ever more power, Analogue keeps a naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine and pushes the low-mass philosophy close to racing-car territory.

Orders for the VHPK are already open. With production capped at 35 cars, its £350,000 starting price is not the cost of a conversion on top of an Elise supplied by the customer, as some reports might suggest, but the price of the finished project including a carefully selected donor car.