This is one of those cars that no one buys when it’s new but when it’s gone, everyone will miss it and wonder why more weren’t made...

I feel like this is the "don't cry because it ended, smile because it happened" moment in automotive history. I wanted one since 2004. Still do.

you know its gonna be a quality video without even watching it

Caterham should strike a similar deal for the rights to the elise like they did with the lotus 7 that has been a real success story for them

Thank you all for watching. Still seems hard to believe that this is the Elise's swan song. The particular heritage paint on this car is Azure Blue, by the way. And the podcast I mention is the Stage by Stage Podcast by Trevor Agnew - the Rob Wilson episode being the specific one I talk about. There is also a Rob Wilson video on Carfection if you want to search that out.

I say this is a more emotional farewell than the Zonda ever deserved

Legends never die, rest in peace.

The conclusion is absolutely spot on. Perfectly worded.

I love the stereo... straight out of 2009!

I took my S3 out of hibernation on the weekend to go and get some essentials, mini toilet rolls etc. Driving down a mucky, sodden Welsh B road in the Elise reminded me of why I love driving. Thank you Lotus for giving the world one of the greatest little sports cars to ever turn a wheel.

I can’t believe how good this car looks. That blue is epic.

As an owner of an S1 Sport 135, I almost shed a tear at the end of that great farewell video. Thank You Henry.

I am happy to have fullfilled my childhood dream and bought an exige when they were still available. You could save the money but I never spent it better, life is short and in the end it comes down to what you always wanted to do and never did.

This is basically a love letter to the Elise! Loved it.

See the level of praise journalists currently lavish on the excellent Alpine while the (at least as excellent) Elise is lucky to appear as a footnote in the same article.

I just love it when Henry does his thing ✌ entertaining! Fun facts for the geeks! Heart and soul!

In 5 years these Elise's and Exige's will sky rocket in value

A real shame its being taken out of production. Would've been nice for it to carry on as a heritage product slotting below all the new ones. People won't realise what they've lost, till its too late.

10:23 That bobble sticking out the roof in the breeze... 😂

Don't have to imagine how nice the Final Edition is when you've heard it from Carfection, just left yearning for one. Oh and the winter moss everywhere on track except the racing line... 👌🏼Lotus. [please may a new badge read 'Esprit']

I had a lotus Elise 220, it was the best car I ever had. So much fun and built quality perfect

These things are just magical. I’ve been lucky enough to own a series 2 Exige cup 240, and now have an S1 motorsport Elise race car which I’ll keep forever. I think an Elise is all I’ll ever need to be happy.

Thank you Lotus, end of an era

Kinda makes you wish you had 46k just laying around right? This has always been a dream car of mine and as sad as I am to see this gem of a machine go, as you so eloquently put it, it is so that new automotive projects can be underway for the new generations to come and the bar that was set high by this model can be met and surpassed. Brilliant video as always Mr. H! Here’s to finding the next shiny new gem, Cheers!

Beautiful tribute to the Elise.

As soon as he said that this is a final edition car, I started crying. I still remember being about 6 years old when I saw my first Lotus Elise, the sun was setting behind the beautiful red car. I wish I could own one of these literal masterpieces. I will miss them with all my heart.

20 years ago I was tooling around in an S1 that was pretty much this colour. I loved every minute of owning it, did some track days and on track lessons in it, took it to Le Mans with my brother, and generally had a blast. I traded it for a 911, and honestly I miss the Elise more; in fact I miss it's purity, simplicity and finesse more than any other car I've owned. I have to admit, this got me a bit nostalgic... So long Elise, we were lucky we knew you.

Still one of the best drivers cars out there.

A great send off, I just hope Lotus continue to serve their core customer base and don't just start chasing the super rich

Never wanted an Elise. Always thought a Cayman/Boxster was a better all-rounder and therefore the better buy. But Carfection turned me now. I almost had tears in my eyes in the outro when he said "Thank you, Elise.". I now want an Elise. And I want one badly. Thank you Carfection.

You know when you see an eagle, or a shark and marvel at how they've evolved to perfection for their environment and stayed the same for seemingly eons.............. Great video, thank you

I’ve only ever been in one of these. It was brand new at the time. R- reg! In a dark metallic purple colour. It belonged to a work colleague of my late mother. He very kindly gave me a passenger ride to work one morning. I clearly haven’t forgotten about it... (he didn’t rape me) Such an exciting journey/car! I’d love one of these new final edition ones! Great video! 👍

Kind of wanted to swap the R300 for a Sport220 for a while, but now I really want a Sport240!

There’s just something about the way carfection reviews the cars... it makes me want to buy every single car. Would love to see Henry review an old banger or Fiat mulitpla!

Always a massive fan of the Elise

I had an S1 Elise from new. Did 18k miles in mine as an everyday car back in 98. Great car, no issues except tearing my trousers a few times getting in and out. Looking forward to the new car. I hope it's light and a manual.

Thank you for all you guys do, it's been a blessing to be able to look forward to your videos during this pandemic and you've given me a lot of joy. Be well and safe, fair winds. ❤️

An amazing British sports car with amazing Style, not overcomplicated, just right, well done lotus👏👏👏👏

I've been daily driving an Elise for 6 months now. It snowed the other day and I had to drive my 911 C4. The lotus makes the 911 feel rather porky and numb. I still love it. Just not as much.

I was late to the Lotus game and am still original owner of 2008 S2. I love this car! If you own one don’t ever sell it before taking it to a track. Then you will never sell it. ;)

I loved my S1, ordered before they we on sale, only old age made me move on to an Evora in 2017, also much loved. Great video many thanks

That exposed manual is beautiful. I want one soooo bad...

Man my high school mathematics teacher has a Lotus Elise Sport 220. I've always loved the Elise, hopefully one day I'll be able to own one!

Lotus is one of the last bastions for lightweight and purist cars without being like atoms and monos, I hope they succeed the Elise with a new gen drivers car!

Keeping my S2 Exige forever 😎

I still miss my Series 2 Elise. Great car, it did let me down on a couple of occasions, but then, its a Lotus 😂. Love that new dash! Another world class video Henry 👌🏼

This is sad :(. The Elise is THE FIRST sports car that caught my attention when I was a kid, and what kick-started my love for auto-sport. I'll never forget it was a bronze color with black trim, and a few decades later I'd saved up for one and bought the Elise as my first sports car. I know it sounds silly, but I enjoyed driving the Elise just as much as a Porsche GT3, it may have been down on power but once you connect with it, it becomes an extension of you like no other car.

I totally agree. Car roofs exist to keep moisture out of the interior, nothing more. #RoadsterLife

Well done Henry. Watching you pedal a V6 Exige around Hethel was memorable and this is too. End of an era really. What a wonderful driving machine an Elise is and a lesson in what is essential and what is optional in a sports car. Love the bobble hat too, testament to the brave souls who decided to take their clamshelled machines rallying!

More than two decades and the base is still there one of the most iconic lightweight roadster it really is a pure gem. There's not a lot model's that resist this long, but the Elise just came to stay between two very different era's and that shows the real DNA of Lotus. The same formula perfected until this last edition which is the cherry on Top, is always going to be a reference. Since I saw it for the first time this is the one my favourite by far. All the keys from Colin for building a good sports car are all there, i going to miss this true old school.👏👏

I bought a new Elise 220 and it was amazing. As a 24 year old at the time it was the absolute best, as I had no care for practicalities!

Thank you, Henry. Yesterday, I had to charge up the battery, and towel out a pint or so of rainwater from my 2005 111S. Ran a cloth over the green stains on the roof before I hooked it over the gate, and scarfed up (not entirely sure about the bobble hat). A mile or so into a ahort lockdown supermarket trip (just a chicken and bottle of plonk) the engine was warm enough - and the A34 dry enough to push up towards 5,500 a few times - after that don't remember looking at the dash - and was wide-smiling for the first time in weeks. Pure joy. Somehow you don't remember anything bad after a run in a Lotus...

What a fantastic video. This broke my heart, i sold my lotus not too long ago i have lotus in my vains this was so sad too hear. I wish i kept it. Maybe in the future i buy one again. Thank you.

Epic car... great video.. love the pull key out shot at the end... but WHAT NEXT LOTUS?

Such an icon. I'm sad to see their run end, but SO impressed they made it to 25 years. It's fully deserved, no doubt, but damn impressive. Whatever Lotus has come up with, has one hell of a pair of shoes to fill. Great video, as always

How has this channel still not hit over a million subscribers?

Henry Catchpole always did a great job showing us cars.

Very nice they choose Azure Blue for this special edition; I own an Elise S1 in Azure Blue and I love this color!

Great send-off, Henry! It's one of the greatest cars ever made.

The Elise was a classic in its life time which is extremely rare.

I can't even afford an early one and yet, here you are, _teasing_ me with this beauty

Lotus concentrating on the driving experience rather than becoming embroiled in an arms race for ever increasing power figures has meant together with the innovative engineering, as Harry says, the Elise is more relevant than ever. I was the weird kid at school who didn’t care for the products from Modena or Sant’Agata, but instead loved the lithe, lean cars emerging from a couple of counties away. It’s still the case today. I’m fortunate that I’ve been able to own three Elises in my driving career, and every time I drive my current one (an S3 220) it’s a wonderfully absorbing experience that thanks to the values of leaving out the excess, I’m less worried about being able to continue to enjoy in the future. Lotus has an unenviable task of replacing a legend, and without the Elise they probably wouldn’t be around to have the consideration.

I truly hope a company like Caterham can get the rights to the Elise design to continually build the Elise like they did the Lotus 7/Caterham

The talky bits and the watchy bits are all just marvellous. This guy, and the team, they just get cars. Makes one understand and appreciate the plucky British... welll.. carmaker.

One the best and most iconic sports cars ever made. What a legend.

If you can find the documentaries on how the original Elise was designed and engineered go and watch them. Amazing work.

I was asking my local dealer yesterday about whether Lotus was making a final edition of the Elise and Exige - and then this arrives in my inbox! What a bizarre coincidence.

Initial reaction is just how small this car is! Henry is a giant next to it.

Henry and Lotus... this video is quintessential, as simple as that. Chapeau bas!

Christ, the intro made me realise I’m 25yrs older than when I picked up my Elise! How has a quarter century passed so quick???? Haven’t driven it in 9yrs..it’s out to pasture in the garden as I soon will be.

Thanks for the test drive of this final Edition

2:00 “If it’s not raining... may as well have the top off, then!” My S2000 and I live by this mantra

I adore my Elise S1 and I really hope that what come next is just as exciting and surprising. Also, it really makes me laugh that Lotus left the stereo in retail demo mode. They really don't give a shit about anything except the driving!

So pleased I owned an Elise S3 220 Sport, was a fantastic car I used to love the feeling of being in a Class C racer as Henry said. My car had a hard top and it was always difficult to get in and out and it was my only criticism. Great car to drive, reasonable ownership costs and I lost very little when I sold it. Hope they don't go down the luxury route with the 131...it still needs the Lotus DNA.

Have loved those little beauties from day one sad to see them go

I can only imagine that they'll replace it with something that's just not as good, and far more expensive.

What a car. Perfect for windy, pothole-free, mountain passes, in the sunshine.

Had an Elise & Exige in the past...currently drive a 911...but just reserved a build slot for the new Type 130..roll on July & it’s unveiling 🤞

9:05 I love how the bobble is flying in the wind. Funny and stylish at the same time. 👍😀

Beautiful farewell to an absolute legend of a “Driver’s car”👏😭

Having had 2 Lotus Elises' (Elisi?) I may have slightly crashed the first, it wasn't my fault, it never is, I can confirm that they are just brilliant and this one just looks even more brilliant (er?) Nice one Mr Henry Sir. On my to dream of list

Brand new in 2021, and it still has a classic Halfords Sony stereo from 2001. That’s why I love it 🤷🏼‍♂️

Wow, wow, wow... bravo! It’s at a point where every review is a very special and memorable one now. Thank you Carfection and Henry.

If your skills are beneath that of a race car driver, this is arguably one of the best DRIVER'S car on the planet. What good is a car like a Chiron on the street? You can use all of the power of that blessedly reliably Toyota engine, with a chassis that communicates everything in a meaningful fashion. Everything you need and nothing you don't.

Excellent video Henry, thanks. I remember the excitement of picking up the first black S2 elise in Scotland. LOTUS has run through my veins ever since.

A video that gives of the same feeling as the Elise itself. What a fantastic piece of work, I enjoyed watching that very much!

Excellent review - I bought an S2 Elise from new in 2003 - it was absolutely superb and I loved pretty much everything about it, apart from it smelt of glue in the cabin for the first few months 😁. Truly one of the great British sports cars - you will be missed 🥲

That was simply brilliant !

Big fan of your videos and this one is no exception. The outro, however, is perfect and made me a little emotional. Well done again. The photography and Henry’s delivery in these videos are sublime.

Mr Catchpole, your rapidly turning into my go to commentator on all things cars, reminds me of the old top gear reviews, fun, detailed and very well shot... I commend you, keep it up.

A other beautifully crafted video Harry...nobody does it better than you.🙂🙂🙂🙂

It's very hard to put the emotion of driving into words, but you seem to capture it and express it perfectly every time. Top video, and car👌

Recall driving the Series 2 111R over 10 years ago and it’s still a lasting memory of how simple yet connected a road car can be. It was a similar colour too..good times. Hopeful for the future of the brand but not optimistic..

I still remember falling in love with the first gen Elise on the Cover of "Auto Motor Sport"! must have read that road test 100+ times until i finally got to drive one a few months later. sadly as an 18 year old I couldn't get ahold of the money. and later in life shitty priorities got in the way, oh well. still got to a lot of them. Still in love 25 years later. Honestly there are a lot of positives of Elise turning 25 and getting retired! Lotus still exists! Lotus secured enough money to develop a new one! can't wait to fall in love again!

We have sadly been without the Elise in the US for almost a decade now. I wish we had gotten the base Club Racer version with the 135hp engine.

Great video, Henry!

I had a supercharged S1 Elise 15 years ago. 230BHP & 710KGS. Madness that 15 years later the latest production Elise still isn't as quick. Still fancy one of these as a weekend car though!

So sad! I've driven a lot of cars, but the Elise remains the best road car to drive, for me at least. In fact I'd go further than that: nothing comes close. I've owned two Caterhams, a 2-Eleven, raced numerous single seaters, a classic, and a hot hatch, and I've owned a variety of FWD, RWD and 4WD road cars. I've driven an even bigger variety of cars. The Elise is the best from a driving point of view, by quite a margin. I also owned one for 8 years; the longest I've ever kept a car.

The Elise is a dream car of mine, has been for over a decade, still hoping I can save enough from my work to buy one some day. It's sad to hear this 240 is going to be the last.

Miss my 111R so much...Cheers, Henry.