Was featured on MSN Autos, but came from Car and Driver, the M100 is on pictures 8 and 9 of the slide show, I still don't see why they think it should make the list, text follows:
Car and Driver
When people consider the 1990s, they tend to begin with Kurt Cobain and end with Britney Spears. But the first 18 months or so of the decade, coupled with the last three years of the 1980s, were a profoundly odd time. Remember Kris Kross and their back-to-front fashion? Lotus, it seems, was totally onboard with that microtrend, resuscitating the Elan nameplate and equipping it with an Isuzu powertrain that drove the front wheels. Aside from the company’s experiments with four-wheel drive in racing machines, no Lotus had ever had power routed to the front wheels. And as of this writing, no Lotus has done so since.
Lauded at the time for its excellent handling despite its unconventional drivetrain—available in 130-hp naturally aspirated and 160-horse turbocharged versions—the M100 Elan was the result of a significant amount of cash dumped into Lotus by its then-steward, General Motors. The General’s stake in Isuzu explains how it wound up with that powertrain (and, oddly, how Isuzu Impulses wound up with “Handling by Lotus” badges slapped on them). In a quizzical postscript to the M100 story, when the car’s run finished in 1995, Kia bought the design and produced its own version until 1999. Oh, if only Mahindra had done the same for the Esprit Turbo. —Davey G. Johnson
Car and Driver
When people consider the 1990s, they tend to begin with Kurt Cobain and end with Britney Spears. But the first 18 months or so of the decade, coupled with the last three years of the 1980s, were a profoundly odd time. Remember Kris Kross and their back-to-front fashion? Lotus, it seems, was totally onboard with that microtrend, resuscitating the Elan nameplate and equipping it with an Isuzu powertrain that drove the front wheels. Aside from the company’s experiments with four-wheel drive in racing machines, no Lotus had ever had power routed to the front wheels. And as of this writing, no Lotus has done so since.
Lauded at the time for its excellent handling despite its unconventional drivetrain—available in 130-hp naturally aspirated and 160-horse turbocharged versions—the M100 Elan was the result of a significant amount of cash dumped into Lotus by its then-steward, General Motors. The General’s stake in Isuzu explains how it wound up with that powertrain (and, oddly, how Isuzu Impulses wound up with “Handling by Lotus” badges slapped on them). In a quizzical postscript to the M100 story, when the car’s run finished in 1995, Kia bought the design and produced its own version until 1999. Oh, if only Mahindra had done the same for the Esprit Turbo. —Davey G. Johnson