This vehicle started life as a 2006 Elise. I purchased it used in 2008 and drove it on the street and track with moderate performance modifications.
In 2012 I took it out on track when it was way way too wet for my tires. Going less than half my normal speed on a long straight I hydroplaned, spun, and hit an armco barrier. I damaged the front and rear clams. This started the track dedication of the vehicle. I installed some of the early Sector 111 spec clams to replace the broken parts. While I was at it, I decided to upgrade the safety so I installed a custom cage fabricated by Racecraft Engineering and some Kirkey seats. I am only 6.1 but to have safe clearance between my head and the cage (and the broomstick planes) yet still have reasonable egress through the sides or top, the cage design interfered with the windshield so the windshield was eliminated.
At this point the car was so hacked up that I decided to ditch all unessential components. Dash, heat, AC, audio, interior panels, trim panels, unneeded coolant circuits, ABS, air-oil coolers and lines, running lights, windows, headlights, etc.
In 2013 I was having a particularly fun track session and let the fuel run low, leaned out at WOT, lost a piston ring land, ring, and bore. Upon disassembly I also found a wiped cam. My core went to Monkeywrench Racing and I bought a sleeved 10.5:1 block with some upgraded bits in the head. I installed that over the winter and bought a tune from BOE Fabrication.
The spec clams are fairly similar to the stock clams in shape, minus some molding/cutouts for lights. I did some custom fiberglass work to: eliminate the oil cooler openings in the front clam, eliminate the door window slots, eliminate the raised portion of the rear clam that covers the struts for the stock roll hoop, make some front wheel well vents at the edge of the doors, eliminate the "eyelashes" in the rear, and reinforce some of the weak areas with some encapsulated aluminum bars.
The "dash", side skirts, and wind splitter are all made from a single 4'x8' piece of Alumalite. They're light, strong, and come at a disposable price.
The whole thing (nearly) was rattle canned flat black so it didn't look so Frankenlotusish with the Canyon Red, black, white, and bare aluminum livery I was sporting. Knowing my risk tolerance on track, I'm sure I'd scratch/break/wreck nice looking bodywork in short order so rough finish fiberglass and rattle cans is the best I can justify.
The open cockpit is great for visibility and it keeps me cool even on hot days.