Lotus Elise The Lotus Elise was first introduced in 1996 and quickly gained acclaim for its light weight design and exceptional handling characteristics. Designed by Julian Thomas, the Elise embodies Lotus philosophy of achieving performance through light weight rather than brute power. Initially lunched with 1.8 liter Rovee K- Series engine, the Elise later offered variants with engines sourced from Toyota 2ZZ GE engine from Celica GT-S and Corolla T- sports model #lotuselise | Torontoautoshow