It took almost 18 months, but Jay Leno’s Lotus Elan 26R, one of his most ambitious restoration projects, is finally done. The end result is, of course, spectacular. It’s not really a restoration job, as Jay points out, but a custom take on the Elan that has made it better in every way.

The story of Jay Leno’s Lotus Elan is quite fascinating.  The reason it’s here is because Jay had a poster of a Road & Track magazine from the 60s with the picture of Jim Clark and his Elan, and he wanted a car like that.

In this video Jay and his mechanic mastermind Jim Hall will review the journey from the very beginning, and then take the car out for a test drive:

Jay’s custom Elan weighs just over 1,300 pounds which is astonishing, and is powered by a twin cam engine that makes something like 220 horsepower. Almost everything in this car has been modified and enhanced, apart from the shape of the body, and in some cases built from scratch. It is undoubtedly one of the finest projects ever undertaken at Jay Leno’s Garage.