Now Please Take This Lotus Elise and Get Lost on a Project Safari
By Team Dailyrevs April 18, 2025
Project Safari transforms the Lotus Elise S1 into a rally-inspired, trail-ready machine.
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Made in England by Get Lost Automotive, it’s road-legal and available to adventurous buyers.
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Bespoke suspension, off-road geometry, and tweed seats make it gloriously irrational.
From Featherweight Track Star to Forest-Hopping Hooligan
The Lotus Elise S1 is typically praised for its minimalism, balance, and clean-cut British road manners. But Get Lost Automotive—a brilliantly named UK-based outfit—decided the Elise deserved a second life. One with dirt under its fenders, a lifted stance, and a disregard for asphalt.
The result is Project Safari: a limited-production restomod that takes everything civilised about the Elise and throws it out the window. Then it bolts a spare tire on that window, adds rally suspension, and dares you to take the scenic route. Or no route at all.
This isn’t a parody build. It’s a rigorously engineered off-road reinterpretation of one of Britain’s most iconic sports cars—and it’s every bit as absurd as it is brilliant.
The Mechanical Madness Behind the Curtain
Here’s a closer look at what makes Project Safari more than a lifted Elise with Instagram bravado:
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Base Car | Lotus Elise S1 (Series 1) |
| Suspension | Custom-built with 100mm lift and long-travel geometry |
| Wheels & Tires | All-terrain rubber with high sidewalls for trail performance |
| Body Mods | Roof scoop, LED rally lamps, floating wing, underbody armor |
| Interior | Tweed + leather buckets, stripped dash, hydraulic handbrake |
| Finishing Touches | Cerakote hardware, spare wheel mount, and a healthy attitude |
This is not a hacked-together trail toy. It’s cohesive. Purposeful. And incredibly specific in its mission: to take the Elise where it was never meant to go—and do it with style.
Design Review: Unhinged in the Best Way
Visually, the Project Safari hits like a fever dream of WRC and British eccentricity. The floating rear wing is motorsport-grade, but cheekily oversized. The roof scoop? More Dakar than Hethel. And the LED lights and Cerakote-coated metal bits scream “we didn’t do this for likes, but we’ll take them.”
That said, it’s the smaller touches that elevate it: reinforced skid plates, strategic welds, and that tweed interior, which feels both posh and ironic—like rallying in a waistcoat.
This isn’t just a visual gag. It’s design with bite.
The Philosophy: Adventure Over Convention
Get Lost’s own words say it best:
“This is not a modified Elise. It’s not even a rally car. It’s for making bad decisions in beautiful places.”
And that’s the entire point. Project Safari isn’t trying to break lap records or enter hill climb events. It’s an adventure enabler. A gravel slinger. A vehicle for people who prefer switchbacks to switchgear.
It dares to ask: What if your sports car wasn’t confined to smooth roads and sunny Sundays? And it answers with “Hold my pint.”
Yes, You Can Actually Buy One
Despite looking like a glorified concept car or an Instagram stunt, Project Safari is very real, very road-legal (in the UK and Europe), and available to order. Built in small numbers, it’s customizable, functional, and entirely bespoke.
If you live outside the EU or UK, you’ll need to check import laws. But the company isn’t hiding this behind a “one-off” label—this is a product. Just one with more soul than spec sheet.
The Project Safari
Let’s face it: most modern sports cars are just variations on the same performance spreadsheet. Project Safari is different. It’s an act of rebellion. A mechanical raised eyebrow. A wonderfully dumb idea made smart through craftsmanship.
In a world of safe choices and crossover clones, this is the kind of lunacy we need.
Source : Get Lost