Elemental RP1 review

Let’s treat the inside and outside as one, as they flow together pretty seamlessly. It’s not the most dramatic looking lightweight, this, not when things like the BAC Mono and Ariel Atom exist. The exposed carbon central tub makes it look oddly segmented, although there’s plenty of visual interest for us tech geeks in looking at how brief the overhangs are at either end, how the rear diffuser accounts for more than half the car’s vertical height.

You slot down into possibly the most bucketed seat ever fitted to a car. It’s Elemental’s own design, intended to tilt you back and slope your thighs up into the feet-up seating position. That it feels natural is perhaps the best indication that Elemental is on to something here.

You are angled back, but it’s not super-extreme, so you’re soon comfortable. There’s nothing much to play with aside from the engine maps and a button that cycles through the dash display. There’s a rear view camera though, and that’s surprisingly useful, and the mirrors don’t vibrate in the wind which is unusual.

Being light, the bodywork is very flimsy – too flimsy at the moment. It creaks when you press it and the panel gaps are too large. However the giant rear clam does conceal an amusing secret. Because the engine is longitudinal (which helps centralise the weight and improve mass distribution) and the gearbox is mounted behind it, there’s empty space in the flanks. So Elemental gave it some shape and turned it into a pair of 100-litre luggage bays. They’re big. Deep enough to swallow cricket bats, capable of swallowing six-year olds (there’s a picture hereabouts).