In 1962 the Lotus Elan was launched. One of the company's first real attempts at a road car, it exceeded expectations and was far superior to its competitors at the time, it helped establish Lotus as a bona fide road car manufacturer. Due to its performance, it wasn't long before the Elan found its way on to the race track. Because the Elan was a road car, racing highlighted some shortfalls such as: rear wishbones twisting and flex in the chassis. In 1964 Ian Walker made further improvements to the Elan, including: a finned tail, cooling ducts for the differential and brakes, resulting the Lotus Elan Le Mans Coupe as featured below.