If you're of a certain age, then Neither Elite nor David Braben need any introduction. As soon as I saw the HN headline my response was 'shut up and take my money.' 30 years after its release I still consider it one of the best computer games ever made.
Your memory's going, I'm afraid. The original version, the BBC Model B one, used a novel split-screen technique. The upper larger portion showing space was Mode 4, 1bpp at 320 × 256 if it was the whole screen, the bottom flight-deck portion was Mode 5, 2bpp at 160 × 256. Here's a screenshot, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/BBC_Micro_Elit...
No, you're right, the version shown is the second processor edition.
The pick of the bunch is probably the Master 128 edition, as it sports colour AND double buffering, though it won't be as fast as the second processor edition on account of the missing processor:
This what it looked like in its original form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIuOjEqY8Hk