Congrats, beev, and welcome (back) to the addiction! If you haven't already, do consider thelotusforums for camaraderie and support. By the way, I am also a Lancia owner (Scorpion). Cheers, Tony
Tony...i have tried a couple times to pm you and your box is full!!! Please empty your pm box as I may have a couple questions for you. I've been registered on the lotus forums since its Esprit forums days....mostly lurk, but i did post up my new purchase. I love Scorpions! beeev
Looks great. Sometimes you appreciate things even more once you've lost them. Nice to get another go 'round with that classic. Got the Esprit itch myself. Every time i think I've decided on a series i like something comes along to change my mind (like the gorgeous V8 that passed by the other day out of nowhere). Had decided that i wanted an early turbo with the flairs since that is the era that i grew up in but that clean unmolested shape of yours is making me question yet again what series to get. I love cars.
I have seen this video and the car is the twin to my car (Mine is missing the pinstripe) and has the same faded green marcasite dash...and my experience to date has been quite similar to the experience this guy had driving 900 miles..nothing too dramatic but just the regular Lotus experience. Having owned a Europa Special was a good Lotus lesson 101 and prepared me for Esprit ownership. So far I have had the engine out and changed all suspension bushes and motor mounts ...did the engine mount conversion after eating two bonded engine mounts (defective parts), replaced the ring gear and starter solenoid, all new belts, sorted some fried wires, and had carbs serviced and then balanced. She is absolutely wonderful to drive, great road feel, can take corners better than the Europa, feels much more firmly planted, sounds amazing, and draws a crowd whenever parked (not always a good thing), has been called a Fiero, a Kit Car, a Lambo and a Ferrari and only a few times has it been recognized as an Esprit...they are so rare here in Canada. This winter i will remove the interior and completely do it over (no rips now, just hard leather and faded marcasite dash) and then fix the heating/aircon system. beev Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I've been eyeing a white series one, totally restored inside and out, for 23k-is that madness? I've loved this car since I was a spotty youth!
This was my Turbo which I owned for 12 years. The S3 and Turbo are all-round better cars than the earlier models. The "proper" rear suspension and galvanised chassis alone were worthwhile improvements. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I respectfully disagree... ...The later cars (post Chapman era) in particular the turbos were heavier, and did not handle with the finess of the early models (S1 and S2)...the suspension was reworked to handle the added stress of the extra hp but the sublime handling never returned to the Esprit after that. The early cars are also the most pure in terms of simplicity of style as originally penned... ...don't get me wrong, the Turbos were the supercar of the day and had other things going for them (and their own problems with turbo issues and cracked manifolds etc etc etc), ....but the car for a hardcore Lotus purist to own would be first an S1 and second choice an S2. The S1 will go down in automotive history as an iconic car, as true to the genius of Chapman as the early Elan, and early Elite, and of course the Super7 (not to mention the race cars) There has never known to be an issue with chassis rot on any S1 or S2 that has spent its life in North America.... that was only an issue for some neglected British cars... hence the galvanized chassis in later models. beev
Sweet car. Oddly enough i love the green alcantara interior. Wish they had that in the turbo models but all i ever see is that cushy and "puffy" looking leather on those.
Yes I would agree with all the above. The turbos were heavier and there was definitely a handling trade-off but they were so much more solid to drive, mine had not one creak or rattle (and nothing ever fell off!). Yes I had to replace the exhaust manifold (engine out). That was a crazy design which used bolts to connect it all together rather then studs/nuts and the bolts simply welded themselves all together and the heads would shear off when trying to remove. When I put it all back I used studs and nuts. Its quite strange to look back, in the 80's the S1 was the car which people such as Graham Arnold from Club Lotus advised "do not buy under any circumstances" and they became so worthless that many were simply dumped. Its not a surprise though that they have become something of a classic now. In the UK though the S1s and S2s rusted like crazy and it was not a case of neglect as it was impossible to get to the areas which rusted. Ditto the Elite MK 2 which got so bad that it was known for rear crossmembers to break off while driving, having rusted away. Its a shame that Esprits seem to have disappeared from the roads here in the UK. I have not seen one for the past 2 or 3 years and I live in London. Maybe I should buy one again...
This "green" material was actually black when new...it does not fade due to sunlight, it fades just because it did not hold the black dye from day one (even inside the glove box is the same colour as what is on the sun exposed dash). It is not "alcantara" but was known as Marcasite, had more knapp than alcantara...more like a crushed velvet lol Anyhow, many owners redye the material back to black using a suede dye.... My car in original form had red seats and red insets in the door panels which I can only assume looked sharp with the black Marcasite until it turned green and then the inside probably looked like a Christmas card ...so the red bits were redued black. My interior restoration will happen this winter despite being in excellent condition (leather is a little stiff)... the seats and door inserts will once again be new red leather...do I dye the marcasite black? or remove and leather wrap everything in black?...hmmmn.... something very retro about the fuzzy stuff...maybe keep it green and go with the Christmas look....still undecided what I will do. beev
Despite my thoughts on the differences between the early Esprits and the later models I would love to find a nice turbo to add to my garage alongside the S2. I agree with you that the early cars were definately more frail than later ones...but the turbos have the speed to definately proudly wear the Lotus badge (especially fast in their day) I can see how the damp British climate would be problematic to the early Espirts...with felt-like material and plywood bits here and there in direct contact with the frame and against the gas tanks...these areas would be sure to hold moisture against the metal...my car spent its entire life in California where all cars are preserved in wonderful condition (except paint), although I have never heard of a bad frame even in the eastern US/Canadian provinces. My car was complete and running (so/so) when I bought it for $15,000 Canadian...it had not been licensed on the road for 16 years prior to me...it did come with brand new tires and excellent paint .... and I have spent another $5,000-$6,000 to get her running perfectly, carb rebuild, new ring gear, starter rebuild, parking brake repair, valve adjustment, and with all new belts and all new suspension bushes, all engine seals, motor mounts and shift linkage bushes...and a complete electrical sorting.....far far far cheaper than attempting the same with a F 308. so for 20Gs I have a really really nice car that I have dreamt about since my college days in the late 1970s when I had a poster of an S2 on my dorm room wall, and she does not disappoint...fulfills all my expectations of an early Lotus....and a major leap forward from my past ownership of a Europa Special... with nice sounds, great road feel,and handling to die for! beev
how about the best of both worlds? i have a normally aspirated 2.2 euro S3 with lighter S2 body and the turbo chassis. the car is near mint but its been sitting far to be started without some tinkering. anybody interested? these are pretty rare in north america, ive only heard of about 4 or 5 other S3 in the usa. i much prefer the NA cars over the turbo ones in terms of purity
I think i'd mix liquid dye until i got the faded color right then sponge it over the green just to give the color an even appearance. I like the green, intentional or not. I'd been thinking about getting a 355 but for the reasons you mentioned not getting a 308 I think I'd prefer a Lotus Esprit. Just the idea of spending 50 grand on a car (355) then having 60k worth of demons to face in the following years ( valve guides, cats, ecu, shocks, sticky interior etc.) hanging over your head is just too overwhelming to me. An Esprit, with some research and time can be found well sorted in the low 20s and may need an additional 10k in the five years following. These monetary assumptions are something i could live with and if nothing else i could sleep at night and enjoy the car while I'm driving it and not worrying all the time. Really tough call between the early S1/S2 purity vs. the turbo's speed. As i kid i first noticed the Turbo Esprits in magazines and didn't know about the S1s 'till later so i'm partial to the turbos. I remember seeing Gia Coppola and Griffin O'neil driving an Esprit around Annapolis, MD as a kid and almost had a heart attack. Sadly that was the weekend Gia lost his life in the boat Griffin was driving (big deal at the time in our little town) . I remember reading all the newspaper articles on the case just to hear mention of the Lotus. Funny how a kids mind works..funnier still how it still works the same way as an adult sometimes LOL.
Wonder if anyone has put one of the Toyota engines in an early Esprit that was used in the Elise (i believe). Seems that would be the most reliable approach and wouldn't be sacrilege since lotus was always about the chassis and not so much the engine. Even putting a turbo on one of those Toyota engines sounds promising.
In the past people put various engines into Esprits and also Eclat/Excel. The favorite was the Rover V8 but thats a very old one now. I have heard of Toyota engines being used but dont have any details. Really the powertrains were always a bit of a fudge, with being constrained to using an engine which was less than ideal and gearboxes from Citroen vans which resulted in the worst gearchange ever. So different to the Ferrari V8 which was ground-up designed as a beautiful integrated engine/transaxle unit with no compromises. So I agree that it would not be sacrilege. Its definitely about the chassis which, as on all Lotuses before and after, was superbly torsionally stiff (unlike the 308) and perfectly tuned, with the Chapman principle of long suspension travel, relatively soft springing but tight damping.
