Very nice! How does it run? Are those tires oversized?
They do look very nice in white. If it were me I'd probably lower it to euro spec ride height - The lifted US height looks a little ungainly to me. Still a sexy car regardless. A friend here in australia recently picked up a first year turbo in white, and will be doing a 600 mile road trip in it to bring it home. I'm expecting it to be a comfortable journey and a lot of fun! For an 80's exotic these cars are remarkably liveable. Cheers, Earlysport
cool... i wish mine was a S1 or S2. the early cars are so pure,simple and stunning. best of luck with your search and please share it with us when you do pick one up.
If that's an ex-UK car and a 1981 dry-sump white Turbo it might be the car I used to own! I believe it went to Australia. Pictures please when you can!
Pure and stunning it may be, but an early S1 is a PITA. Sheds belts (which are extremely difficult to access) because the motor mounts are jello. Also, the doors sag, the radiator fans fail often, the headlight motors work sporadically, etc. Beautiful, comfortable, surprisingly spacious, great ride/handling compromise but also painfully slow in acceleration.
most likely not a dry-sump, bbs wheels means 5 lug wheels. most if not all dry sumps came with 4 lug compomotives if memory serves. agreed....S1 are possibly the worst built cars in the world for that era. you go to Home Depot instead of an autoparts store for parts if you want to restore them. that dosent stop me from wanting one! i have an non turbo S3 (probably one of five in the usa) that is SUPPOSE to be the most trouble free G-bod esprit of them all. Making a car go fast is probably the easiest thing to accomplished these days.
I would love to see some pics of a US spec S3. I loved that car in light metallic blue, particularly.
My 1981 dry-sump car has the BBS 5-stud wheels. Only the very early Essex and a few other non-Essex had the Compomotives. They switched to the BBS very early as there were issues with the Comps.
All the S1 issues can be fixed. Not heard of belt-shedding though on the S1. But the S3 / Turbo is all round a better car. Considering Chapmans designers at the time told him it would be impossible to productionize the Guigaro concept design at all, they didnt do too bad a job.
It's actually a 1980 dry sumo with factory compomotives, roof stereo etc. I believe one of the first few white 1980 Essex sped cars built. A special car IMO.. Cheers Earlysport
Ah that one. I have seen pix of it. Very nice! There were 3 Essex spec in white AFAIK. Mine was one and had all the Essex livery etc but not the roof stereo so its not mine. I had to remove the silver parts of the Essex stripes on mine in the end as the silvering had started to corrode under the vinyl and was looking terrible. I really miss that car, it was a really well put together example, I think they made a special effort on the first dry-sump Turbos.
I think you're right about the early dry sumps being put together very well. I go to say that mine which was built in Feb 1981 is very well put together. Having said that it was made for the boss, Colin Chapman, so they had better got it right!
I have a question about my 84 Esprit Trubo's braking system that maybe an Esprit owner or expert can comment on. My car has this device plumbed into the braking system, that almost looks to me like an ABS pump. Can someone tell me what this is? Image Unavailable, Please Login
no such thing as a US spec S3 but a few were imported grey market. here is mine... its a garage queen and been sitting for years at my folks place. can seem to find the time to pick it up and bring it home. anyone interested? im thinking of selling since esprit prices seem to be on the rise... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Curious! It does look like an ABS pump but not original fitment. Not sure why someone would have fitted this. The standard servo is still there.
cnpapa, is that your Mangusta in the photo w/ the white Lotus? If so, that's gotta be a rare bird in the US. How many are here, maybe 1 or 2 dozen?
Amazing! Do these Mangustas ever appear in public? I haven't seen one since the Daytona 24 Hrs from about 18 years ago. Very cool car w/ the butterfly engine covers. I recall R & T saying it had some spooky handling, but I'll bet that could be tuned out w/ tire size and/or shock & other suspension work.
My '94 S4. These two Esprit's will be together soon at a local cars & coffee. Given the limited number of these cars what are the chances of seeing that? I just want to add that a lot of questions about Esprit's and a great source of basic information about them can be found at the Lotus Esprit Fact File and support from fellow Lotus owners and even the factory - you can email them and get a reply w/I hours! - is first rate. Buy wisely, bring everything up to spec and you will have a good experience. No car I've had has gotten under my skin like my Esprit.
I am pretty damn excited to be adding this to my garage. A HUGE thanks goes out to Chris for his guidance. Just 59 cars came to the US and I feel fortunate to be the caretaker of this one... . Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
