Lotus Esprit - Stevens-era

I've never been a huge fan of the Stevens-era Lotus Esprit, I much prefer the original Giugiaro design or the later Julian Thompson S4.

However, I've noticed the Stevens-era Esprit SEs are dirt cheap right now. A few examples well under $20K - that's a steal for a car with this level of performance.

A solid Giugiaro turbo model will run you $22K or so, where the Stevens-era are around $16-18K.

Am I missing something or do I need to get one of these now??!!

 

Ive owned two Stevens Loti, and love them, A ton of bang for the buck in my opinion. In fact, I have decided to completely restore mine. Just got out of the paint shop and going into an interior redo after Christmas, I don't care if I am loosing money, I truly love my Lotus.

I also have two Giugiaro Esprits..

 

I found a rough Giugiaro for sale locally. Interior is bad and the clear coat is peeling, rund rough too. Title is clear though and everything seems on the up.

A rough car scares me, but I LOVE the 80's Giugiaro models.

I guess owning an E-Type has made me brave

 

Is it this one?
http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/cto/2747085493.html

If so I know the owner and tried to buy it before leaving PA. I made him an offer and we almost had a deal but couldn't close it in time before I left the area.

In my opinion its worth grabbing.

 

Yes - did you see it in person?

Very strongly considering...

 

No didnt see it in person, But the owner uses it as a daily driver and was wanting cash to get his "real" daily driver on the road.


If used as a daily driver, no rust issues, and all it needs is paint, interior and the typical British car weekly maintenance what a way cool car for the money!

When we couldn't make a deal, I wound up with a 1985 model very similar but in slightly worse condition. Its going into a frame off restoration in Denver in January.


The problem with these cars as the deteriorate horribly if not constantly maintained, even just sitting for five years and the interior falls apart so finding one in great condition is next to impossible, hence the low prices.

I personally feel (and may be wrong) that in the next 10 years the Esprits that are restored properly or original in great condition are going to be worth some money, they are very rare and a blast to drive, easy to work on, and very exotic.

Honestly, how many times do you see a pre-Stevens Esprit on the road? NEVER... And when that low, wide, sleek car is cruising down the highway it is breathtaking.

 

OK - good to know. Look, I love the cars - they are a hidden gem IMHO.

Any car I get will be a weekend warrior - like my E-Type. I drive my cars year 'round, but not to commute or anything like that. I want something solid that isn't going to waste away once I get it. I also don't want to sink a small fortune into it...should be something I want to drive.

This car looked ok - the interior has me a little put off, it's grimy. Beggars can't be choosers - I figured for the amount he's asking, over time I could re-upholster and clean the car out.

It's all about the net - do I buy this and put $10K into it, or spend $18K for a much better example?

 

Good point!

 

Going to look at it today - what do you recommend I pay close attention to?

 

Just saw this post, sorry... How did it go today?

 

We held off as it was raining pretty bad up here. The car has some carb problems, he wanted to order a part for it, so we agreed to wait until after the holidays.

 

Esprit are a lot of fun, I had my 84TE out today. An amazing amount of power for a car from the 80's, it is easy to steer the car with the throttle. Handling is great.

Some things to look for
They can be very difficult to get running right, blow through carbs mean they are set up a little different than most cars. Until you take the time to understand how they work they can be a pain to sort out.

Fuel smells can be bad, the fuel tanks sometime rust out. There is also a vapor recovery line that runs around the back window, these are past due for replacement. When they crack they cause fuel smells to come in through the seat belt mounts. An afternoon with some tubing will fix it. Also the accel pump diaphgrams on the carbs leak when they get old. Of course they squirt fuel directly on the distributor when they fail.

Exhaust manifold sometimes crack, they recently made a batch of these so they are not impossible to find anymore, but they are proud of them.

Turbo should put out 8 psi at full boost. Straight up on the gauge. There should not be any lag. The power output is very progressive, in fact it is hard to tell it is a turbo without the gauge.

The transmission mainshaft is preloaded forward, if the bushing it presses against fails it can cause the the clutch to not release properly. Of cause it could also be due to the hydralics going out or having your foot to far to the left on the pedal. It is possible to loose quite a bit of clutch travel simply because your foot hit a step in the floor boards. If you move your foot closer to the brake pedal the clutch will go down further. Of course the pedal box is small and a lot of people will not be able to do that without hitting both pedals. Note I only have this issue in the summer when the plastic hydralic line gets a little soft on 100+ deg days. They do sell kits to replace the plastic line if you desire.

Other than that they are similar to most cars, except because they are fiberglass so rust on the body is not an issue and if you get a turbo the chassis is galvanized so it does not rust either.

Cheers Jim

 

Forget the Sevens and buy the Guigiaro... not so sure about the reliability of the turbo ones...they have their own unique issues

the S2 I bought last winter hadn't been driven since 1996 (was repainted 5 years ago by po and then he lost his job and once again it sat)

.... I don't do my own mechanical work but my mechanic did an engine out, had the belts replaced, carbs rebuilt and perfectly tuned, new tires, repainted the rims, had every suspension bushing and shift linkage bushing replaced, replaced the engine mounts with the fixed upgrade from the UK, fixed the pop up headlights all for about $4500.

My interior is quite nice tho, although someone redyed the seats black from the original red and they are dry and hard (will be releathered this winter)

I still need to do the hvac rebuild although it has not been an issue since its only a 3 season fair weather driver.



So....buy it right, make it right and drive it like hell....guaranteed to love it more than just about any other car ever made including modern day supercars...this is a car you can enjoy driving 9/10ths of its capability legally on the road.



DO IT


Beev

 

Thinking hard about it! I'm ok with a tired runner because I can do some of the grunt work myself. I'm more worried about things I can't do (e.g., electrical)...sounds like the car isn't all that bad, it's more cosmetic.

I'm close...it's not popular with my wife, but I really like these cars and would like something else to play with

 

My wife has not enjoyed any of my many cars over the years UNTIL i brought home the S2...she loves the look of it, and does not resist going along in it when I take it out for exercise.


beev

 

Hello,

i noticed the interest in the older Esprits here so I thought i'd post. I have an 84 I may be selling. Please take a look at the attached note I had sent to "whatsmycarworth.tv" , it has a good discription. i'll try to attach photos but if intesrted please contact me at [email protected]. Not sure on the price yet but maybe we can work something out.

Hello,

Five years ago I purchased a 1984 Lotus Esprit Turbo with 41K miles, completely original including paint. I could have kept it that way, nice patina but I opted for the perfect look. A two year restoration brought the car back to new condition.

New paint, original calypso red and new black louvers. All trim which showed any signs of aging was replaced with new OEM parts. The engine and trans were removed and completely rebuilt, although with 41K miles it didn’t need it. Engine specs were upgraded to the European model and later year (87) forged high compression pistons installed, which allowed the boost to be raised to 10PSI from 7.5. Indecently this was an approved engine upgrade which was being performed by Lotus. Also the engine exterior was brought back to a factory finish. Performance increased dramatically dropping the 0-60 from 6.5 to 5.0 s. The black interior leather was in excellent condition and only needed to be refreshed.

Probably won’t be selling it but was wondering what it’s worth. Springs, shocks and suspension bushings were all replaced. I’ve seen many in average condition but none at this level to compare a price. I paid $14.5K before the restoration, a bit high but I wanted to start with a car that was almost perfect.

Thanks,

Dan Mancini
View attachment LotusDone.pdf
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Nice! What are you asking for it?

 

God I love that engine pic and the car, drool!!!

 

Thats the tough part, after all this work its hard to sell it at loss. Trying to get the entire investment back isn't realistic. Decent ones sell in the high teens, but this is more than decent. I guess in the 20 range would be the most i could get.

I just wonder when the price will take off on these. Less than 150 were imported to the US in 84 and the parts are still very available and inexpensive. It's a tough decision but I'm considering an S4.

 

It's been a couple of years but I have seen very nice well sorted cars sell in the low twenties. Any more photos? My 84 is black with a red interior.

Cheers Jim

 

Sure. The files are PDF so you'll need to scroll down to see the multiple pics
View attachment EngineRed.pdf
View attachment LotusProject1.pdf

 

Fantastic and thanks for sharing.

 

Looks great thanks for sharing

Cheers Jim