I love the beautiful clean lines of the early cars and 160 hp in a 2,200 lb car wouldn't worry me. It compares pretty well with the 911 2.7 US spec cars of the same period. But I think we should be quiet while these cars are still undervalued - wouldn't want them to take off like Ferrari!
It wont effect my continued ownership of one, but I really don't see their market taking off any time soon, ala the 308. The cars are too rare, lack even reasonably available techs/dealers/indy shops that know what they are doing and suffer from too bad a reputation to really take hold. They are fun cars and from 93 on are actually pretty uasable on a daily basis. Just simply not on enough peoples radar screen, which is good for those who know, own or want to buy one.
It's good see a positive thread about the Esprit here. I own a 2004 Esprit FE, the 4th to last one off the assembly line. If Esprit ownership is on your bucket list, definitely buy one. My only advise is to spend more up front for a well documented car and to make sure you have a mechanic who knows them well. Image Unavailable, Please Login
You know, people can scoff all they like about the quality, reliability etc, but to my eyes the Esprit just looks the business and I don't care what anybody says. I do have the luxury of owning many cars to drive and so the Esprit is not my only car that I have to depend on, but I think it still looks special whenever I look at it or take it out It's simply cool!... Especially the G cars.....: ) Lovely looking car btw!
... and when you get your car, I hope you will take it to NO & BR events. I'm just 3 hrs up the road from you & look forward to seeing it!
Chris, once again props for going this direction. These cars are the shizzle, another great (specific early car) choice in your world class collection. White or navy blue caught my eye back in the day...Ferrari Los Gatos had em new amongst the f-cars, and I always liked the 'different' cars, so focused in on these, AND James Bond was shagging birds while driving his white amphibious one around , definitely had my attention, late 70's...early 80's
Thanks, Mike. I seek out what I like and have always loved the Esprit. When I was a kid I thought it fascinating that a 4 cylinder car could compete with cars with engines two and three times their size. That plus the timeless Giugiaro design make the Lotus truly special. I've got a few lines in the water so hopefully I'll find something spectacular. White or blue would definitely fit the bill. Perhaps a dark green car could be cool as well. The JPS cars are also one of my favorites. Really so many cool liveries.
I had a 94 S4 and a 97 V8, one of the first in the US, bought it with about 000 miles, was driven by Arnie Johnson, CEO of Lotus USA. The V8 was a big step over the 4 cylinder in terms of low end grunt. Took the exhaust off and replaced them with Quicksilver tips, great sound. Still have the original exhaust in my garage (free to anyone who wants it, shipping only). My criticism was the transmission, the Renault box had to be replaced once and the rotors warped...covered under warranty, other than that really enjoyed the car. For those that don't know, the Esprit V8 has a pseudo launch mode. Rev the car to 5000+ RPM's for about second, let it back down to idle, then go. The factory tweaks the boost, I think to get the best zero to 60 times. You get a very obvious increase in power for about 10 seconds. MB
Here's one for you Chris! Same colour as mine and very low mileage, although not quite as low. Looks good though! Autosport Designs
Actually this is the car that sold recently at Bonhams for $46k Bonhams : 1983 LOTUS TURBO ESPRITDesign by Giorgetto GiugiaroVIN. SCCFC20A8DHF60363 Engine no. LD910830720905
I just recently purchased an 84 G series turbo. I own a turbo carrera and a couple of early 911's and honestly can't believe the G series Esprits are so undervalued compared to their contemporaries. I couldn't resist adding one to my collection. Having spent some time in and around the car, I also think the comments about difficult maintenance etc are misplaced. These are simple cars - engine much easier and cheaper to rebuild than a 930 for example, and even the body can be lifted off the rolling chassis in a single day's work. Galvanised chassis means mine has zero rust, the fibreglass body is really well made, and most parts are available and again significantly cheaper than Porsche. Honestly too I get way more attention in the Esprit than in any of my Porsches - I've never seen so many iPhone's pointed at me. People love these cars. I also love the thing to drive, and am really happy a friend put these on my radar. If they don't dramatically increase in price then I'll have to question everything I know about classic cars.. I suspect it might be because Lotus hasn't had a halo car since the Esprit. The Elise and Exige are fun toys but not aspirational like a GT3 or 458 etc., hence I think the Esprit has just been forgotten. There's been no marketing as such. A few magazine articles and an auction result or two and that could easily change, and with less than 3000 G series turbos manufactured supply is mighty slim.. Cheers Earlysport
My Esprit was a dream to own. With the 328 it was all over my walls growing up. I'm lucky to have owned my S4 for 13 years. Besides routine maintenance and some choice upgrades, the car has been stellar. It pushes all the right buttons for me. I will add a Italian car to the garage soon but making the choice for the Lotus first was a good decision. The performance is excellent compared to others of the era and the rumors of unreliability are just false and mostly made by people who haven't owned one. The prices of these cars will not be a bargain for long. They are too rare! For those who have one...continue to enjoy the car! Drive it and maintain it and let's keep proving that these cars rightly are excellent exotics! Image Unavailable, Please Login Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
They are bigger yes but not too big. 20" in rear and 19" in front. This way I can preserve the factory wheels as they are hard to come by. Image Unavailable, Please Login Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Excellent post and so very true.. The g Esprit is a blast to drive and a huge attention getter. Going down the road its a true work of art. Enjoy your esprit!
Have the 1996 Esprit V8 for 10 years, and now got 60K km on the clock, and the 2005 F430 Spider gated for 3 years with 18K km now. Great cars. Keeping both in top conditions. The Esprit gets more heads turned in the city. When the value of the F430 gated goes up, the fun of driving it is diminishing in the worry of higher mileage hurts the value
A dealer friend of mine happened to have this incoming inventory and I just couldn't resist this '83 Turbo, 27k miles, one owner, California car. Should be home to me soon. Image Unavailable, Please Login
cnpapa 24, I'm glad you got a turbo. When I earlier opined that you may be disappointed with a normally aspirated Esprit, you said you wanted the original styling. I think since you now have a turbo, but it's a pre-Peter Stevens body, I think that for your preference you have the best of both worlds. Enjoy it and congratulations! Hope to see you at some Louisiana show & shines, etc.
Looks great! It has the big original style graphics on the side. I think most US cars had smaller ones. BTW a good forum for G cars is The Lotus Forums | Official Community Partner of Lotus Cars where they have very sensibly segregated the technical section into models and also G cars and Stevens cars. There are a few of us there who know the early turbo cars very well in case of issues.
