I'm buying a Lotus Esprit S1 with a James Bond 007 spec from 'The Spy Who Loved Me'. 

From a near perfect Esprit to a Macca and back again. What a journey. Had all sorts in my garage, but my mint/original TVR Cerbera stirs the soul like nothing else, so it stays and I never even dream of the unthinkable.

Love this car , most iconic bond car to my age group, I like that your old one had the PPW reg similar to the original bond car 👍👍👍✅

Great car!! I have an S1 505H and a Pre HE 1976 White XJS

Thanks for all the clear information, you come over as such an honest guy, just found your channel and working my way through your videos. Wish I hadn't watched your 355 videos as the need for one is beginning to take over my life!

Superb choice and a good investment. Always been one of my dream cars; The spy who loved me is ultimate Bond gadgets era, but I'm 6' 6" so no headroom for me alas!

It was in "For your eyes only" too. Blown up at the beginning, but they had a burgundyish one later on as well. Got to love them👍🏻

I don't care if this wasn't as fast as later models, etc. The lines are so exceptionally clean on the S1, and of course the Roger Moore Bond association hits the target just like the sub missles launched at the helicopter. Beautiful! May you cherish it for as long as you can!.

I agree. Iconic car.

Still my all time favourite Bond car

People laughed at me when I said Buy an early Esprit they have to go up, and they have, when properly fettled

If your previous one didn't run right then something was amiss, just merely being carburetted wasn't the issue. That said, adding FI to the original engine will probably score you a modest increase in performance. Just do it all sympathetically and in such a manner that it can all be put back to stock if the car's next caretaker wants to do that. Should be a smashing car in any case by the time you've got everything sorted, so wishing you the best with it!

What a great iconic choice in white with the ultracool tartan interior, and Wolfrace mags. You might consult Lotusbits re engine upgrades, throttle body injection and reliability mods given their experience with the wedgy Lotuses. Would like one of these to go with my 69 Elan. Looking forward to future videos-good luck and thanks for sharing.

I look forward to seeing you work on this

I bought my S1 from California unseen and it was exactly as seen in the photos. I would say to insure it against transport damage as I had some forklift damage underneath that they paid out for.

Fantastic! Just found your channel, so I'm a new subscriber.

I had bought a 1986 Alfa Romeo GTV6 back in 1993, one owner with 78K on the clock. All maintenance records,, for $2500, .. add a Zero behind it Now. Bond car in Octopussy. Love you're Lotus !

Just found your video. Great watch....👍. I've owned and still own Lotuses(Evora and 90s Elan at the moment), Owned 3 Esprits, later ones but never a S1(Holy grail...😎). Like your idea of fuel injection but please keep it stock engine. I know spider used the zetec but to lift the lid and not see a 900 series engine in an Esprit it loses it originality, I think anyway. Only my opinion and end of the day it is your car and whatever you do I'll look forward to watching the videos on the car. Very best of luck it all...👍

Lovely motor right enough.

Hi, David here, Steed Jag project fan. Looks like u are doing it again, choosing a great project. - Also, as u say, very realistic price and a good starting point. Cant agree on spending same amount as car on a cloth re-trim though!! - I am convinced u could get an excellent job done for less than 30% of that bill.... 4 ITBs should retain great induction sound and add reliability and reduce spit back. Try bike units at a fraction of cost of Jenveys / similar? I had a 100% mint gold Elite with oatmeal leather back in the day...my sister had a black one at the same time - they looked great parked nose to nose in the drive :) Fit a turbo roof console with stereo? :) Hows the Steed mobile progressing?

Might I make a suggestion, I've always played around with the idea in my head of putting the Elise's motor in one of these, maybe you should try that for a project, like toyota reliability, gas mileage and capability with the old school bodywork and know how of Colin Chapman and you have the facilities to put a project like that into play, I dont, plus lotus did it themselves to replace the aging rover motor, so it kinda works out and would be in the spirit of the car I figure also if you want a perfect gift for the wife, Mercedes 500 SL , schmee-heee 150, you always have to do his name like Cryten trying to call rimmer a smeghead, went by a place in the US during one of his videos that had cars in it so I took a look and they have one in lipstick red with a black interior, for pretty fair money I noted it and bring it up as my mothers always wanted one, never been a fan however, like its funny for the most part with mercedes, the era they were best at, was when they were that most boring save for the top on the thing, which apparently literally likes to explode on the driver, like how hard is it to reach back and put it up like a corvette lol like atleast use an air hose so you can hear the leak and NOT get drenched in hydralic fluid lol also the engine note, alot of that comes from the sound of the carbs, modify it for electric ignition, put an EFI unit on it, that will improve the power, reliability and predictablity of the motor without ruining the attitude of it as cars were using cap and rotor all the way up until the 90's I found, the other thing is the radiator, which is key to the cooling, something moore noted with the thing in sardinia it overheated, so it needs a better radiator and fans, or maybe its got the sunbeam tiger problem where they didnt seal the radiator properly, as you have to make sure it goes one way, and doesnt suck the hot air of the engine bay by accident which that one was doing, like as contrary to basic sense this seems, you have to seal the sides so the airflow goes one way like those are what I would do if I wanted to keep it stock, plus the different in electronic ignition well it was noted on the 73/74 dodge charger, that it was like the emmisions and detuing stuff had never happened with how much of a difference that made now imagine that on a lotus where that was marginal at the best of times also make sure you coat the thing in anti rust oil and wax before it goes on the ship, those containers arent sealed shut and its going to be in the salt air

One of these car blokes who never gets his hands dirty. Just pays the man to fix things

Brave man they were not well made or reliable cars new, let alone 47 years old.

Yes, Agee completely. Good luck. You know what you’re doing…

Looks-wise I feel that the S1 is the truest version (probably true of many cars not just Espirits) compared to later ones.

I really hope all goes well for you. Will you be converting it to RH drive?

Great car. Will you keep it LHD?

I really thought you'd lost the plot .......until your closing comments 🤣🤣🤣 l had no idea this were so valuable . Will you keep it LHD ? So what birthday surprise did you give your lady ? Don't tell me .....a full size snooker table 🤣🤣🤣 Cheers !

At 13k it's definitely worth a punt. I think a genuine s1 Esprit built in white really is a great investment, even if it doesn't increase in value alot over the next few years, I doubt it will go down.

Best design ever ….

Great project. I had a series 2 in silver back in the day and was stupid enough to part ex it for a Lancia HPE (family life!) Good luck with this project and do you leave it left hand drive or go for a conversion ?

You'll have to get a cool license plate for it. You and Gary Eats from RU-vid should share a ride and meal together.

The car is definitely worth it. This Lotus starred in the movie "Pretty Woman" with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. The steering wheel should not be moved, in my opinion, but the engine should definitely be replaced with a modern one with fuel injection. And you're right about the sound, the four cylinders don't sound like a V8 at all. But the interior upholstery, I'm sorry, but in my opinion it's terrible! You can also choose modern upholstery using modern materials and not this horror in the style of Ronald McDonald! Respect from Russia!

This is going to a great project. Will you convert it to right-hand drive?

Not sure how much you were involved in restoring the last S1, but you’re into a lot of work to get it working as a usable car. Unless divorce is an option. It’ll need a full rebuild and retrim. Having spent the last 7 years doing just that I know you’ll be into £35,000 without even thinking too hard. That’s on top of your purchase price. And that’s doing it yourself and at 2016-2022 prices (when most of my outlay was made). As for market value, they’re struggling to sell for £70,000 currently. You’ll also struggle to make it RHD as some parts are not available.

Lets be honest, yr really buying it for yourself, not for your wife. Does she even like the car and appreciate what it represents? This is my dream car, and have wanted one since 2009, but I'd install air con as I now live in Florida.

Why go back to it? Unless you nut & bolt restore this one, it’s not gonna be nearly as nice as the last one.

Nice Project 👌🏻🇩🇰🇬🇧😎

Aston Martin & Lotus are bigger than Bond!

Are you sure your wife will be delighted with a LHD Lotus Esprit??.........

🥱

You sold a RHD one and now you're buying a LHD one. It won't be worth as much as a RHD car when you're finished.