I was lucky enough to work in powetrain engineering at Lotus and worked on the prototype Essex cars in 1980. Even got to take them to Monaco GP and the Le Mans 24 hours to show off the car. Well someone had to do it ! Great days fondly remembered. Good honest review.
I bought one of these cars a month ago. It really is an incredible car. Surprisingly fast, even by today's standards. Mine has ashtrays in each door, so not sure why this example doesn't. As with all low production cars, each one tends to be different somehow.
My absolute dream car ! The one from the bond movie with the skis on the back .. I remember as a kid watching the movie over and over because of the car 😊 maybe one day .. Never say Never 😊
Even if I won the lottery for a billion, the esprit is top of my list. I'd like the V8. I'd rather have this than any other supercar at any price. Love it 💓💓💓💓
The Lotus backbone chassis was a great idea. I remember a friend who owned an Elan telling me so, most enthusiastically. I think he may have instantly changed his mind a few months later but couldn't tell me about it. A Rover 90 T-Boned his Elan and while the sills and doors were like a quaile's egg wrapped in baco-foil the chassis was unyieldingly strong and he ended up as thin as Steak Canadienne squashed between it and the tank-like Auntie Rover. I wasn't a fan of the Elan etc, especially as I did recovery work for a local garage and had to retrieve the wreck.
I remember for a while Citroen for a rally championship across their on the Continent had an AX with an engine that featured both supercharging and turbocharging to boost the power of the modest 1.2 capacity.
Mike Kimberley was a director at Lotus Hethel and was about 6ft 5 inches tall ( I’m lead to believe ) wonder how he got on sitting in the Esprit. In fact I wonder how I would get on at 5ft 3 !!
I am 6ft 4" and weigh 16 stone. I bought a 1984 Turbo Esprit a month ago. It's definitely a tight fit but the cars with the optional removable glass roof give an extra couple of inches of headroom which is essential for me. I wouldn't like to drive it long distance but it's perfectly usable and a huge amount of fun for occasional trips out 🙂
I remember when I was a kid, one of our neighbours, a market trader, bought exactly this car - a brand new Esprit Turbo in silver blue - it looked amazing - I remember seeing his hot wife driving around in it - they both looked amazing - they complimented each other perfectly 😊
lotus was always supercar to me they're just as cool i would like to see a review of the lotus europa , maserati bora , and the classic english sports car the MGB !
Super cool cars. A bit tight to get in but fits like a glove when in the seat. (At least for a man of my size) No way to get out of it with any dignaty though. Loads of turbolag so keep the revs up and it´s a shitload of fun, specially around corners. But be carefull as it will fight you and you might end up rear end first somewhere you dont want to be. Can be a bit of challange to work on but if you know your way around it, it´s fairly simple. Electrics are a bit of a mess though but with propper maintainance and care it´wont take much to keep those propperly up and running. One of the most fun cars I´ve driven. Absolutely love it.
A footnote to the "Esprit could compete back then" was the Euro law of 155mph max. The esprit maxed out at 155 because of horsepower, it had nothing left. A 308, by comparison can probably do 180 without a governor.
There’s no such thing as a European 155 mph law. It’s merely a gentlemen’s agreement between German manufacturers that’s not strongly adhered to. Ferrari never had a part in it.
I believe mercedes ,bmw and audi had a gentleman's agreement, I think porsche didn't join in. It wasn't a ' law' in Europe as in Britain cars were as fast as the makes could make them (now if that was 155) how convenient, I never remember ferrari or lambo joining in either.
@@brianiswrong Indeed. I didn't want to name companies in particular because I'd probably have forgotten some. Certainly, no supercars have ever been limited to 155, German or not.
@@tazanteflight8670 They do not. The 308, as you mentioned, isn't limited to 155. The top speed is 157, which would break such a 'law' if there was one.
ello airry! associating with muggles are we? I am glad to see you get a post hallow's gig though. lol, I'm absolutely and totally nonsarcastically sure I'm the only one that's associated you with that particular fictionlal charecter, and I shall convince myself it wasn't even dickish of me. Yup! Didn't work, I'm sorry couldn't resist lol
Try getting stuck with a really bad Lotus dealership. I'm on my 3rd Lotus, all bought brand new from different dealers as I moved to different states in the U.S., and I'm quitting the brand due to poor service at this local one. It's a shame, It's been a multi-year nice run. The product is good, but if you end up with a very disappointing dealership, there's not another one in town. Lesson learned. Next car is going to be a brand where there are 5 dealers in proximity so that if the service operation is poor, you have 4 other options nearby. I'm thinking Chevrolet. Really bummed about it. But you cannot reach into the leadership of a dealer and somehow make them treat customers well if they don't already know how. As we all know, the customer-facing folks at any dealership (can!) create future business, but if they are treating customers poorly, THEY in turn are probably being treated poorly by their leadership.
There's a similar lotus on my street here in Bangkok that's literally like a barn (old garage) and the guy wants 12,000 for it it's orange color I'll do a RU-vid check it out and tell me what you think I know nothing this car but I think for $12,000 is worth it
Good video- best of luck with your journey as a provider of this sort of content - this video does seem to have been…. How do I say this kindly…. (Heavily influenced) by Jayemms content 6 years ago on the Esprit V8
Thanks Tom, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen that video. If something’s factual, anywhere will have natural overlap. I’m afraid you’re making connections that aren’t there.
I was 18 when I sat in the Esprit at the sales centre a long time ago. The whole experience of being elated to be in a marvellous British sports car turned nightmarish as soon as I got in the car. Being 6 feet 8 inches tall, I didn't realise that I had no wriggling room left when my right leg got stuck between the steering wheel and centre console. The steering wheel was locked, and the seat had been moved as far back as it could. The sales representative didn't believe me until he saw the unique problem and laughed. The only way to free me was to unlock the steering wheel, but my leg more or less covered the ignition lock. A technician was called to remove the steering wheel as to free my leg up. Pity, I couldn't get to drive Esprit...
My Dad had an early Turbo Esprit in white with red stripes and it was awesome! A little unreliable, but so much fun and as a 15 year old I loved it, as did he. He followed it with an S2 naturally aspirated Esprit in red, which while fantastic, just not as cool as the Turbo. Loved the interior too!
These cars have such a unique sound for a 4 cylinder. The design is also iconic, so 80's but so amazing as well. These cars look even better in person.
I'm resident in Norfolk around 20 miles away from the Lotus factory. I actually did a bit of temp work for Lotus in the summer. Based at a satellite location but I had to visit Hethel frequently. There is an early 1980s Esprit (series 1?) on display at one of their buildings which looks great. My favourite Lotus is the wedge-tastic Elite "Estate" but I love this Esprit Turbo in all it's angular glory.
I remember when these first came out joining the Elite (with all the F1 winners badges in no particular order if I recall) and Eclat. Seeing its starring role in "The Spy Who Loved Me" was the icing on the cake. Another cracking video Ed, once again well done.
Great video again. The Lotus Esprit costing around 90% of the Ferrari. I remember Ed China working on an Esprit, and it was rather a struggle for him to fit into!
What I most certainly do not like are the haphazard pleats in the leather-clad console. It gives the impression that the assembly line was in a hurry and couldn't be bothered to stretch it out neatly.
I personally feel these were a their peak in 1992 with the 264 hp. They looked the best and the sound they made I dont think could ever be duplicated. Movies like Pretty Woman and Basic Instict did these cars justice .
The worst part was the hand brake, next to your right foot! I had a Turbo HC and was very passionate about it, but after 5 years I couldn’t live with it any more. I purchased one of the first Honda NSX’s imported into Britain and that love affair endured from 1992 - 2020!
Liked 👍 Haven't been able to watch the video, though, I'm sat here, staring at that GORGEOUS thumbnail ! What a beauty ! This is Grand Tour material !!
This car is so sexy in a burgundy metallic with gold lettering. edit: Just found a 2000 for $72K V8, nice, and a VERY NICE 93 Turbo for $43K Hmmm That 93 looks affordable.
Cars like this are what makes me envious of Europe. You guys have all sorts of cara with style and beauty. They were all so unique MGs, TVR, Mini, Fiat, Renault, Caterham, Peugeot Lotus and Vauxhall to the major companies like BMW Porshe Lamborghini and Ferrari. All so unique and producing so many quirky and beautiful vehicles. From the 60s and all the way to 80s and 90s so many cool vehicles. Here in America pretty much after the 70’s everything is the same booring copy paste shared parts bin blandness. Booring 4 cylinders to whimpy pedestrian 6 cylinders in everything. Nothing handled great nothing great. We had to turn to Japan to get exciting cars as most european manufacturers had left the market due to insane safety and fuel economy regulations. I had a 76MGB that i bought when i got in the ARMY and it was one of the few cars i was ever excited to just get in and drive.
shame the owner didnt let you drive it, not that its worth a fortune at the end of the day. Be careful with the figures.. Lotus tend to OVERstate their figures, unlike other companies like porsche who understate them. The first series 1 was quoted at 0-60 about 2 seconds faster than it could actually ever do.... so no, I dont think it would ever beat the 308...... Nice looking car, but quality was always and is still the issue. British made brings with it a mentality that is not to be proud of in most cases I am afraid.... Landrover, Rover, Leyland, Triumph, Lotus, Jaguar... etc etc, all way down the reliability list.
Why on earth did anyone in their right mind approve to that marshmallow interior looks?! To me, this is the biggest downer on this (otherwise) compelling vehicle.
I had the dubious pleasure of driving one of these back in the late 80's; I can honestly say it didn't drive anywhere near as nice as it looked; in fact it was horrid and ranks among the worst drives I've ever had. Uncomfortable and tight. Sorry but didn't like it.
Congrats, It is seldom that a Lotus Esprit review isn't full of historical faults or facts. Not so in this review. Spot on, thank you. I am the lucky owner of a 1980 Esprit S2.2 So not the turbo esprit although it was launched also in 1980. There were only 88 S2.2. The beauty was that it had the early S1 S2 chassis with the Chapman strut and it was considerbly lighter and more agile then the turbo Esprit or the S3, but it had it's chassis galvanised unlike the S1 and S2. It also had the first 2.2 engine with more torque. And important, it had the pure looks of the original, without 80ties spoilers and the beautifull speedline alloys (chosen by by Colin Chapman himself)
