1992 Lotus Esprit

Matt82

Matt82

Matt82

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Joined
13 Mar 2004
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On the very off chance an old school friend happened to have the day off, be in town (he has moved a long way away) and passing my parents place when I was popping in and he happened to stop and ring the bell in case I was in because he saw a golf on the driveway

Almost three years ago he bought a 1992 esprit se turbo and has been restoring it ever since. He's had it on the road for under two months. Full respray, all new suspension, rebuilt engine and turbo, re trimmed interior and a comprehensive hifi upgrade.

Its a 2.2 16v turbo blowing about .8 BAR. Standard quoted figures were 265 and this had had a decat. It weighs 1200kg.

No abs, no LSD, a through and through sportscar with looks straight from lotus challenge!

The motivation that gave me to finish the bm was amazing, I don't know that many proper petrolheads anymore. Pics to follow.
 
db68e70cd3.jpg


From the ad when he bought it
 
I've always liked the Esprit and would love to have either a Sport 300 or an S4S. Unfortunately I think the cost of keeping one on the road would probably bankrupt me.
 
Always loved the shape of these. First time I remember noticing Esprits was watching the James Bond film 'For Your Eyes Only'.

I considered one of the V8s a couple of years ago, but was too scared of issues. It's a Lotus afterall lol.

Any pics of the car now or during the restoration? I was kinda expecting some in this thread...
 
love them years ago a friend of mine had a car dealership in saltash cornwall and he and an old series whatever turbo esprit in there silver with red it was and i borrowed it for the day loved it then and love them now the later ones looked much nicer imo more sculpted wish i had one tbh .
 
and i seem to rememebr they had morris marina door handles and switches out of a triumph toledo or something even more weird
 
I've only ever seen one of these, it was parked on my street in Cardiff one day when I lived there. Was a sky blue colour, looked awesome, seemed really wide!
 
I love them - I was weighing up buying one before I got my Exige...but boy, are they expensive to maintain. A few years ago the 350's were about £25k, but they are far more than that now...

Its not so much the parts it seems, but the work involved (and therefore labour costs) are horrendous.

Aren't they GT3's the ones to go for, other than the 350's? This one looked lovely:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3698927.htm
 
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