What Do You Reckon? A Bag Of Bolts And Rust, Or A Dream Car?

[TimSportsTourer]

What do you guys reckon. I saw this:

 

http://www.hiltonandmoss.com/cardesc/lotus-esprit-s4-75

 

It's the price I could pay for an Elise, but it's not an Elise.

 

Would it be a great ownership experience, or will I have to get a season ticket on the tow truck? Will it cost as much to run as a Kia Picanto, or as much as a Veyron?

 

I have to say, I'm tempted.

[lummo]

That looks very nice.

 

I would love an Esprit - but it wouldn't fit in my garage (even if I emptied all the cr*p out of it ).

 

At least it would, but I'd have to climb through the sunroof to get out.

[scatty]

There was a chap who came on the chatsworth run in his esprit. I forget his name, but maybe worth an email to see his views.

[Martin R]

Do it, its not a V8. I would love a GT3 or an S4S

[Mutley00]

It looks a beaut and seems to have a decent amount of history. Got the interior piccy off Pistonheads for you. It certainly wont rust with a galvanised chassis and the 2.2 engines do not have a reputation for letting you down. I've had an SE and now own an S4S and they are remarkable cars. The S4S gets you to 60 faster than a V8 and an Evora - that's my only word of caution, you may hanker after the S4S with 280 horses and the boot spoiler is in the right place rather than half way down the tailgate!

 

Go onto Lotus Esprit World http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/ and air your concerns and they'll soon be put to rest. There may be a member of LEW that lives nearby who'll look at it with you Also there's a chance a previous owner may be on the Forum or someone will know about the car. Do remember though that this was a £50k + supercar when launched, so servicing costs and parts will be higher than an Elise. Certainly check when the last C Service was which includes a Cambelt change. Good luck, please keep us posted.

 

 

[Dr H]

Nice. I prefer this though (bit more expensive though.........)

 

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/lotus/esprit/lotus-esprit-s1-1977/807396

 

 

 

[TimSportsTourer]

Thanks, guys. Great advice, and just what I'm looking for. The one number that Google hasn't yet told me is how much the running costs are. Does anyone have any ideas? I'll keep looking...

 

The way I see it is that the Elise made me smile every time I saw it, never mind drove it. Not smile. Grin! It genuinely was love at first sight. I've never driven an Esprit, though I am of an age where that and the Lamborghini Countach were the poster cars of the day. If I get that feeling (that I'm confident you guys will recognise ) when I drive it, and assuming the figures aren't too horrendous, this doesn't seem at the moment to be a dreadful idea. If not, I'll hold out for another Elise as per plan A. I have been to measure the garage, and I'll be OK there. Phew!

 

I will of course let you know how I get on.

[Mutley00]

Tim,

 

Oh you'll laugh out load with that much woomph sat behind your back. Here the buying guide off LEW http://www.lotusespritworld.com/buying.html - sorry I forgot to include it earlier.

 

Regards, Andrew

[darryl]

Nice motor, if i remember correctly only downside service every year/5000M, everytime we take ours out your get more stares/kids waving, huge grin factor.

 

You will want an Elise/Exige as well though.

[Steve J]

Im with Leigh . G cars are the only esprits that hold my attention and they really are a bucket of rusty bolts unless you spend big money.

[DeanB]

My goodness, that orange s1 is beautiful! The interior is incredible.

Want it!

[TimSportsTourer]

So here's the long awaited update. Thanks for all the help - it's making this a slightly more tractable decision, but it's not made yet.

 

They had two cars - a G-car in JPS-look black and gold. Stunning on the outside, but the most appalling explosion in a Lucas parts bin inside. It was too demoralising for words. Nothing fitted, shut lines were vast, and so on. And dog-ugly bits. I really couldn't live with that. It was also the colour of nicotine. Even if no-one had ever smoked in it, that's what the decor was. Tragic, and I feel terrible saying that about a car so marvellous on the outside. I didn't even drive it. Sorry to all you G-car lovers.

 

I did drive the S4, and I'm full of mixed emotions. It was properly mad. Mad as a bottle of chips. Proper supercar madness. But also a bit like an old Citroen, where you'd expect the radio switches to be behind the sun-visor and the indicator stalk actually to make the rear windows go up and down. Or something.

 

Specifically, there's a centre arm rest that lifts up to reveal a storage space big enough to store maybe two DL envelopes (if one on top of the other), but also the buttons to release the fuel cap covers (one on each side) and another to turn on the air conditioning. As if the handbrake by your ankle isn't silly enough. And there's a sticker on the window warning you not to raise the sunroom and open the boot lid at the same time. No interlocks or warning lights. Just a sign. Brilliant.

 

Driving it was strange, though. The pedals really are disconcertingly close together. Luckily, I'd taken my cute Sparco driving boots, because my ordinary shoes would have pushed at least two of the pedals at once. Also, the pedals are disconcertingly far to the left. Heavy clutch (which was OK), but servoed brakes with a pedal about as stiff as my unservoed Elise brakes. Given that my 'test drive' was about two miles, I couldn't get confidence in it. Still, it felt like a proper car and not a go-kart. Very smooth. Lovely punchy engine, and I didn't get caught by turbo lag either. Visibility I thought was surprisingly good, and certainly better than my 350z roadster. Cockpit was (very) dated, but OK, unlike the older one. I was interested to note that the S4 had very aeronautical looking speedo and techo gauges, which were surprisingly hard to read. The G-car had very simple white on black dials that were much bigger, and frankly better.

 

On the downside, the S4 that I drove needed a jump-start, the door locks seem dodgy, the mirror-control switch worked in one direction only (left), the fuel gauge is dodgy as hell, and the splitter is cracked. On the upside, the dealer promises to fix these things before sale. And the bodywork is just beautiful. And it's got pop-up headlights that actually work! Yay! Childhood dream come true there...

 

I've not been able to feel at home in it, so I can't speak to the handling, or much to the ride or even the engine. So I'm going back to try again, on a longer drive, next week all being well. I am sorely, sorely tempted by it. And God! It's beautiful. Did I mention that?

 

Servicing is a bit unfortunate. 6000 miles or EVERY SIX MONTHS! That makes it a cam-belt every three years, though they will be doing this before selling it. That's one place the money will go, then.

 

More reading of LEW and other places to be done - I wish this didn't coincide with my busiest few weeks at work for ages. Unfortunately, I really can't decide. I certainly don't hate it, and I loved it dearly in some ways, but there are other ways where it could be a deal-breaker, but I just don't know yet.

 

As for the S4S and the rebuilt G-car that people have pointed out, I love them too, but budgets really don't stretch that far at all. Nowhere near. So a turbo-ed 2.2 S4 is probably a decent enough opportunity for me.

 

So now to hang on till the next opportunity to drive it...

[Martin R]

Shame you cant stretch to this one

 

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/lotus/esprit/lotus-esprit-s4s-2dr/773851

 

 

 

 

Not helping am i

[lummo]

In a similar vein of not helping - I rather like the looks of this one at Stratton's:-

 

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/lotus/esprit/lotus-esprit-gt3--super-low-mileage-and-great-condition/880254

[IAN G]

That gt3 is lovely