My 1976 Lotus Esprit.

Hi all,

 

ok since I'm no longer a lazy lurker I just though I might as well post a few pics of my early Lotus Esprit.

 

This is a 1976 exemple, RHD, original gelcoat car (IE non painted) and is the car I dreamed of as kid (the submersible version of it anyways), the Countach being close second.

 

 

So performance and built quality aside , this is more of a childhood dream came true than anything else.

 

Pretty cool!

Wow, gelcoat.

 

Dont see too many of those and in nice shape.

Thanks guys,

 

yes even if they are pocket change compared to Lambos, finding a good one took me a long time.

Even went to Switzerland to see a white one that had a full engine resto, it looked good in pictures but turned out to be a complete turd bodywise in person.

Wanted an early one as they are the purest Inmo.

wow, that's really nice. Is this version considered the S1?

Thanks, yes that's what you would call an early S1 as later versions already had some changes made like side mirrors and then they ditched gelcoat cars and started painting them.

 

It was only after the S2 came out in 78/79 with even more modifications that they were being refered to as the S1, before that it was just a Lotus Esprit.

love the clear lines of the early cars...any interior pics?

 

best!

Beautiful classic lines; fell in love with them when The Spy Who Loved Me came out. Does it do a "Wet Nelly"?

 

Gelcoats are super-rare; loving the tartan headrests, soooooo retro!

Wet Nelly, haha, I wish.... it didn't came with Barbara Bach (spell) either.

 

 

...any interior pics?

 

Interior is a bit faded but all original.

I want to keep the car as original as possible, some people hate the interior others love it, period perfect in any cases.

 

Thanks again for the positive comments.

 

Very pretty. I believe by the time they manufactured my old 1977 S1, they were already using the nitrocellulose paint.

Love it!

Thanks, yes that's what you would call an early S1 as later versions already had some changes made like side mirrors and then they ditched gelcoat cars and started painting them.

 

It was only after the S2 came out in 78/79 with even more modifications that they were being refered to as the S1, before that it was just a Lotus Esprit.

 

 

thank you for the clarification. The interior shot looks awesome. I love it! The right hand drive had me confused though lol

 

Damn! Thats awesome!

Lovely car and interior, I really like it

Thank you all

 

 

The right hand drive had me confused though lol

 

Haha, yeah me too at first.

It only took me a day or so to get used to it though, you only need to learn(remember) to shift with your left hand, other than that there is no major difference and in a way you get a better control of your wheel (the car being wide) while overtaking on small roads . To be honest driving a RHD classic here adds to the fun of it.

 

Damn! Thats awesome!

 

Thanks Allan,

I think It was you that said that people were literally walking by/ignoring Ferraris to check on your TT Esprits.

It's funny because a similar thing happened to me once. I had parked my car next to some local professional football (soccer) player Ferrari F430 Spider.

People were completely ignoring it to check out the old Esprit. You should have seen the look on his face when he found out....priceless.

 

Unlike some places where people have seen it all or at least act like it, the car draws a lot of attention over here, lots of thumbs up, people trying to identify what it is , other recognizing it from the Bond films, "ha AN Esprit"... then of course you get the what do you do for a living /how much does it cost thing once in a while.

I drove a RHD car in South Africa, it's actually really easy. Before that I always imagined how difficult it must be to use your left hand but it isn't.

Thank you all

 

 

 

 

Haha, yeah me too at first.

It only took me a day or so to get used to it though, you only need to learn(remember) to shift with your left hand, other than that there is no major difference and in a way you get a better control of your wheel (the car being wide) while overtaking on small roads . To be honest driving a RHD classic here adds to the fun of it.

 

 

 

Thanks Allan,

I think It was you that said that people were literally walking by/ignoring Ferraris to check on your TT Esprits.

It's funny because a similar thing happened to me once. I had parked my car next to some local professional football (soccer) player Ferrari F430 Spider.

People were completely ignoring it to check out the old Esprit. You should have seen the look on his face when he found out....priceless.

 

Unlike some places where people have seen it all or at least act like it, the car draws a lot of attention over here, lots of thumbs up, people trying to identify what it is , other recognizing it from the Bond films, "ha AN Esprit"... then of course you get the what do you do for a living /how much does it cost thing once in a while.

Yes! That was me.. One day soon I will have a nice line of Esprits in my garage.. I always said Id love to drive the old Esprit Turbo they had with the Ski racks from the bond flix too!

Yes! That was me.. One day soon I will have a nice line of Esprits in my garage.. I always said Id love to drive the old Esprit Turbo they had with the Ski racks from the bond flix too!

 

 

YUMMM

Looks great!

 

The classic wedge shape never gets old for me. While the newer supercars are very "nice", they just don't excite me the way the Esprit, NSX, F355, Countach, Diablo etc do. Ever since companies stopped building cars with low, sharp hooldines (due to Euro pedestrian safety regulations) they became much less visually exciting.

Looks like you'd do well to hang on to her for a while...

 

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.as...paign=2011-9-20

Yes I surely plan to. Never say never but this car will most likely never leave my ownership.

 

That's Wyn Edwards' car in your link, I think he spent nearly £60K GBP restoring it.