1989 Lotus Esprit

This Lotus Turbo Esprit was built for the UK domestic market and first registered in April 1989.

Its fourth owner acquired the car in 1994 and after a few years of ownership decided that it should accompany her on her next house move… to Tenerife! The Esprit was shipped out to the Canary Islands and re-registered on Tenerife where it stayed for over 20 years - continuing to be properly maintained and given an ITV (Spanish MOT equivalent) each year.

The most recent private owner from Shropshire located the car in Tenerife and arranged to buy it. It was returned to the UK - never having been de-registered with DVLA - and re-registered to the new owner in September 2020. Eight months later, he embarked on a 20-month cosmetic restoration totalling over £15k to include a complete exterior strip down and repaint, a retrim of the interior leather and new carpets. It was also given a cambelt service and running gear refurbishment.

Externally the Esprit looks amazing - fresh from a recent glass out, doors off, full body respray.

Ever since The Spy Who Loved Me (and briefly revisited in For Your Eyes Only), Monaco White has been an extremely popular and desirable colour for an Esprit. Nicely accented by the red turbo esprit decals and side stripes, the car looks fit for an updated Bond - even if by the late eighties he was back piloting an Aston Martin.

Having presumably exhausted Ford’s supply of 80s door mirrors by 1989, this Esprit sports units from the second generation Citroen CX. It was in good company though as other cars to feature these appendages include the TVR Griffith, Aston Martin Virage, Jaguar XJ220 and even the McLaren F1.

The sculpted side skirts and low rear wing complete the sporting image without going overboard on body aerodynamics.

The Esprit sits on wheel rims that rather suit the car. They are shod with Pirelli P1s on the front and recently fitted Avon rubber on the driven rears.

Inside the Esprit, red becomes the dominant colour rather than just an accent. The seats, door cards, dash and centre console are all covered in red leather with black leather accents and black across the dash top, instrument binnacle and steering wheel to reduce reflected glare.

All the leather retrimming was recently done and - barring a couple of small scuffs on the passenger seat base - looks in good condition. One criticism that could be levelled at the trimmers is that they appear not to have reconditioned or replaced the seat foam underneath the leather - making the facings look a little baggy in places. They’ve also left the drawcord on the gear shift gaiter exposed but that is more easily rectified.

The dash panel and centre graphic panel look in good order - the latter having been replaced during the restoration. A period-appropriate Sanyo radio cassette player sits above the A/C controls.

The flooring was supplied by Coverdale and comprises a full set of grey wool carpets that look immaculate. Up above, what headlining there is around the large glass roof panel could do with removing and reapplying as it is coming unstuck here and there.

Under the front-hinged bonnet of an Esprit is a space that can’t really be described as a front boot or frunk as with all the ancillaries there’s little room for any luggage. The spare wheel is present, as is the jack and wheel brace.

Whether to use a spare wheel is a point of debate in Esprit circles as the wheel you take off won’t fit back in the same space and if it’s a rear it won’t fit in the boot either. If you have a passenger they’ll either spend the remainder of the journey cradling a large wheel in their lap or choose to be left behind at the roadside to make their own way home!

Underneath the car - the floors are all fibreglass and the backbone chassis is galvanised and largely hidden from view, so the only corrosion you’d find would be on the running gear. Happily most of it looks to be protective coated and free of rust. There’s a little underbody damage at the front either side of the radiator shroud, where sections of fibreglass have been torn away on both sides exposing part of the foam bed that the radiator sits on.

At the rear, the tailgate rubber seal is a little perished but inside, the louvred engine cover appears in good order with what looks like a new seal and the carpeting around the luggage bay seems clean and intact. There’s a fabric bag stowed under the rear section holding a tyre compressor.

The engine bay seems in good order and relatively clean, with red crackle coating on the turbo duct and air cleaner box.

The Esprit underwent an extensive restoration from April 2021 to December 2022. During the project, the body was stripped back and repainted by Autocraft in Telford - a thorough process taking 7 weeks.

The interior was retrimmed by Trimatt of Telford in March 2022 - recovering all the leather including seats, door cards, steering wheel, dash and centre console.

Mechanically, little was done but the engine was given a timing belt service in late Spring 2022 and had the braking system and steering rack reconditioned.

As well as sundry replacements like bushings and door seals, over £15,000 was spent over the 20 month project. There is a photo album that comes with the car documenting the recent restoration.

On completion of the refurbishment work, the car was put through an MOT, which it passed with no advisories. It remains valid until August 2023.

The history file accompanying the car includes MOT reports back to 1994, all its registration and ITV paperwork from Tenerife and numerous invoices for work and for parts from Lotus specialists like Paul Matty, SJ Sportscars and PNM Parts. There are also Service Notes and Service Parts manuals - albeit covering the earlier Giugiaro S3/Turbo Esprits with which this Turbo shares many mechanical components.

After two decades of low use on the sunny island of Tenerife, the Esprit’s low mileage of 38,780 is more than credible - particularly given the 16k mileage noted at the last MOT before it was shipped.

With such a long production history, there’s a Lotus Esprit model to suit just about everyone’s taste. Whilst many will hanker for an earlier, angular Giugiaro “G-car” - there are many who prefer the updated styling of Stevens or later revisions by Julian Thompson. Three automotive stylists with an impressive track record between them.

The Turbo has many elements that G-car owners will recognise - especially inside and underneath - but with plenty more curves that heralded the shape of things to come through the nineties.

Having had a recent extensive makeover, this great-looking, low mileage example may still not quite be a concours contender but it would be hard to find one to better it. We think - perhaps rather conservatively - that it will sell for between £28,000 and £32,000.

Even beyond the upper end of that range it would be less than half the cost of a contemporary sports car from Stuttgart - with considerably less chance of finding rust.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.