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1996 Lotus Esprit V8 Turbo

22 Bids
8:33 PM, 09 Jun 2021Vehicle sold
Sold for

£30,000

Background

If someone asked you to name the longest-lived British sports car models, you’d probably be quite pleased if you got the Austin-Healey (15 years in production), the MGB (18 years) or the Jaguar XJ-S (21 years), but would the Lotus Esprit have occurred to you? Somehow it lasted for 28 years. To beat that you’ve got to start considering cars that exist outside normal time, like Morgans, or Lotus’s own perpetually reproduced kit hit, the Seven.

It’s all the more amazing when you remember that the Esprit took ages to come to market, with a four year gap between Italdesign’s presentation of the prototype at the 1972 Turin show and the launch of the production car. Then it enjoyed almost instant fame thanks to James Bond and Q, which perhaps made up for a luke-warm reception from the press, who felt it should be faster.

After all, it looked amazingly fast. Thoroughly supercar-like, a claim no other British production car could really carry off. In 1980 the first Turbo Esprit arrived and shut people up for a while, giving the four-cylinder car the ability to compete with six-cylinder 911s and V8 Ferraris.

A re-style from Peter Stevens followed in 1987 and then Julian Thompson had another go in 1993, creating the look that was to keep the Esprit going, bar a minor facelift, all the way to 2004. The biggest change of all, and the one that took away any doubt about the Esprit’s supercar status, was the arrival of Lotus’s own V8 engine in 1996.

It’s a twin-turbo, four-cam, four-valves-per-cylinder engine of 3.5-litres. It’s pretty rev-happy, because it features a flat-plane crankshaft like a Ferrari V8 rather than the heavier cross-plane design that gives American V8s their familiar uneven burble. It was reputed to be churning out 500bhp when first developed, but having lunched a few gearboxes on the Hethel test track, was detuned to 350bhp for production.

That was enough for 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds and 175mph. Finally the Esprit’s super-capable chassis and dramatic looks had the performance they deserved. Nowadays you can find one at a huge discount from the £65,000 new price, and indeed at less than the cost of an old 2-litre Series 1 in equivalent condition, such is the fetish for the early cars.

If you want to go faster than a V8 Esprit down a twisty road, start saving for a recent Ferrari or Lamborghini – in that respect, this is a genuine supercar bargain.

  • SCC082918THA15109
  • 42000
  • 3506
  • Manual
  • Green
  • Sandy

Background

If someone asked you to name the longest-lived British sports car models, you’d probably be quite pleased if you got the Austin-Healey (15 years in production), the MGB (18 years) or the Jaguar XJ-S (21 years), but would the Lotus Esprit have occurred to you? Somehow it lasted for 28 years. To beat that you’ve got to start considering cars that exist outside normal time, like Morgans, or Lotus’s own perpetually reproduced kit hit, the Seven.

It’s all the more amazing when you remember that the Esprit took ages to come to market, with a four year gap between Italdesign’s presentation of the prototype at the 1972 Turin show and the launch of the production car. Then it enjoyed almost instant fame thanks to James Bond and Q, which perhaps made up for a luke-warm reception from the press, who felt it should be faster.

After all, it looked amazingly fast. Thoroughly supercar-like, a claim no other British production car could really carry off. In 1980 the first Turbo Esprit arrived and shut people up for a while, giving the four-cylinder car the ability to compete with six-cylinder 911s and V8 Ferraris.

A re-style from Peter Stevens followed in 1987 and then Julian Thompson had another go in 1993, creating the look that was to keep the Esprit going, bar a minor facelift, all the way to 2004. The biggest change of all, and the one that took away any doubt about the Esprit’s supercar status, was the arrival of Lotus’s own V8 engine in 1996.

It’s a twin-turbo, four-cam, four-valves-per-cylinder engine of 3.5-litres. It’s pretty rev-happy, because it features a flat-plane crankshaft like a Ferrari V8 rather than the heavier cross-plane design that gives American V8s their familiar uneven burble. It was reputed to be churning out 500bhp when first developed, but having lunched a few gearboxes on the Hethel test track, was detuned to 350bhp for production.

That was enough for 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds and 175mph. Finally the Esprit’s super-capable chassis and dramatic looks had the performance they deserved. Nowadays you can find one at a huge discount from the £65,000 new price, and indeed at less than the cost of an old 2-litre Series 1 in equivalent condition, such is the fetish for the early cars.

If you want to go faster than a V8 Esprit down a twisty road, start saving for a recent Ferrari or Lamborghini – in that respect, this is a genuine supercar bargain.

Video

Overview

Built in May 1996 and first registered the following month, this Lotus Esprit V8 Turbo was supplied by Kings Lotus of Warwick and has had 6 owners who collectively covered around 42,500 miles.

The latest owner bought the car in 2002 and until recently kept it in a garage at his mother’s home. Now that she’s passed away and the house has been sold, the Esprit needs to find a new home.

It was given a belt change service and MOT last year and has also had the turbochargers renewed.

Exterior

Aside from a few very light stone chips in the lacquer on the bonnet, a tiny surface scratch on the passenger door and another on the mirror, the Lotus Racing Green metallic paint appears very strong looking. There are no issues that we could see with the fibreglass bodywork and the only other blemishes are some roughness in the black metal trims at the bottom of the door windows.

A good three quarters of the roof of this Esprit V8 is taken up by the factory-fitted glass “targa” removable sunroof panel, which appears in good order although the front hinges show some light surface rust.

Originally specified with 3-piece OZ wheels, the Esprit now sits on AWI monobloc alloys - 17-inch at the front and 18-inch at the rear. All were refitted with matching Michelin Pilot Sport tyres in July 2008, since when they have been driven around 8,000 miles.

Interior

The interior is trimmed in what Lotus referred to as Fawn leather. According to the provenance certificate, it was also specified with gold piping, which we would interpret as either a bright yellow-orange or an actual gold colour but from what we can see, the piping now is the same colour as the leather.

The upholstery is in a reasonably good condition, with just the additional creasing and wear to the driver’s seat, as you would expect. There appears to be a very slight difference in colour between the seats and most of the rest of the trimming, which looks comparatively recent. It’s possible therefore that the interior has been partially retrimmed at some point.

The instrument binnacle and door trims are faced in a wood or wood-effect veneer and are in good order and free from scratches or cracks. In the centre console, a later Clarion CD Radio has been fitted. The sports steering wheel and binnacle top are covered in black leather.

The carpets are in very good condition, which is unsurprising as they’re also covered with two layers of fitted overmats.

Mechanical

The front-hinged bonnet gives access to the screenwash bottle plus spare wheel (apparently unused), jack and wheel brace. There are also a handful of ancillaries located here but don’t expect any luggage space up front. A rusting jack aside, all appears in good order.

Underneath the car, you can make out the double-Y backbone with the fibreglass body sat on and around it. The floor is practically flat for effective aerodynamics and appears undamaged. There is some rust across some of the suspension and steering linkages and components, some of which may benefit from renewal, but others could probably be addressed with a wire brush and some appropriate paint.

Under the rear tailgate engine cover, which sometimes doesn’t seem to want to hold itself open, the red crackle-finish inlet manifold on top of the engine can be seen but precious little else without removing the covers and luggage space linings. The boot area is clean and tidy and big enough for a couple of decent sized bags.

History

This Esprit’s latest MoT expired back in January but it passed first time with no advisories at the last 7 annual inspections.

The history file includes the original owner’s handbook and numerous invoices dating back to 2009. Most of these garage bills are from Paul Matty Sportscars, a renowned Lotus specialist who worked on the car annually for the latest owner carrying out repairs, servicing and MoTs.

The most recent service and MoT were carried out by Templeton’s Sports and Performance specialists of Rushden Northants in January 2020.

The Esprit comes with a Lotus Certificate of Vehicle Provenance.

Summary

The Lotus Esprit is one of the UK’s best-loved and most enduring sports cars, and the V8 powered models were its ultimate refinement. Whilst nostalgia and a quest for Giugiaro design purity is pushing up the values of the early series Esprits, those who crave supercar levels of power and driving agility will favour the Julian Thomson era cars like this one.

We think this Esprit V8 in a super looking colour with sensible mileage - and well-maintained by Lotus gurus Paul Matty Sports Cars - will sell for between £26,000 and £32,000.

Since the eventual demise of the Esprit model in 2004, Lotus enthusiasts have been waiting for a worthy replacement to come out of Hethel. Until that happens, the new owner of this one can keep themselves more than entertained by driving the pinnacle of the originals.

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’.

About this auction

Seller

Private: george summerfield

Viewings Welcome

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and is strictly by appointment. To book one in the diary, please get in contact.

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