Year: 1998
Make: Lotus
Model: Esprit
Price: $33000
Mileage: 44950
Color: Black
Private or Dealer Listing: Private Listing
Location (State): AL
Transmission: Manual
Drivetrain: Rear Wheel Drive

Engine:
Lotus-Designed and built, 3.5ltr flat plane, four cam, twin turbo V8
DR700L Turbos with upgraded wastegate capsules
See http://www.dynamicracing.com/lotus-esprit-turbo/lotus-v8-turbo-upgrades/lotus-v8-dr700-turbo-upgrade for details
Snow Performance Proportional Water/Methanol Injection
Lotus Factory Red Race ECU
Blitz Boost controller with integrated wide-band Air/Fuel ratio meter, reduced boost below 60 to attempt to maintain traction, scramble boost features, and adjustable boost ramp rate.
Blitz RFL Blow off Valves
Straight exhaust from the turbos back to center exit. No cats. No mufflers. The sound is amazing, but surprisingly mild at idle and part throttle due to the turbos. Stock muffler and hollowed cats are included, but no one finds the current setup offensive. At full chat, few cars sound better.
I have never dyno-ed the car, but I have attached the dyno sheets for the same setup on another car. He made 512 at the wheels at 18psi of boost. His number was markedly higher at the 25psi the turbos will support with race gas, but I have never been tempted to try that myself.
Timing belts changed 14K miles ago
Custom upgraded aluminum radiator with high flow fans. See picture for comparison to stock
New Engine mounts last season
New upgraded Alternator last season
Chassis, Wheels, and Brakes:
Spax adjustable coil-overs all around. Rears are new last season (one was leaking).
Complete and exact alignment to factory specs.
Stock Brembo brakes with custom Carbo Tech Pads
The wheels are Plasti-Dipped black. These can be peeled clean, like vinyl, to expose the powdercoating in light gold that is in excellent condition underneath.
Transmission:
Other than fresh seals and regular Royal Purple fluid changes, the transmission is stock. I have been told that the transmissions were ultimately the weak link on these cars and the reason Lotus detuned their amazing engine from the beginning. I suspect the reputation was more a driven by ham-fisted drivers than engineering weakness. Nonetheless, I do have available, BUT NOT INCLUDED a Porsche G50 transmission that has been converted to run upside down (for mid engine) and all the adaptor parts (albeit crudely executed) that were used to run this trans on a Esprit V8 race car in Europe. I will list the transmission setup separately for ~$6k. These transmissions are reputedly capable of handling 800 hp. I didn’t race the car and shifted conservatively, thus never needed to install the upgrade myself.
Interior:
Nardi Steering wheel with custom adaptor. Factory airbag wheel available.
Final Edition seats with diamond pattern. These were installed when I bought the car. I can’t imagine what a new pair would cost if you could find them.
Carbon Fiber binnacle and switch panel. A one off from MA Carbon. Not holding up all that well to be honest, but the original parts are included if the line in the weave bothers you.
Center Armrest recovered in alcantara.
The interior is in excellent condition.
A/C Blows cold
Exterior:
Paint is very nice, but not perfect. The bumpers have been repainted a couple times and the rear quarter was repainted a few years ago after an off-track excursion at my sole open track day with this car. The panel suffered only minor cracks and the paint match is perfect, but could use a good color sanding to remove all evidence of past body work. There is a scratch low on the front corner and some stone chips in the front. The tub (other than the rear quarter mentioned above) and chassis have never been damaged. . The paint flaws are only noticeable to the meticulous. The flat black stripes are vinyl and therefore removable. I also have spare stripes if you don’t like the Lotus logo on the hood. The car won 1st place V8 Esprit at the last two Lotus Owners Gatherings I attended (national club meeting and show LOG 30&LOG33) against 20+ cars. So despite the flaws mentioned, it still shows exceptionally well.

Tools, Books, and assorted spares included.
Here is a video of a Lotus Esprit with similar modifications outrunning a Lamborghini Gallardo if you care about such things:
This has been cherished for the last ten years by a knowledgeable Lotus enthusiast and former professional special-interest mechanic. The car has been carefully exercised regularly and has been sensibly modified to deliver staggering performance. The car is amazing fun to drive and looks stunning. I just no longer have room in my garage for it and it deserves to be driven. The car has just under 45,000 miles.
TITLE NOTE: I have a clear Ohio title in hand. However, AutoCheck/Carfax show a Major title issue since they list the car as being stolen and recovered in 1999. I was told that this was a result of the original owner not honoring the terms of his divorce. His ex-wife subsequently reported it stolen when he failed to comply. I am unable to confirm this story. Nonetheless, the insurance company clearly paid a claim on a missing vehicle per the AutoCheck report. There is also a report that the car was repossessed twelve years ago. I am told that this was a result of the owner losing interest relative to his other investments. He handed it back to the bank. It was suggested there may have been a divorce involved there too There are other cars better suited to time-capsule preservation than this one, but after thorough inspection I am 100% confident that the car has never been even close to 'totalled' and that if there were any repairs made over the years they were very well executed. I have included a photo of my clear title.

Best way to contact me is at RWiggins951 at gmail dot com, or message me here.

 

Neat, what you need......is my 84 911 hot rod in its place.

 

Many thanks. I sold my 911 Turbo to buy this Esprit many years ago. Financially, that seems to have been a mistake. However, I do have a '69 911 that I am building a lightweight 911R replica out of. What have you done to your 84?

Regards,
Rod

 

Hey Rod

A 69 R replica is a very nice machine.

Here is a short list
T Bars
Bilsteins
Adjustable sways
15x7,8 RSR style fuchs
Light weight interior, seats /back half rollbar
FG bumpers
B&B headers with heat and custom muffler
Sunroof delete
etc.

previously I had a Gulf blu 73 RS look and a 75 in signal orange backdated to 73 RSR.

Here is a pic of the "Green Meanie" as I call it. One as it is today and another when I bought it.

 

Bumped into this at a gas station earlier this summer...went for a little drive.
Seriously impressed and sounded terrific!

Best of luck w/your sale!

 

Many thanks!

 

Price lowered to $28,500.

 

Is the car located in Ohio or Alabama?
Do you know if / when the clutch was replaced?
Any oil / fluid leaks, cam seals, valve cover, pan, Etc.
The last one I drove the shifter was pretty balky, does it grind going up or down through any of the gears?
What is the spool up of the turbos like compared to stock?
Do you have the original suspension?

 

Email sent. Wondering if this will pass smog in California. Thanks

 

Thanks for your interest, The Alabama thing was user error. The car is in Ohio.
I have not replaced the clutch. It could be original. It holds power fine, but can judder a touch on takeoff rarely. It is an easy job on these cars. The trunk panels come out and you can pull the trans from above.
The car leaves no spots on the ground. Some evidence of oil seepage here and there. The seals on the trans are new. Occasional few drops on the exhaust from the cam covers. The seals are relatively fresh so a retourque may solve that.
No balking or grinding whatsover when shifting.
Spool up is very quick. It does not really feel like a turbo car.
The original suspension was worn so I tossed it. The springs are stock and the dampers are adjustable so you can get to a setting that matches stock. The main thing I wanted was adjustability and a slightly lower stance.

 

The car will not pass California smog as it sits today. But it could.
I am not sure if the Race ECU is smog compliant. I doubt it. You would need an ECU emulator for the OBD portion of the test.
The car has no cats currently installed so that is an obvious fail. However, I have the stock (gutted) cats and muffler that could be bolted on for visual compliance. Those parts are included with the car. Cats and muffler can be installed in less than an hour.

If you are willing to mess with a bit of hassle, then you could get it to pass.

 

Car is SOLD. Thanks to all the folks that expressed interest.