dodgey_rog

Yours was the ex Trebor car wasn't it?

I saw the picture from Norfolk Motor Company, looks like an Esprit the old man supplied, C52 KPU. Looks like a Turbo with Essex decals, as the interior is grey/blue? Very cool to see those pics by the way.

Looking into this some more, I found the previous scheme undertaken by DB, doesn't look too bad; That must be what the skeleton buildings were supposed to be?

Seeing that, makes much more sense than just the pictures of the building renders. The site always has been a diamond in the rough, they never made proper use of it, so much potential.

So its going to look nothing like this then; CAR magazine scoops new Lotus 4x4 "Our new artist's impression shows how the new family Lotus could look" What a load of b*ll*cks!

I popped into the Regent Street store on Saturday, staff were very helpful, i ended buying a few caps as they were on sale. Tried to convince the other half about an Exige V6 but the display model was white, and she hates white!

I remember seeing that in Drive Styles stock back in 06 or 07. They wanted something like 80k for it i seem to recall? Pretty car, i think it was a factory build i'm pretty sure i read, but i'm sure someone knows more about it.

Just emailed you Sean.

Where abouts is this vehicle located? I'm in New York and fancied a classic for high days and holidays, i was looking at a Porsche but would rather get an old Esprit for the rarity value.

My father was the dealer for Essex from 1981 to 1990, Bridge Motors. They sold quite alot of cars for Lotus, it was quite cool growing up during the 80's with the Giugiaro and Stevens Esprits. I only managed a few trips to the factory, its a great place and I would love to go back. I might organise a factory tour in the summer when i'm home.

We used to get offered odd ball spec factory cars at great discounts in order to register as demo's. I think at one time, both my folks had Red Esprit Turbos in the mid 80's, which was great for a family of 5. Love these old photo's, would love to see more. As and when i head back to the UK, i planned to raid the photo archives from the garage days and see whats in there.

I think this prat stumbled across an old article and decided to re-hash it, then realised his mistake and hasn't updated or removed it.

I recall the old man telling me a story when they went to collect some Esprit's from the factory, when they took the franchise on, they were speaking to the development guys about the DeLorean prototypes, and the huge job they had of making a silk purse out of a sows ear. They all agreed, at the time, they were a good looking car, but drove and went like absolute dogs! Nice to see these pics come to light, anymore kicking about?

Guy, i remember speaking to you about this back in 03, my brothers Elise was in for some work and i was drooling over it. I missed the boat clearly and kicked myself for it, it was a peach and looks like it still is. Top money but then, previous owner was a king, thats a story most won't be able to copy in the pub....

Yeah, i'd seen that as well Neil, i even posted a thread on PH. You're right though, staggering price, i know for a fact that it sold for around the 20k mark back in 2003. It was an absolute minter, really well looked after, essentially a time capsule....