skiing

I think it is apparently a little less clearance generally but we (I mean Sparky!) struggled with the bolts for the triangular alternator bracket as they were right up against the firewall.

So I have an HC engine from an Excel fitted to my Esprit. Seems clearance is tighter between the engine and bulkhead and there will be some probable fiddling with cooling system pipe work. (Sparky was cursing when changing the cambelt a couple of weeks ago)... I think mine ended up with the alloy thermostat cooling pipe from an S4 for example. Mine has the lotus bits exhaust system and a lightened and balanced fly wheel and it pretty quick now. Sounds great too.

I think there were some videos of this on youtube -

I would love to see a video of this in action - acceleration / the noise etc. I have the same exhaust on mine and it does sound great - would be intrigued to hear the difference fuel injection has on the noise / start up etc.

I have heard that the Lotus developed suspension did make cars sit quite high. Would love to see more more pictures of this car - looking like an S1 / S2 but originally an S3?

Looks lovely - mine is similar specification. I would check that everything works - including the air con which you are lucky to have! The rear tires will be very old as they are NCT's and probably at least 10 years old. Fine for shows etc but probably not great in damp conditions etc. (mine were not great!) - The challenge is you are not able to replace the tires with matching front and rear original sized tires. I have Vredrestein ones on mine. 225 width at the back rather than 235 but they look ok. The fuel tanks rust so check there are no strong fuel smells. Check condition of suspension / brakes etc. The chassis will be galvanized. It might have been painted but they came just galvanized from the factory. If the carbs have not been re-built at some point they will need doing. They have rubber accelerator diaphragms on the bottom of the carbs which can perish with age. they can then leak fuel onto the distributor...they might also be gummed up with old fuel. I would also replace all rubber fuel hoses as they also perish and too many Esprits have died catching fire... They don't cost much.

The RM310 has an amp built in. I fitted one this weekend to my Lancia Delta - works beautifully with four speakers. So now I have one in the Esprit and one in the Delta...

Oh and you might be able to get the car train? when you load it up on the train and travel separately and then pick up at the other end...

Andy, are you really doing Cortina in the Esprit? That is cool. The main thing for me would be lack of adequate heating... I would put it on snow tires and traction-wise it should be fine (I did a run to Val Thorens in an XJS V12 in snow and it ploughed through everything, although it must weigh twice the Esprit!)

Brilliant video - cannot believe the work that has gone into both the car and the filming - looks fantastic.... Looking forward to the S2 with a surf board on its roof as well...

Could it be a US seat? I read somewhere that the US seats are wider and so perhaps the bolsters have to be narrower so they can fit?

More pictures!? - And a video? looking forward to seeing this one...

That's right, one pipe goes outside the chassis rail - it is a very close fit. But it does fit.

Well I can't possibly comment on driving like a lunatic but I was in a convoy of other Lotus sports cars so had to keep up... ahem... I don't have a picture handy but there is one on lotusbits website of the manifold. The exit pipe is a single rolled lip exit. I would prefer a stock look for this - that is the one change I would make.

I have had the lotusbits one for around 5-6 years now. It sounds fantastic and the car was definitely up on power when fitted. It is quiet on the motorway but sounds excellent on acceleration. Totally changed the sound of the car. It was tricky to fit I believe. It has not deteriorated at all other than some surface corrosion on pipes. Backbox and tailpipe are nice and shiny (I keep them polished). The other pipes do clean up. I recently took the silencer apart (it just rivets together) to replace the packing as it had got louder as the packing slowly disappeared). The only challenge I have is one of the slip joints is a little loose so I get the odd rattle but it is normally fine (Sparky will at some point look at this!). I have put heat wrap around the chassis tubes nearest the exhaust as it is a close fit. It is beautifully made.