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I'll show you mine, now you show me yours


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Great car Alizera. I have been in Zurich for 3 weeks now but sadly I have not seen any Esprits

Mike Kimberly at the launch of the Lotus Evora,

"These cars will be for the few who know the difference!"

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Did I show you these before:

costasmeraldaey1.th.jpg tswlmvistapointtopaf5.th.jpg

attheseaside2dl3.th.jpg attheseaside2kopiesn4.th.jpg

attheseasidefishat3.th.jpg sardinia2008bannersf7.th.jpg

Ciao,

JB

'88 Excel SE - monaco white

'99 Elise 111 - azure blue �

'87 TurboEsprit - calypso red

'02 BMW 325ci convertible - diamond black

wwwlotusexceldebannernew300eu5.jpg

http://excelregister.lotusexcel.de

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It's a while since I've looked in this thread, and each time I'm even more impressed!

Paddle Faster, I hear Banjos!
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Thanks for the kind words, Hans, Bibs, John, et al.! :)

Tony K. :)

 

Esprit S1s #355H & 454H

Esprit S2.2  #324J

1991 Esprit SE

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tony k

stunning pics.... after all these years and being a G-Bod owner, its unbelievable how i never tire of looking at S1/S2 esprits....

thanks for the treat

PP

btw do you prefer driving the 308? im kicking around the idea of getting one of those junior cars 308gt4/urraco/merak....

Edited by pyropolymer
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Russ,

The location may look familiar from this photo:

marina.jpg

There are other photos floating around the internet of my former S1, XJ6, and Lancia Scorpion, all taken at that marina.

The location is Wildwood State Park on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. The body of water is Lake Erie (one of the five "Great Lakes"). My parents live one block away, and it has always proved to be a convenient and pretty place to take photos. It is one of my all-time favorite spots.

I've been taking photos there for years. I try to go on a weekday in the first half of June. It is still early in the season and the leaves are still fresh, and it's usually not crowded then. Around 10:00 a.m. is the best time. Before then, the sun is too strong on the side of the car and sometimes makes weird glare; the closer to noon it gets, the more of a shadow is cast on the lower parts of the car. The blue S1 photos were taken between 11:30 and noon; you can see that the bottom half of the car is a little dark, and the tops of the wheels are shadowed by the fenders. Sure, I could address this in Photoshop, but I'd rather take a better picture from the start. I only adjusted the levels, saturation, etc. on one of these photos -- the right front angle of the blue S1 in front of the trellis structure. That one was very bright, yet "weak" at the same time. The rest of the photos are untouched.

PP -- I prefer driving the LOTUS. Let me sum up the positives and negatives:

Driving and Ownership Impressions:

1978 Lotus Esprit S1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1980 Ferrari 308 GTBi

3500 rpm in 5th = ~80mph - great for cruising . . . . . . . vs. . . . . .. . . . . . . 3500 rpm in 5th = ~65mph - too low-geared for long highway trips

28-31 mpg at any speed, not an exaggeration . . . . . . . . . . . vs. . . . . . . . . . . about the same gas mileage as a series III XJ6 or other old Jaguar

Loud induction noise under heavy acceleration, acceptale noise other times . . . .vs. . . . awful resonance/noise all the time from 65mph to 80mph :)

Random strong vibrations from engine/chassis at certain RPMS . . . . vs. . . . . . less engine vibration, but overall combined with above, Esprit is more pleasant, less headache

Interior is more "complete" and coherent design with exterior . . . vs. . . . . better detailing of interior, but nowhere near as exciting

Air conditioning evaporator collects ice and blocks its own air flow after an hour on highway . . . . vs. . . . air conditioning keeps breaking and costing money

Interior and controls are logical, fluid, sensible, and easy to the touch . . . vs. . . . . traditional Italian lack of ergonomics, and an overall more "hard" and heavy feeling to everything

Shifter is worth the price of the car alone . . . . . . . . vs. . . . . . . . . . . classic gated shifter is romantic and engaging, but difficult and annoying

HANDLING is from Heaven and the Angels above. best handling car ever, period. . . . . . vs. .. . . . . . very capable, but you have to concentrate. Feels heavy.

Nimble, and very exciting and engaging to drive all the time . . . . . . . . . vs. . . . . . . quite "flat" and disappointing to drive most of the time, yet more tiring. Need more concentration, too.

A delight to drive in any situation at any speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vs. . . . . . . . . . only fun to drive when going real fast, or under hard acceleration at high rpms; a chore the rest of the time

Tossed around by the wind at lower speeds; incredibly stable miracle of aerodynamics at higher speeds; vs. . . . . . . feels solid, stable all the time

Very communicative steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vs . . . . . . . . . also very communicative, slightly more precise, but more "touchy" as a result.

Brakes more than capable for anything you can throw at the car . . . . . . vs. . . . . . . the same size brakes as the S1 on a 1000 lb. heavier car.

Plenty of space in the boot for a weekend trip for two, plus a little bit more . . . . vs. . . . . . . . . just enough space for a weekend trip for two, no more

Cooks your luggage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cooks your luggage

Feels cheap and fragile (build quality) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . feels like fine craftsmanship, lovely. That's where that 1000 lbs. goes...

Acceleration is acceptable, runs out of power around 130mph . . . . .. . . vs. . . . . . . accelerates much stronger, and runs right up to redline in 5th, no waiting

More likely to break down, but you stand a good chance of being able to fix it on the side of the road . . . vs. . . . less likely to break, but if it does you're taking a bus home and ordering $ thousands of dollars in parts from Italy

Lots of smiles and admiring complements at filling stations; good vibes . . . . vs. . . . . . people either leave you alone or very rudely persist in asking how much you paid for it.

Wonderful sense of occasion; just being in or near it is special . . . . . . . . . . . .vs . . . . . a little less "exotic", but very suave; restrained and comfortable in its grandeur

Pure design; the perfect, "golden rectangle" of car shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vs. . . . . . . . . . . pure sex, plus intricate and tasteful detail

The short version is this: The Ferrari wins in speed, acceleration, durability and build quality; the Lotus wins in every other aspect of driving and ownership. Overall winner is the Lotus by a significant margin, but the Ferrari is fun and a great car. The Lotus is all around my preferred car, but where the Ferrari wins, it is as great in those aspects as the Lotus is in handling. The 308 begs to be driven hard, and demands attention and precision; the Esprit is easy to get the most out of in any type of driving, and its capabilities are even greater yet. Two very different cars with different virtues. With that said, there is no reason for the huge price discrepancy between the two cars, IMHO.

My only justification for spending so much on the Ferrari is that a.) I have two Esprits still, and b.) I'll get the purchase price back when I sell the Ferrari. If I could have only one "exotic" car, it would be an Esprit. If I could have only two, it would be two Esprits. But being fortunate enough to own three, the 308 is my choice. ^_^

Sorry for the threadjack! :)

EDIT: One more thing, PP -- A Merak and a Merak SS were contenders in my recent purchase decision that resulted in the 308; I would give strong consideration to them. Very different cars than the 308 -- more elegant and civilized. Benefit of timing chains, and overall a lower maintenance car, but drawback of being otherwise more complicated and senseless in mechanical design than the Ferrari. If I could have a fourth "exotic" car, it would be a Merak SS. ^_^

Edited by Tony K

Tony K. :)

 

Esprit S1s #355H & 454H

Esprit S2.2  #324J

1991 Esprit SE

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The location is Wildwood State Park on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. The body of water is Lake Erie (one of the five "Great Lakes"). My parents live one block away, and it has always proved to be a convenient and pretty place to take photos. It is one of my all-time favorite spots.

That's it. I lived in Columbus for quite awhile and am very familiar with Cleveland, having kept a boat there for a number of years.

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I don't like the 308. the driving position is awful. engine nowhere near as good as a true V12 Ferrari. Dynamics and road behavior are approximative.

It has nice body lines... but the rest...

On the track & road, not as good as the Esprit.

The Esprit is an elegant car, it definately has something special and very attractive to it, just like if you can't get your eyes off it.

The 308 isn't, it is sporty, sensual etc... but not elegant.

Hey, you are a multiple Esprit owner - just like me, so we know what we like about these cars right ? !

Ok my personnal 2c. but I never liked the way the V8 Ferraris go.

avatarni7.jpg
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  • 2 weeks later...

Here she is.... after a long wash and polish. bopped of for a quick spin. ( i really should drive her less its pretty much every day! My grin is stil as wide as the thighs of Vanessa Feltz....

mini.jpg

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  • 3 months later...

this is one of the best threads on here and im bored at work so i figured id bump it and see if anyones got any new pics to share...

in keeping with tradition, heres a recent shot of mine:

img4633wl6.jpg

also, one of my favorite shots of all time that some of you on here have seen before:

img1779mt1.jpg

shade

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  • 5 months later...

Here's mine at Ulswater

Lakes29024.jpg

and his baby brother

IMG_5461.jpg

Beauty and the beast! :o

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hello alireza

ive been looking for chrome stalk S2 mirrors for awhile. i hope your freind dosent paint them. I feel the S2 are the prettiest of all esprit and the S1 a near second although i do fancy a tartan one.

i have a set of S3 mirrors on my car if he wants to trade. although it hasent been drive much, the car is in excellent cosmetic condition and never have seen rain (at least in my possesion)

any nice new pics you can post of your former red S2? some nice interior shots would be great too.

cheers

pp

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do u peeps think i should get chromed up wheels like shadeone or black or gold?

Car's looking good Matt - Gold is still en vogue however rumours are that black on black is the new gold on black! :thumbup:

For forum issues, please contact the Moderators.

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  • Gold FFM

Bibs, you don't really want to mod your car now in an 'all in black' prototype car !? Don't you ? :thumbup:

even with the badly scratches I've seen on the factory care park, I like your rims

*********************************************************************

to name the things if I see them, that's what I call integrity..

*********************************************************************

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