Esprit Picture & Video Thread

[stephenwhyte 1,429]

It's funny Barrie, I've been trying to think what period stereo to put in my Turbo as it has a 90's Pioneer in it which had been fitted by the original owner and wasn't sure which way to go to replace. I have an 80's Kenwood 949d which is stunning but might go down the silver route now after seeing yours as it looks brilliant with that silver version alongside the black interior - very period!! I also see it has the earlier passenger vent design but no roof stereo - interesting.

As for the previous owner of yours - which Scottish band were they in?

[Bazza 907 772]

The Athenians - big on the Uni circuit apparently

[stephenwhyte 1,429]

nope never heard of them either - clearly they must have been doing alright in 1981 to afford a brand new Lotus Turbo Esprit anyway!!

 

[Tocus 181 1 Vehicles]

Very Great car Barrie, thanks for sharing pictures of that beast!

i will finish my S2. soon, so i also could place some pictures here,

and also my Silver essex will get his orginal engine back in when the rebuild is done, (i have no time, otherwise

it was allready done...)

 

 

[hopo 154 2 Vehicles]

Congratulations Barrie. It looks utterly fantastic. congratulations, well worth the wait.

 

I have to agree with the Mrs... your never going to get time to drive all these cars. remember that wonderful blue Na???

 

looks superb

[TAR 340]

On ‎17‎/‎01‎/‎2016 at 22:00, Jack Stone said:

 

I’m intrigued by the Lotus info on the stripes. Don’t recall ever seeing an early 80s non-Essex without the stripes.

 

My car has this high pinstripe line and I was told it wasn't original. Anyone know for sure if any cars left the factory with this additional pinstripe?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jack Stone 71]

Regarding the upper coachline - the two pics I posted (this one and the first image of OMA318Y in a bus stop) both appear to have the same gold stripe. They are different cars (OMA318Y has a black interior) but I think they are similar ages. I took the pic of the one with the "Turbo" plate at a car show in the early 80s (I think it was a Daily Mail competition prize) and 318Y was fairly young when I took the earlier pic.

My 81 Essex Blue Turbo also had a gold cheatline in a similar position (although thinner) when I bought it in 89 which I think had been on it from the start. I guess as these cars were usually built to order in the early 80s, each one could have had bespoke treatments which while not officially factory spec were probably "factory applied".

[Numanoid 64 1 Vehicles]

On 17/01/2016 at 20:23, Bazza 907 said:

Thanks chaps. Mrs Bazza is seriously questioning if/when I'm ever going to get time to drive it...  

One more

 

Blimey, just seen this today - Simply stunning, love it! Gorgeous, and I have always really liked deep wheels like that with silver outers and gold centres...

[nello 276 1 Vehicles]

Great stuff Bazza - interested to hear if it was a big financial investment required to return to the road after that amount of time? (seeing as how mine probably needs the same!)

Anyway as an aside thought I'd share this find - terrific selection of Esprit imagery here : 

https://revslib.stanford.edu/?_=1453393830093&f%5Bcollection_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Karl+Ludvigsen+Photograph+Collection&q=esprit&search_match=any

Includes several I'd not see before including the early UK launch car and stand (Oct '75)

You can search on anything Automotive including ACBC 

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2016 by nello

[Bazza 907 772]

Neil

Yes it was a big financial investment getting it done professionally but I'm lucky that the bodywork and interior didn't need anything than lots and lots (and lots) of cleaning/polishing.

Mechanically it's not too far off having had pretty much everything replaced/renewed. I have been lucky that we've been able to keep it pretty much original and as it left the factory which is largely down to Gerald and Neil at GST.

 

Good luck with yours    

[swindon_alan 1,650 1 Vehicles]

This has probably been done countless times before, but if so then I apologise. Well actually, I don't ;-)

I have a huge amount of Esprit photos cycling as my wallpaper on my laptop, but the one that keep whacking me in the chin is this one. Completely supercar. Even if I put the cheese grater lower diffuser and later Elise type lights on mine it wouldn't look anything like this. I think it is the colour and the integration? Whatever, it should be in a Star Wars film!

[Barrykearley 5,381]

Was not that the folly of the ex lotus boss??

[swindon_alan 1,650 1 Vehicles]

Just now, Barrykearley said:

Was not that the folly of the ex lotus boss??

Yes, it was Dany Bahar's company car

[Barrykearley 5,381]

And it's bloody lovely..........

[Loose Cannon 576 1 Vehicles]

On 21/01/2016 at 22:46, nello said:

Anyway as an aside thought I'd share this find - terrific selection of Esprit imagery here : 

https://revslib.stanford.edu/?_=1453393830093&f%5Bcollection_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Karl+Ludvigsen+Photograph+Collection&q=esprit&search_match=any

Includes several I'd not see before including the early UK launch car and stand (Oct '75)

 

Awesome find Nello. You can see Mike Kimberley in the background!

Just think how many more great old shots like this are sitting in private collections or in some photo bank that won't release them without a fee. David Phipps was another photographer with an extensive archive which covered every major motorshow in the 60s and 70s. Imagine what's in that for wedge enthusiasts. It was purchased on his demise but the company that did so are only interested in flogging the Formula one stuff, and the rest sits in storage

[nello 276 1 Vehicles]

Yep each photo is massively zoom-in-able 

..............and agreed Alan - those final V8's were nailed with that cheese-grater grille  Stonking

 

Edited January 25, 2016 by nello

[Jacques 765 1 Vehicles]

Sorry to be a bit different here, but I prefer the earlier versions (SE-like), as I find them more Integrated and cent better, that this which seems to hold back letting the hot air out, and it also looks a bit tacked on to me. But anyway a nice shot of a supercar. The final edition had the elongated holes, which looks more bespoke to me.  Sorry, I prefer the exhaust pipes in each side too. Makes the car look even wider. But that rear hatch... it's super good looking!!!!

Kind regards,

Jacques.

[C8RKH 4,253 2 Vehicles]

Take the high spoiler off and that white Esprit would have my knees buckling.  Love it....

[Loose Cannon 576 1 Vehicles]

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

Take the high spoiler off and that white Esprit would have my knees buckling.  Love it....

I'm sure that car didn't have a spoiler originally, there's definitely shots of it at the Goodwood FOS without, so not sure when it was added.

[C8RKH 4,253 2 Vehicles]

It'll be a vanity thing. Who's car was it? Oh, yes, QED I think.

[Loose Cannon 576 1 Vehicles]

18 hours ago, nello said:

Yep each photo is massively zoom-in-able 

As well as the silver car (with the Astronaut that appears in the Pathe News reel) it looks like they also showed a red prototype in 1975. This always confused me, as it had the much prettier back end. Damn those production line engineers! Probably the same ones who sabotaged Peter Stevens' fuel fillers on the facelift.

 

[Jacques 765 1 Vehicles]

And how did those original fuel fillers look on the Stevens Esprit?

Kind regards,

Jacques.

[Loose Cannon 576 1 Vehicles]

The fuel doors echoed the shape of the side windows according to Steven's. He took a day off after grafting on the styling buck and when he came back the engineers had squared them off!

He also had nicer, more integrated mirrors too, swapped for cheaper off the shelf Ford looking production items;

[JustinB 9]

On 1/24/2016 at 18:31, swindon_alan said:

This has probably been done countless times before, but if so then I apologise. Well actually, I don't ;-)

I have a huge amount of Esprit photos cycling as my wallpaper on my laptop, but the one that keep whacking me in the chin is this one. Completely supercar. Even if I put the cheese grater lower diffuser and later Elise type lights on mine it wouldn't look anything like this. I think it is the colour and the integration? Whatever, it should be in a Star Wars film!

Fantastic picture. Really shows how low and wide it is (something not easily achieved without a person/normal car in the shot for perspective). The other thing that makes it look like a space ship is you can't see the tires!

[unity1 3 1 Vehicles]

11 hours ago, Loose Cannon said:

The fuel doors echoed the shape of the side windows according to Steven's. He took a day off after grafting on the styling buck and when he came back the engineers had squared them off!

He also had nicer, more integrated mirrors too, swapped for cheaper off the shelf Ford looking production items;

I didn't know that about the filler flap and agree it looks much better with the rounded back edge to mirror the air scoop. If I had I would have replicated it when I modified my car.