Paul Coleman 368 Report post Posted May 6, 2018 Well I've stupidly bought another S1 restoration project. As you can imagine my wife was absolutely thrilled!! It's actually the very first black car as you can tell by the front boot area which they didn't bother to paint. It was under a tarp in somebody's front garden and looked a bit unloved so I thought I should save it. It's a Feb 1977 car on an R plate although somebody has put a 'personal' plate on it which I want to get removed. S1 'barn finds' are getting very hard to find now and every one that's found is one less to find. Paul. 5 2 Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barrykearley 5,367 Report post Posted May 6, 2018 You jammy sod - looks a great find 1 Quote Only here once Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisJ 1,091 2 Vehicles Report post Posted May 6, 2018 Great find. Is the interior original? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Coleman 368 Report post Posted May 6, 2018 32 minutes ago, ChrisJ said: Great find. Is the interior original? No it had the marcasite originally Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jakeo 12 Report post Posted May 6, 2018 Very cool Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cbclotus 497 Report post Posted May 6, 2018 Wow ....With your skills ....No problem .....How's the Mrs .....Mike from Exeter ....Reminds me of my first s1 yellow wh tartan trim Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Coleman 368 Report post Posted May 6, 2018 2 hours ago, cbclotus said: How's the Mrs ..... She'll be fine if she ever calms down! 1 Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeanvm 92 1 Vehicles Report post Posted May 6, 2018 you know what you're doing, what you know is going to be much easy, enjoy. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drdoom 169 Report post Posted May 6, 2018 Good on ya, Paul. This early car is noteworthy for its original style motor mounts and chassis brace. Looking forward to your postings already. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lotusfab 2,132 Report post Posted May 9, 2018 Were you walking past someone's front garden and saw it? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silverfrost 1,386 Report post Posted May 10, 2018 Fantastic news Paul, great result and i am sure it will end up as a stunner, great colour also and looks in pretty decent condtion from the pics, great result, enjoy and look forward to the updates Quote A Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Coleman 368 Report post Posted May 10, 2018 On 09/05/2018 at 05:04, Lotusfab said: Were you walking past someone's front garden and saw it? Hahaha no not quite 14 hours ago, silverfrost said: Fantastic news Paul, great result and i am sure it will end up as a stunner, great colour also and looks in pretty decent condtion from the pics, great result, enjoy and look forward to the updates The body doesn't have any damage (well not that I've seen yet!) so it will be a lot easier than my white one as I had to rebuild the engine bay on that. As for the colour I plan on doing it orange as it's such a 70s colour. I have a slight storage problem to sort out first though as currently it's being stored in my Dad's garage!! 1 Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silverfrost 1,386 Report post Posted May 14, 2018 What is happening with the E type ? Quote A Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Coleman 368 Report post Posted May 14, 2018 3 hours ago, silverfrost said: What is happening with the E type ? I still have it but it's currently in storage as I had to move out of my house temporarily to have some structural work done (long story). So I won't be doing anything to it for the rest of the year unfortunately I plan on rebuilding the engine for this S1 over the next couple of months using parts from an Elite engine that came with it to keep the costs down. I'm hoping to make one good one out of the two. 1 Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lotusfab 2,132 Report post Posted May 14, 2018 You’ll have to get rid of that sun roof! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Coleman 368 Report post Posted May 14, 2018 11 hours ago, Lotusfab said: You’ll have to get rid of that sun roof! Yes absolutely - isn't it dreadful. I always vowed I would never buy a car with a sunroof but these things are getting almost impossible to find now And every one that gets dragged out of somebody's front garden is one less to find. 2 Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Coleman 368 Report post Posted May 19, 2018 (edited) And the big question is what colour should I paint it? It was the very first ever black car for the UK market but does that matter? I don't like the idea of changing the colour of a car but I don't like black cars personally so I'm leaning towards orange. The world really doesn't need another white S1. Edited May 19, 2018 by Paul Coleman Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Clarky5150 81 Report post Posted May 19, 2018 Yes it does matter but does it matter enough to stop you from creating the car you want. For me an S1 always looks perfect in white. An S2 however looks amazing in Yellow. Just the addition of the extra black trim on the S2 and the black centred wheels does that for me. S3, Essex or JPS, Stevens calypso or white. S4 Norfolk mustard or Silk red S4S azure blue. V8, quite liked the greeny grey and the lovely light metallic blue for the facelift cars..... Sorry got a bit carried away there but to me colour makes or breaks a car even by different models. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lotusfab 2,132 Report post Posted May 19, 2018 White. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Coleman 368 Report post Posted May 19, 2018 1 hour ago, Lotusfab said: White. But I've already got a white one... 1 Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lotusfab 2,132 Report post Posted May 19, 2018 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Suddabym 336 Report post Posted May 19, 2018 Orange, if it’s a poll. Great colour, then and now. Quote Sudders and Dany Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Coleman 368 Report post Posted May 19, 2018 8 minutes ago, Suddabym said: Orange, if it’s a poll. Great colour, then and now. Yes it's an unofficial poll. That's a hell of a collection of Lotus you've owned Quote Lotus Esprit [meaning] a 1:1 scale Airfix kit with a propensity to catch fire Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Suddabym 336 Report post Posted May 19, 2018 Thanks. I owned a Rover 400 for a while, too. 1 Quote Sudders and Dany Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barrykearley 5,367 Report post Posted May 19, 2018 Don’t admit to the rover orange - paint it orange 1 Quote Only here once Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
