RE: YKYWT... 1976 Lotus Esprit S1
Discussion
As I am the specialist who rebuilt this very car I can tell you that it should be Orange as is was originally Orange gel coat car. Any other colour would detract from the originality of this S1 the interior is also original as it was when it left the factory the only mods to it were to the engine internals. These include porting the head and manifolds also reprofiled cams forged alloy pistons lightened and balanced flywheel and crank. It is now in the region of 200 bhp on the dyno. If you have driven an S1 that is any good you will know how fun and lively they are given their age. This one will blow your mind.
king horrible.skwdenyer said:
Is the steering column really at the angle it appears to be in this photo?
You have to remember in many mid-engined cars the driver's feet are angled towards the front centre of the car because the front wheel intrudes into the footwell. Look at the picture below and you can see that the pedals are offset to the left and quite close together. Best to drive an Esprit in light marrow shoes or even shoes off.In Esprit the overall effect is heightened because the backbone chassis forms a solid lump between driver and passenger so the seats can't be close together. The seats are squeezed tightly between the backbone and wide door sill so it's not a car for fatties!
Overall the car is absolutely fine to drive with a driving position angled, but all in the same line. If anything the biggest surprise when you drive Esprit for the first time is the height of the gear lever.
hello Ross, nice of you to come and chat, I've never driven an S1 but I believe you when you say they are fun. Must admit I would love to have a go in this one...
rossv3 said:
As I am the specialist who rebuilt this very car I can tell you that it should be Orange as is was originally Orange gel coat car. Any other colour would detract from the originality of this S1 the interior is also original as it was when it left the factory the only mods to it were to the engine internals. These include porting the head and manifolds also reprofiled cams forged alloy pistons lightened and balanced flywheel and crank. It is now in the region of 200 bhp on the dyno. If you have driven an S1 that is any good you will know how fun and lively they are given their age. This one will blow your mind.
I can assure you as I have driven pretty much all of the lotus range there is just something pure and exciting about the S1 and it is one of my favourites of the Esprit range. As a drivers car in my own opinion it second only perhaps to a 300 sport. Two very different cars but both are utterly exhilarating and guaranteed to leave you feeling like small boy on Christmas morning. I know how much it costs to put a car back to showroom condition let alone tuning the engine as well as it is what I do and I will just state for the record that the asking price is worth every penny.
Just looked at the above car. Nice to look at as red is not that common. But a just from the photos I can tell you there are a few problems and from experience if there are these problems there already then there will be more and usually expensive problems elsewhere. I would not pay that for that car certainly not without checking it carefully particularly chassis wise in the areas that corrode but are not usually noticed. This is my opinion ofcourse .
Perhaps. More concerning to me is the lack of airbox backing plate that stops the flexi mounted carbs moving independently of each other and the nasty breather tubes. If the carbs are separate like they are shown on this car it is not possible to keep them balanced for more than about 5 seconds. To me this is an indicator of the quality of work likely to have been carried out over the rest of the car and that worries me.
rossv3 said:
Hi Pat H if yours was trailered down to us from the chorley area then I believe I am and I am delighted that you are pleased with the work. I would be very disappointed with myself if I had failed to deliver a satisfactory service. 
Yep, that's the one.I would have driven it down, but I'm recovering from a slipped disc.
I suppose that it says something about SJ's reputation and the quality of your work that I would transport the car over 250 miles to get it fettled.
I am very pleased. But it is only what the car deserves.
Previous experience with all sorts of cars and bikes has taught me that it's always best to pay top money for a perfect car, than to buy something that needs work.
With that in mind, I don't think that £30,000 is outrageous money for that orange S1. I have no doubt that it has had much, much more spent on it to get it right. And if it is one of the original orange gel coat cars, then it is a pretty rare thing.
What I really want is for someone to do the same exercise with a S2 JPS car. Now that I would remortgage the house for.
Edited by Pat H on Monday 26th September 12:41
I am sure that in time we will be asked to do a jps at some point. The Orange car cost a LOT more than the asking price. As for wheeler dealers well they are just as the shows name implies and it should be remembered that it is entertainment only and not factual. The work Ed carried out on the engine was not the way it should be done I will say no more on that.
I am sure that in time we will be asked to do a jps at some point. The Orange car cost a LOT more than the asking price. As for wheeler dealers well they are just as the shows name implies and it should be remembered that it is entertainment only and not factual. The work Ed carried out on the engine was not the way it should be done I will say no more on that.
Max_Torque said:
Anyone else remember the time when the models were taller than the cars they were sprawled over????
Yes and when women were shaped rather better than the twigs we see these days.My initial look at the interior was a resounding no but then as a child who grew up in the 70's, i realise it's so 70's, it's so dare to be different, that it's cool. It's like those striped seats in the 70s MGBs that we all thought garish even then but now you'd simply have to have them.
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