RE: YKYWT... 1976 Lotus Esprit S1

[PhilJames]

The interior was an option, mine came with cream and dark brown thankfully, and of course the outside is Monaco white!

I don't care for the rest of the 80's Esprits the S1 is the purest and best.
Un reliable? No, I have mine service once a year (I can leave it for a month and it starts strait away), a brilliant and reliable car (but not in the hands of fools).

[ultrastapler]

i don't think i've ever wanted a car more than an s1 esprit. from the moment i first saw one in James Bond, when i was a kid.

£30k does buy you a hell of a lot car these days though. still tempted by that though

[anonymous-user]

y2blade said:

Anyone else remember the time when the models were taller than the cars they were sprawled over????



These days it's more like:

[suffolk009]

and she looks tall, and has heels on.

[Fat Albert]

I have always loved these original Esprits.

I presume the dashboard is designed so that it can just be flipped upside down for left hand drive?

[soad]

Erm, that's a lot of colours - just need a matching outfit!

[JonRB]

My dad had an Esprit S3 in the early 80's. I loved that car.


Lotus Esprit by JonRB, on Flickr

[0a]

I'm sorry, but people would just laugh at you wherever you went in this. One for this guy I think:

[oobie38]

My dad bought one of these in 76 or 77, in NZ, just after Bond film came out. Same orange exterior, and the tartan upholstery.

I was a 14 year old schoolboy, and on the few times I was bought to school in it didn't know whether to play it for all it was worth or die of embarrassment at the ostentatiousness of it all. I've probably subconsciously blocked most of my memories of the car - about all that remains is the height of the thing, the tartan upholstery (I'm not convinced 'ours' had the same trimming around the seat edge), the headlights bouncing all over the place when in use, and the reflection of the instruments on the screen destroying visibility out front.
We only had it for a few months, he did a deal with a BMW 3.0CSi..

[gnm321]

That interior is like the one that I got on my first company merc c class in 1995 it was an amg version and had that tartan.....but it grows on you....

[The Hypno-Toad]

I'm sorry but that interior is so wrong. Just could not live with that.

Give me a nice Essex edition Turbo instead. & big fat big lottery win to keep it on the road.

[Pat H]

rhinochopig said:

What do they drive like?

If you are in the mood, then they are great fun. If you are tired, then they are bloody awful.

Can't see out of them.

Can't get into them.

Doors don't open wide enough.

Windows doesn't wind down fully, so there's nowhere to rest your arm.

Switchgear is crap.

Ventilation is crap.

Gearchange is crap.

Steering column sticks out at a funny angle.

No headroom.

No legroom.

Nowhere to rest your left foot.

Fibreglass is wrinkly.

Trim is flakey.

Steering is heavy.

Brakes are heavy.

They sound like an Escort.

Turbos are laggy with a wastegate that sounds like a bog being flushed.

Normally aspirated ones were underpowered in 1976.

Oh, and they smell like a canoe full of petrol.

Apart from that, they aren't bad.

[MX7]

It looks like a shortbread advert.

I would, but not that one.

[fatboy69]

Horrendous interior which is so so wrong.

However.... I love the car & wouldnt be unhappy if it was sitting on my driveway.

[Stu R]

Ye gods that interior is foul. It'd be like sitting atop Jackie Stewart.

Still, lovely car and glad to see an S1 restored properly.

[JonRB]

There was an article in Scrapyard Bodger magazine (sorry, Practical Performance Car) a few years ago about a chap who bought a wreck of an early Esprit with most of its interior missing, and put the Audi 4.2 V8 lump in it and some race seats and some rudimentary trim. Sounds amusing.
( http://jalopnik.com/376281/maniac-transplants-audi...)

Although that Citroen Diane van that is basically an Esprit under the skin has a certain loony appeal to it too.

Edited by JonRB on Tuesday 20th September 15:26

[McSam]

shirt said:

agreed. i was just looking at this one t'other day. fantastic and the interior is frankly amazing.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1977-Lotus-Esprit-S...

Oh, wow.

Thank you very much indeed for that link

Just wow.

[rhinochopig]

Pat H said:

rhinochopig said:

What do they drive like?

If you are in the mood, then they are great fun. If you are tired, then they are bloody awful.

Can't see out of them.

Can't get into them.

Doors don't open wide enough.

Windows doesn't wind down fully, so there's nowhere to rest your arm.

Switchgear is crap.

Ventilation is crap.

Gearchange is crap.

Steering column sticks out at a funny angle.

No headroom.

No legroom.

Nowhere to rest your left foot.

Fibreglass is wrinkly.

Trim is flakey.

Steering is heavy.

Brakes are heavy.

They sound like an Escort.

Turbos are laggy with a wastegate that sounds like a bog being flushed.

Normally aspirated ones were underpowered in 1976.

Oh, and they smell like a canoe full of petrol.

Apart from that, they aren't bad.

Thanks - how do they compare to say an Elise though. Is there a clear Lotus handling DNA?

[Stu R]

rhinochopig said:

Thanks - how do they compare to say an Elise though. Is there a clear Lotus handling DNA?

By the sounds of it, exactly the same

[Pat H]

rhinochopig said:

Thanks - how do they compare to say an Elise though. Is there a clear Lotus handling DNA?

Oh yes, there definitely is the same DNA in there.

They feel a lot like a big Elise.

Except that the controls are heavier, and the brakes and handling aren't as sharp.

And old fashioned tyre sizes compromise outright grip.

If you grab one by the scruff of the kneck and really drive it, then they are magnificent.

But they are pretty unpleasant to take to Sainsburys.