Don't know anyone in the Midlands.

But give us a hint about the car.

One of us might know it.

Nice looking car and the round rear lights suit them well, costs a bit to get done properly (mine cost me £400+ just for fitting) I have itemised a few items you should check out on previous posts on here and it would be wise to check them out as they can be expensive to fix on the V8.

I can't seem to find my post it must have been a long time ago. I'm far from an expert but bought a car that needed a few things doing and I underestimated the cost. First make sure the car is cold, start it up and put your head near the rear wheels both sides, if it sounds like it's blowing it is probably the manifold studs have broken, check when the cambelt was last changed and once driven have a good sniff around for the smell of petrol this is in case the tanks need sorting, have a look at the oil pipes going into the turbos if they are original they may be corroded and will need replacing. The above items will require the engine being taken out to sort and at its worse could cost £3K to put right (just the pipes can be done with the engine in place but its not easy) ensure the engine management light is not on after your run. Don't let the above put you off because the previous owner may have sorted these items as they came up or if you are really unlucky the previous owner may only be capable of looking after a pedal car rather than an Esprit in which case you could be in for a world of pain before the pleasure. You just have to bear in mind that in their day the Esprit was a supercar and as such requires a reasonable budget to keep them running properly. Once sorted there are very few cars that provide the combination of looks and performance that the Esprit offers, you always get engaged in conversations at filling stations and where you park it, and as childish as it seems when you go past a group of school kids they never fail to point and go 'cor look at that' that still amuses me. I did have a fairly big budget as I was going to buy a 911 Turbo which was £12K more than the Esprit but I got messed around by the dealer so bought the Esprit on impulse without thoroughly doing my homework. There is no traction control but there is ABS and they have a brutal power delivery which you need to pay attention to because it can catch you out on damp roads. Great cars for the money and the only thing I will replace it with is a 911 Turbo S. There is a very good forum in The Lotus Forum where there are owners much more experienced than me who can advise you I would suggest you join that.

You are absolutely right, I recently sold my Esprit on Pistonheads for £22K (I do apologise to the two guys I mucked around, in particular the one who thought he had bought it)and tried a number of cars (DB9 V12, Modena 360 and the 911 Turbo S) and again the 911 Turbo S just came out as my preffered choice yet again. In the end driving back in the Esprit my thoughts were the 911 was sublime but no car in my opinion was twice as good as the Esprit for twice the money so I've still got the Esprit because although the 911 is iconic the V8 esprit just has this certain something in its looks, can't put my finger on it but it looks fast standing still.
One other thing I missed rattling heat shields.

I thought i saw an HC in white for sale at Paul Matty....? It looks too similar to yours Pat, i hope its just a coincidence?

[quote=BIRMA]You are absolutely right, I recently sold my Esprit on Pistonheads for £22K (I do apologise to the two guys I mucked around, in particular the one who thought he had bought it)and tried a number of cars (DB9 V12, Modena 360 and the 911 Turbo S) and again the 911 Turbo S just came out as my preffered choice yet again. In the end driving back in the Esprit my thoughts were the 911 was sublime but no car in my opinion was twice as good as the Esprit for twice the money so I've still got the Esprit because although the 911 is iconic the V8 esprit just has this certain something in its looks, can't put my finger on it but it looks fast standing still.
One other thing I missed rattling heat shields.

[/quote
Sooo right,I recently tried an Exige S. Great car, but lacked the drama, the sense of occasion, of the Esprit. The geezer from Lotus, James, agreed with me too!

Thanks Sheds, I'll keep hold of his number.

Regards, DD.