LOTUS ESPRIT 1976

An early Esprit Series One in superb, indeed concours, condition throughout following a full £61,000 restoration carried out by the recognised Esprit specialist, SJ Sportscars, based in Devon. Chassis 095 was a highly original car retaining all of its original componentry and panels that had been off the road for a considerable period of time and was hence the perfect subject for the work completed.

The Esprit was built in October 1976 and supplied via Lotus dealer Cathedral Garage in Bristol, to Universal Engineering of Weymouth, on the 28th February 1977 – just prior to release of the Bond film ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, which made the Esprit famous!

A number of enthusiasts enjoyed the Esprit over the subsequent years as documented in the extensive history file. Indeed, in the 1980’s it was owned by Tony Burton, at the time, one of British industry's top product planners. A full article on the man and his Esprit appeared in Motor Magazine, edition week ending 6th September 1986, a copy of which is on file.

The Esprit was purchased in June 2008 by the current owner following an exhaustive search for a very good original early Esprit. Steve Roberts of SJ Sportscars inspected the car and verified its originality and deemed it an excellent basis for a concours restoration.

Work commenced as soon as the car arrived in the workshop, initial focus was the removal of the body from the chassis, then strip down of the chassis and removal of engine, gearbox, brakes and suspension. The chassis was then placed on a jig and any corroded sections of tubing were repaired or replaced. It was then sand blasted, primed and painted.

The engine and gearbox were completely rebuilt using all new parts or reconditioned items. All Alloy casings were plasma blasted and the chassis then built up with new suspension and brakes.

The body was repaired and stripped ready for priming and painting and the instruments reconditioned and new wiring looms fitted. The original Wolfrace slot wheels were reconditioned and the body refinished in Lotus Monaco White. A complete interior retrim commenced with Steve at SJ managing to source some original Stewart Tartan and green trim for the seats and headlining. However, no orange carpet was available and so a carpet mill was persuaded to undertake a small run of the orange carpet to the original pattern against a sample of the material. Fortunately, this arrived just in time for the retrim to immediately follow the rejoining of the body to chassis.

The restoration was finally completed on the 1st July after a total expenditure of £60,930.65 and many thousands of hours of work. Following the restoration, the car has seen Manila use in dry summer weather only, it has been stored in perfect conditions and returned to SJ as required for any snagging or service work.

Undoubtedly one of the finest Esprits, indeed Steve Roberts at SJ Sportscars, a recognised and very knowledgable Esprit expert, describes it as probably the best anywhere, retaining as it does, all of the unique detail that only the earliest Series One cars have.

Chassis 095 comes with all keys, tools, fitted car cover, original sales brochure and a comprehensive history file detailing the cars life and the restoration completed together with subsequent maintenance.