The £6500 Esprit.
Discussion
Am currently in the market for a 350Z & having test driven a couple am mightily impressed. However, was looking on Autotrader last night & noticed that there were two 1988 model (the Peter Stevens redesign ?) Esprits for sale at £6500 each. One was a turbo whilst the other was N/A.
Have always badly wanted one of these, but was always of the opinion that if I had £10K+ to spend on such an extravagance (Ive set aside £6500 or so for the 350Z) that Id probaby go for a 996 model 911 instead for the usual reasons.
At £6500 they seem too good to be true (which in all probability means they are) but if I was to have a look at buying a bargain basement Esprit A) what should I look out for & B) should I really be spending - what is to me at least - a sizeable amount of money on what at the end of the day, might be just a money pit ? Would I be correct in assuming that the N/A car would be the one to go for as its not as complex & theres less chance of the engine expoding &/or my wallet being home to moths ?
As an aside, couple of years ago owned an S1 Elise...hence the love of Lotus.
Have always badly wanted one of these, but was always of the opinion that if I had £10K+ to spend on such an extravagance (Ive set aside £6500 or so for the 350Z) that Id probaby go for a 996 model 911 instead for the usual reasons.
At £6500 they seem too good to be true (which in all probability means they are) but if I was to have a look at buying a bargain basement Esprit A) what should I look out for & B) should I really be spending - what is to me at least - a sizeable amount of money on what at the end of the day, might be just a money pit ? Would I be correct in assuming that the N/A car would be the one to go for as its not as complex & theres less chance of the engine expoding &/or my wallet being home to moths ?
As an aside, couple of years ago owned an S1 Elise...hence the love of Lotus.
At that budget, yes, you need to stick to the nat. asp. Esprit; any Turbo of that value would be a shed and a money pit.
You need a Series 3 or later (galvanised chassis and a rear suspension that doesn't eat its UJ's on a weekly basis). Apart from basic condition (body and interior) concentrate on the engine and gearbox condition; both have a reputation for fragility is abused and both are expensive to rebuild.
Electrics can be flakey, so get yourself a good multimeter.
You need a Series 3 or later (galvanised chassis and a rear suspension that doesn't eat its UJ's on a weekly basis). Apart from basic condition (body and interior) concentrate on the engine and gearbox condition; both have a reputation for fragility is abused and both are expensive to rebuild.
Electrics can be flakey, so get yourself a good multimeter.
The Esprit is a lovely car, though I have heard stories about engine problems on them. Apparently if there is more than 3 jobs to be done on an Esprit engine, its easier to take the whole thing out. Also the turbo models are also quite a high maintinence car.
If you havent seen it before I strongly suggest you watch a show called wheeler dealers. They buy cars, fix them up and sell them on for a profit. Theres an epsiode with the Esprit, and its on youtube, very interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfq0cE17JX8
Good luck with your search
If you havent seen it before I strongly suggest you watch a show called wheeler dealers. They buy cars, fix them up and sell them on for a profit. Theres an epsiode with the Esprit, and its on youtube, very interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfq0cE17JX8
Good luck with your search
^^^^ this. Thanks for your response & I do remember the Wheeler Dealers episode you referred to (Azure Blue "old shape" Esprit if memory serves me right). Whilst I appreciated Mr Chinas valiant attempts to repair the car & make a profit (in the words of the ever expanding Mike) I couldnt help but think that in removing the engine, applying a new manifold, replacing the cambelt & stripping/putting in an entire new interior that it would have rendered the car a write off in anyone elses hands.
Im looking at one of the later cars though (sorry - cant attach the Autotrader thread to this) & being unable to do little more than change a wheel, any rectification work would need to be done by a specialist. On that basis, ayone aware of a reputable (& modest charging) Lotus specialist in the Manchester area ?
Im looking at one of the later cars though (sorry - cant attach the Autotrader thread to this) & being unable to do little more than change a wheel, any rectification work would need to be done by a specialist. On that basis, ayone aware of a reputable (& modest charging) Lotus specialist in the Manchester area ?
Robbo101 said:
...On that basis, ayone aware of a reputable (& modest charging) Lotus specialist in the Manchester area ?
PNM ENgineering in Merseyside or Chris Foulds in Huddersfield are probably the closest, depending on which side of Mancs you are.There's no such thing as a modest charging Esprit specialist, though; to be fair, they are quite labour intensive cars to work on (see above suggestion that engine removal is the bast way for all but the simplest engine maintenance... that's several hundred quid before you even start fixing the problem).
Personally, I wouldn't want to run any pre-Elise Lotus if I had to pay someone else to maintain it, and I'm not exactly flat broke these days (though I am a Yorkshireman and hence pathalogically averse to spending money unnecessarily).
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