Esprit S4 Heavy Clutch

[Oneball]

I'd always wanted an Esprit Turbo SE since they came out, I'd not driven any sort of Esprit till last year and went to look at an S4 in a dealers, when I had a test drive gear change was hideous and the clutch so heavy I had to move the seat forward to get sufficient leverage. I was assured by the dealer "that they're all like this", which put me off completely. Was he right?