Giugiaro Esprit Engine Swap...

[Radioegg]

I wanna ask what may be an incredibly noob like question. I'm gonna put it out there; if you like it, you can take it, if you don't, send it right back.

Like I imagine many of you, I fell in love with the Esprit after The Spy Who Loved Me. I have been happily biding my time and reading the odd bit here and there on Pistonheads and Lotus Esprit World, just keeping up my interest levels, as after hearing a few reliability nightmares, I wasn't sure how sensible a prospect it could ever be as a reasonably regular driver (potentially daily).

Then, a cunning plan. I love the shape of the S1 (and all the G-cars, including the turbo), but I am not so keen on the lack of power (S1), and the mechanical maladies (erm, the rest!). So I thought...why not swap in the running gear, electrics (if required), suspension, brakes and engine from a more modern car?

I'm not an engineer or a mechanic (in all honestly I hardly I have a clue) so I have no idea what might fit or if this could even be feasible. I reckoned engine wise, a Honda Type R Engine would be good for reliability (if needs be, supercharged like in the Ariel Atom - maybe a bit over the top).

I know that there are a number of companies out there that do this for Jaguar E-Types and Aston Martin's, so why not a classic Lotus? Any ideas of a suitable company?

I am sure some classic car aficionados will be crying blasphemy before I finish typing, but well, I don't care if I am honest. Why?

It will be my car, that I paid for, that I would want to use on a regular basis (or daily if it all works out properly), which I think is better than leaving it in a shed and only taking it out when conditions are perfect. More importantly, I am not technically skilled enough to look after a classic anyway, so it would be even more unfair to not pay proper attention to it. Plus, you can have all the parts I remove to fix yours when it goes wrong, so everyone is happy.

I appreciate as a noob it is likely that I will have offended someone (I love classic cars really, I just don't have time or skills to learn how to fix them), so I apologise, but please don't hammer the idea down just because you wouldn't want to do it to your pride and joy.

Thoughts about feasibility/what would be required would be really helpful! Would be cool to generate some discussion about whether this is a great idea, or the worst thought I have ever had, followed by me being chased off Pistonheads for my foolish suggestion.

[Radioegg]

Mr Egg isn't my real name, but it will do for now!

I am not really in any kind of rush at all, my parents are moving and will have a perfectly servicable garage from next year, so just wanted to get an idea at the moment.

So...it's possible! Also loving the fact that although I though my idea of a supercharged Honda engine was a bit over the top, that Audi V8 has made me consider I haven't been thinking hard enough!


On basis that I have just read through your thread and realised just how complicated this could be, I reckon I would definitely have to put this into the hands of an expert. Any rough guesses of someone to do it and how much we could be talking about?

Perhaps mashing up an S1 could actually be considered a bit harsh, considering how few there are about.

Incredibly impressed with both the efforts, they look fantastic. I am from South West London, so it would be good to meet up at some point, but am pretty tided down at the moment. When is the next Esprit meet (not sure how many different ones there might be) that you might be able to make, I could pop along to that and start to get a feel for what might be more sensible!

Also, if I did just decide to settle for a standard Esprit, where near South West London would be a sensible place for servicing and general fixing when things go wrong?

Thanks for all the help, really appreciated!