1972 Esprit Concept car unveiled
The
November Turin Motorshow in Italy saw the unveiling of the Lotus Esprit concept
car on Giorgio Giugiario's Ital Design stand. Colin Chapman had seen the
potential for a future mid-engined Lotus to replace the ageing Europa, and
brought the car back to Hethel after the show to start the development process.
Mike Kimberley and Tony Rudd led the M70 project, and the prototype work for the
project took place at the recently purchased Ketteringham Hall.
1973/ 1974 Prototype vehicle development
These years saw the continued development of the Esprit with the first
prototype vehicle running late in 1974.
1975 Paris Motor Show "Star of the Show"
With the development of the M70 Lotus Esprit Type 79 nearing the end, the
first completed car was shown at the Paris Motor Show in October and was
instantly awarded "Star of the Show".
1976 Esprit starts production
In
June 1976, the first Esprit came of the production line. The Giugiaro styled
wedge shape exterior was the latest in modern design and philosophy. The great
looks with impressive performance from the 160bhp 2 litre engine; its light
weight together with the legendary Lotus ride and handling, projected the Esprit
to Supercar status.
1977 "The Spy Who Loved Me"
In
this year Lotus Cars and in particular the Esprit gained tremendous publicity
with the release of the new James Bond film, "The Spy Who Loved Me",
with 007 emerging from the sea driving a submersible Esprit, arguably 'one of
the most famous car scenes of all time.' In December the production of the S1
finished with 718 having been built.
The
early part of the year saw the start of the production of the Esprit S2. The
development of the S2 had ironed out many of the problems associated with the S1
such as poor interior noise. Many detailed improvements including a new front
splitter, rear valance, new rear suspension and a new camshaft offered improved
performance raising the top speed.
1979 Celebrating Formula 1 Success
To commemorate the 1978 Formula 1 World Drivers and Constructors
Championships and the success of the F1 Type 79 100 Special Edition black and
gold liveried Esprits were produced, each numbered sequentially.
The start of the year saw the S2 fitted with the new type 912 2.2 litre
engine. Then, in a surprise move, a lavish party was held at the Royal Albert
Hall in London during February to launch the new Turbo Esprit (Type 82).
The first 100 were painted in the Essex Petroleum (the F1 sponsors at the
time) colour scheme of Red, Blue and Silver. The Turbo Esprit was not a bolt-on
turbo pack but was fitted with the new long stroke 910-turbo engine producing
210bhp. The Turbo Esprit came with a new wrap- around front bumper and new
splitter, new rear spoiler and side skirts, and an improved backbone chassis
featuring a redesigned engine bay.
1981 Lotus Esprit S3 Announced
The Lotus Esprit S3 (Type 85) was announced to stand along side the Turbo
Esprit. The S3 became an affordable supercar, with a cost reduction of around
12% from the S2.2. The S3 had 76% of its components produced at the Hethel
factory and carried over the S2.2 engine.
Once again the Esprit is the chosen car of 007 in the new James Bond film
'For Your Eyes Only'. Bond took centre stage driving a fully equipped Turbo
Esprit.
1982 / 1983 Active Suspension
Lotus develops Active Suspension for the Esprit with ex F1 driver John Miles
taking the wheel of the test car. This development was to pioneer the
development of the 1987 Lotus active suspension Formula 1 car.
1984 -1986 Federalisation
With federalisation of the Turbo Esprit complete, 1427 Esprits were sold in
these 3 years around the world.
1987 Peter Stevens designed Esprit
This year marked the 21st Anniversary of Lotus at Hethel. This was celebrated
by the introduction of the limited edition Turbo Esprit HC. The 16 valve
2.2litre engine was uprated to High Compression (HC) giving 215bhp and a top
speed of 152mph.
October
saw the introduction of the first Peter Stevens designed Esprit. Stevens was
able to re-draft the basic shape of the Esprit to such an extent that the Esprit
was given a new lease of life.
1988 Lotus 40th anniversary
Lotus celebrated it's 40th anniversary and a limited edition of 40 Esprit
Turbos (as they were now known) were produced. The 40 cars were all painted in
White Pearlescent paint with matching wheels, distinctive rear spoiler and blue
interior.
1989 163 mph Esprit Turbo SE
Lotus announced their fastest ever production car. May 1989 saw the
introduction of the Esprit Turbo SE fitted with the 2.2 litre 16 valve engine
developing 264bhp, giving performance 0-60 mph in 4.7seconds and a top speed of
163 mph.
1990 Esprit goes racing in the USA
Lotus
enters the USA SCCA Race Series with the type 105. This heavily modified Esprit
gained four victories and six pole positions in the eight races, finishing
second overall in the championship. In October Lotus Cars USA put twenty SCCA
World Challenge Racecar Replicas known as the X180R up for sale, with a top
speed of in excess of 160mph and a 0-60 of 4.7seconds.
At the British Motor Show in October the Esprit range was shown with the
controversil new 'High Wing' which gave improved rear vision and the benefits of
improved downforce. For this model the glass back was removed and replaced with
an open tailgate with two oval vents on the engine cover, to reduce reward
reflections and increase rear vision.
1992
was the year that Lotus unveiled what many consider to be the pinnacle of Esprit
development. Lotus unveiled their highest performance Esprit to date at the
British Motorshow - the Sport 300. Developed from the X180R, this "race car
for the road" offered a light weight body, race specification brakes,
optional roll cage option and with 300bhp from the turbo and charge-cooled 2.2
litre engine it was "at the time" the highest power/litre of any
production car.
1993 Lotus returns to Le Mans
Russell
Carr, current Chief of Design at Lotus, showed his first major design project
with the new face lifted Esprit S4. The S4 updates included power steering as
standard. Production of the Sport 300 production car began in May and Lotus
returned to Le Mans in June with two Lotus Esprit Sport 300 racecars. This was
the first works supported Lotus entry at Le Mans since 1962.
The
British Motor Show was the venue for the unveiling of the new Lotus Esprit S4s,
with a 285bhp engine, new wheel and tyre package, uprated suspension and the
rear wing from the Sport 300.
1995 400bhp version of the Sport 300
Lotus
announces it's involvement in the GT2 category of the global endurance GT
championship. Team Drivers were Alessandro Zanardi and Alex Portman. This
substantially new GT racer was based around a 400bhp version of the Sport 300
with its F1 style aerodynamics giving 30% more downforce than the road car.
The
Geneva Motorshow in March saw the introduction of the Esprit V8. The Esprit V8
replaced the S4, S4s and Sport 300. The Lotus developed twin turbo 32 valve 3.5
litre V8 developed 350bhp and enabled the Esprit to hit 0-60mph in well under 5
seconds. The V8, meeting all global homologation would be the engine to take the
Esprit into the new millenium.
The
GT3 was also introduced as an entry level Esprit. This was a stripped down
version of the S4 using a 2.0 litre version of the 4 cylinder chargecooled
engine.
October's London Motor Show saw the introduction of the V8GT. This model
adopted the spirit of the GT3 but with the V8 engine, and some of the luxury
items of the V8 striped away, reducing the weight by around 50kg.
All
versions of the Esprit received a new style interior, including a new fascia
with a smaller instrument binnacle, a new instrument layout to improve cockpit
ergonomics and an all new heating and air conditioning system.
The
Birmingham Motor Show heralded the arrival of the Sport 350. Using high
specification materials and components to give the car a true competition feel,
the upgrades included race specification brakes, a carbon fibre rear wing and
Magnesium wheels, with a top speed of 175mph.
1999 The last four cylinder Esprit
With the introduction of new emissions legislation, the decision was made to
remove the four cylinder Esprit from the line up and go forward with V8 models.
To this date a total of 9186 four cylinder Esprits had been built.
2000 Lotus produces the 60,000th Lotus car
The new millennium broke two major milestones the manufacture of both the
60,000th Lotus road car the 10,000th Esprit.
The new 02MY Esprit was released in November with many improvements made to
both the interior and the exterior including a redesigned rear light panel and
light clusters adapting design elements used in the 2001 Elise.
The 2002MY Esprit would not only celebrate the 30years from concept but also,
as importantly, celebrate 25 years of the Esprit in the important USA market.
The last trickle of V8 Esprits roll off the production line.
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