Pictures Of My Lotus Esprit 56k Heavy

[Leeky]

Pictures first and then i will elaborate on the 48hrs of hell part

[Fidgits]

looks lovely - S4 i presume??

Let me guess - the renault gearbox gave you problems around Leeds?

[Leeky]

Its a 1988 Turbo Convertible Glass Roof (Rare) (Facelift model) and i swapped my 95 supra non turbo for it (for those who dont know) :)

Right....48hrs of hell part.

I drove a 600miles round trip from Reading to Newcastle and back to get this car. That was yesterday.

So i swapped cars in newcastle and got going. Then i noticed the clutch broke

We were still in newcastle.....

Kept on going without the clutch (almost came a cropper in the Tyne tunnel) and only managed to get to Leeds on the M1. Had to stay overnight at the Travelodge as the Headlights didnt work and on top of that the Electric Windows and the Windscreen wipers didnt work either

Anyway first thing this morning we carried on back to Reading and it started to rain now and then so visability wasnt great and had to stop on one occation to clean the windscreen.

Overall just happy to be home, i think me and the car just got off on the wrong foot ;) Once i get a new clutch in and clean her up im sure me and Larry (The Lotus) will have a lot of fun :D

Just like to say a big thankyou to my lovely girlfriend Charis for coming along with me and putting up with all the swear words, stress, dispair, grinding gears & burning clutch. It really helped having her along and if she hadnt been there i would have probably pushed the car over a cliff just to get rid of it ;)

[Leeky]

looks lovely - S4 i presume??

Let me guess - the renault gearbox gave you problems around Leeds?

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Actually no, originally i thought it was a Turbo SE (265bhp 0-60 in 4.7secs) but it turned out to be a slightly older Turbo with Carbs instead of EFi and its only 220bhp (still 5.3secs 0-60). The biggest difference is this one doesnt have the chargecooler that the SE does and thats where the SE gets the extra 50bhp from as it runs higher boost.

Im actually glad it isnt an SE as the electrics on the SE's fuel injection are a nightmare and the pump for the chargecooler only lasts 18k miles before it needs replacing at £300 + labour per time.

My idea is get a front mount intercooler fitted then i can turn up the boost to get the same power as the SE but there is something about the sound of an engine with carbs grunt grunt grunt

[earpl]

nice............ sound's lie you had fun :P looks f****** sweet as f*** :D i want one!

[earpl]

theres 4 words to tell if this is a good car!

POP

UP

HEAD

LIGHTS

check! ACE!

[Flamby]

looks lovely mate, I hope that once you have put some time into you will be best buddies again and all will work for you :)

I do love the presence those cars have.

[Leeky]

:D Cheers guys, i do love looking at it.

Like i said - new clutch, full service, get all lights working, wipers working, windows working and give her a thorough clean and she should be back on the road in time for the Southern Meet at Beaulieu

(Wouldnt dare take this thing to the Nurburgring though... )

[Calisto]

theres 4 words to tell if this is a good car!

POP

UP

HEAD

LIGHTS

check!  ACE!

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Oh yes now that has sex appeal not all that curvy but I like it alot

[LORD_ED]

shes gorgeous and take her to the ring mate

[Demonic Angel]

Really do like it a lot - well done!

I love pop-up headlamps! :D

[alanbradley]

I've always loved those - Peter Stevens and Giorgetto Guigaro - gorgeous...

Your journey home reminds me of the first time Pizzaboy brought his Elise to a Scottish Meet. Blooming thing broke down about 4 times and of course none of the rest of us had any tools in the car. I believe an AA truck was needed in the end...

Good luck

A

PS Oh, and Leeky! Plllleeeaaaase bring it to the 'Ring....

[Leeky]

Forgot to mention ITS A TOYOTA ONE

According to my research Toyota owned Lotus between 1987-1992 So i'm going to put my Toyota Owners Club Gold Member Stickers in it and wear them with pride! (Notice the Corolla Rear lights upsidedown on the back and the Supra lamps on the front ;) )

The thing is an Animal I wouldnt take it to the ring because A: it will probably break down on the way & B: I would kill myself in it

Fibreglass wedge with an engine behind your head Thats asking for trouble ;)

[DazH]

Very nice mate, they do have that 'look' about them

[Bibbs]

Same Gen as the one on my drive fella ..

And you welsh?

A Boyo ?

[Uncle Bob]

Forgot to mention ITS A TOYOTA ONE 

According to my research Toyota owned Lotus between 1987-1992    So i'm going to put my Toyota Owners Club Gold Member Stickers in it and wear them with pride!  (Notice the Corolla Rear lights upsidedown on the back and the Supra lamps on the front  ;) )

The thing is an Animal    I wouldnt take it to the ring because A: it will probably break down on the way    & B: I would kill myself in it 

Fibreglass wedge with an engine behind your head    Thats asking for trouble ;)

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Toyota did have links with Lotus back in 1982, at the time Toyota had launched the 2.8 Celica-Supra, it was a bad seller and handling car, so Toyota/Lotus done a deal and Lotus sorted out the 2.8 supra's suspension, hence the wide arches and bigger wheels, and the same time one of the Lotus model (think the Eclat) had the 2.8 supra wide wheels fitted, but i'm sure that was the only link between the two manufactures...but i could well be proved wrong :P .

[Uncle Bob]

OK i stand corrected :P ...

http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/060402.html

[Leeky]

OK i stand corrected :P ...

  http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/060402.html

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I stand corrected too Toyota owned 1/4 of Lotus and not all of it.

[Uncle Bob]

OK i stand corrected :P ...

  http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/060402.html

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I stand corrected too Toyota owned 1/4 of Lotus and not all of it.

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:D .

Back to your electric's, as the lotus has a plastic body it has to run live and earth wires all over the car, i would think your problems are going to be with earthing...good luck to you .

[Bibbs]

OK i stand corrected :P ...

  http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/060402.html

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I stand corrected too Toyota owned 1/4 of Lotus and not all of it.

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A I've said man .. they took good toyota parts and made them hard to use :D

[Leeky]

:D  .

Back to your electric's, as the lotus has a plastic body it has to run live and earth wires all over the car, i would think your problems are going to be with earthing...good luck to you .

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Thats what i thought ;) But the speedo, other lights radio, alarm all works fine.

Im pretty confident that i'll find some blown fuses somewhere ;)

[Uncle Bob]

:D  .

Back to your electric's, as the lotus has a plastic body it has to run live and earth wires all over the car, i would think your problems are going to be with earthing...good luck to you .

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Thats what i thought ;) But the speedo, other lights radio, alarm all works fine.

Im pretty confident that i'll find some blown fuses somewhere ;)

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Its not a Toyota, it wont be that straight forward .

[Blue84]

Looks very nice, can understand why you don't wanna take it to the Ring!

[jerry phipps]

Hey nice looking car mate. Must be quite different to drive from a supra. Got any pictures of the inside of the car?

jerry!!

[jaxx]

mk1 mr2 was an abandoned lotus project

dont mean to drop a dampner Lee but with all the problems surely its gonna cost a whack to get fixed, lotus stuff aint cheap!

lovelly motors though, always loved em, ever since Lotus Turbo Challenge on the Amiga!