Description
DECEMBER 1997 (98 MY) LOTUS ESPRIT V8 SE
EX LOTUS PRESS CAR, 1 OF ONLY 2 IN THIS COLOUR COMBINATION, THE OTHER BEING THE LONDON SHOW CAR
TITANIUM / RAFIA LEATHER
49, 000 MILES
SERVICE HISTORY
No expense seems to have been spared in keeping the Esprit as close to its original mechanical fettle as possible, either. Aside from a full 17-Lotus service stamps in the service book, in the current ownership a huge amount of key maintenance has been undertaken. The headlines here include both turbos being overhauled, new cambelts, front and rear discs, clutch, flywheel skimmed, and various associated mounts and fixings renewed. This work was performed in October 2020 by long-standing Lotus specialists Allon White Ltd. The expenditure associated to this was £11, 000 and the Esprit has covered around 1, 000 miles since. Despite its light use and in addition to this, a further £2, 600 was invested in 2023 to have a centre exit sports exhaust fitted together with a pair of stainless-steel sports catalytic convertors. As our next section will confirm, this is a well-cared for Esprit.
VEHICLE HISTORY
This beautiful example is indeed a 1998 model year SE model despite being built during 1997 and registered in December of that year. It is known and documented that this Esprit joined the Lotus press fleet in early December 1997 and, judging by service paperwork, remained there until at least August 1999 covering about 7, 000 miles in that time.
Being an SE, our example offers some desirable additions above and beyond the GT version. These include the gorgeous Muirhead leather upholstery, all-important air conditioning, the Alpine radio cassette head unit and speakers and the dramatic looking rear aerofoil with integral centrally mounted stop lamp. This example presents in Titanium Metallic (B62) paintwork over Raffia leather and is reported to be the only 1998 V8 with this colourway and combination of equipment. Only one other was produced in this Titanium / Raffia combination.
Following its press fleet duties, our example passed through the hands of another four lucky owners before being acquired by current registered keeper, Nathan. Nathan bought the Esprit in May of 2020 with the car having covered around 48, 500 miles at that time. Nathan had added a mere 1, 000 miles to that total in his four-year tenure.
