Description
This Lotus Esprit V8 is an incredibly special car, it was first registered at the home of Lotus Cars at their Hethal factory on the 5th of March 1999 and over 9000 miles were covered during its first year with Lotus. This Hethel built Lotus Esprit V8 Twin Turbo was one of 1, 237 V8 models ever made in the eight-year production span and this car was retained for their own use. Presenting now in its original Ruby Red paint, undergoing a major program of mechanical recommissioning, with less than 57, 000 miles from new, and being a matching numbers car, this lotus represents an exceedingly rare opportunity to own a superb piece of British sports car history.
Lotus Cars put the first two stamps in the service book at 1, 239 miles and 5, 988 miles while under the care before Kings in Warwick, a Lotus Main Agent supplied the Esprit to its second owner and then serviced it at 9, 895 miles before SGT began to look after it. SGT being a specialist in prestige and performance vehicles looked after the car for its servicing at 17920, 24169, and 26930 miles. At 39842 miles, it was driven to a Lotus Main Agent - Wilsons of Romford, before having its last recorded service at a performance car specialist at 53, 186 miles. The last MOT test of T1PKT was in 2010 and has then been off the road since.
T1 PKT arrived with us requiring recommissioning and as we approach the finishing stages of the program of work, we are delighted to offer this Lotus Esprit V8 on to the market. As it has spent the last 14 years off the road, our sister company Malton Coachworks have carefully rebuilt this Lotus keeping its originality. Firstly, the engine was removed, stripped down, and assessed before the V8 was sent away to Cleasby Engine Services in the Northeast, a specialist engine builder who have fully rebuilt the original engine, supplied 2 new reconditioned turbochargers, 8 new injectors, built up the ancillaries, and bench tested the 3. 5L V8. Meanwhile the engine was receiving some excellent treatment, Malton Coachworks carried on with the rest of the car. The braking system was tested, fully stripped and rebuilt to include reconditioned brake calipers all round, new brake discs and brake pads all round, new brake hoses and brake pipes, and fully bled the system. The gearbox was cleaned and cerakoted. The suspension was all stripped, cleaned, painted, and reassembled with new shock absorbers and new bushes. The steering system was stripped, cleaned, new steering column bushes were installed, and a new reconditioned steering rack was fitted with new tie rod ends and track rod ends. The cooling system was bled, stripped, and rebuilt with new pipework, the radiators were re-cored, and reinstalled. The engine bay was fully stripped back, and then heavily detailed, and all the beauty panels were cleaned and re-coated, the under-bonnet area was also stripped back and detailed, making for an excellently presented area. The engine was reassembled with the gearbox having had a new clutch plate and clutch slave cylinder fitted plumbed into braided lines and then installed in the vehicle. A new custom exhaust is to be manufactured from stainless steel by a local exhaust specialist to give a great note to the powerful V8. Over five hundred hours of labour have gone into the recommissioning of this Lotus without including the hours for the engine rebuild, and you can see the hard work that has gone into this £60, 000 program of preparation.
This model had always been a popular car among the Lotus Marque, but when there was not one but two Esprits featured in the 1981 James Bond Film, For Your Eyes Only, the popularity grew further than just Lotus enthusiasts. The 1996 Design by Julian Thomas of this model of Esprit was the last dance for Lotus with the esprit and it became one of the longest produced iterations bearing the esprit name. The curvaceous nature of the body styling, the pop-up headlights, and the wide rear end make for an exceptionally beautiful car. With only 10, 675 Lotus Esprits ever made throughout the total production between 1976 and 2004, they truly are a rare and desirable car capable of only seeing an upwards trajectory in value.
The Esprit as a design was very in keeping with the Lotus brand that is synonymous with lightweight performance-oriented vehicles. These incredibly powerful Twin Turbo 3. 5L V8 sports cars pushed out nearly 350bhp, which can get you to 60mph in a matter of four and a half seconds eventually reaching a top speed of 175mph. When you couple the impressive performance of the aluminium powerplant and the lightweight fiberglass bodyshell, you have a great recipe for a very quick and fun sportscar. We are offering this lotus to market prior to it being completed and are open to viewings at our Malton Coachworks facility in Malton. This car with its provenance of being one of the few factory owned cars of Lotus, going through such an extensive recommissioning program, will be a fantastic addition to anyone's garage.
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