stradman

Doc1.docx As you can see they did do some "internal ventilation" mods for him although doesn't specify exactly.

Good question. I know they did work on the ventilation for Chapman with special pollen filters etc, as he suffered from bad Hay fever so this could have been that extra ventilation specially for him.

Hi Gents, Car has been sold back to Lotus now and will eventually become part of their museum after a very light sympathetic restoration as well as use for some marketing and publicity purposes. It was a great car to own, but having it for nearly 10 years it was time to move it on and so glad to see it is going back to where it belongs...back home.

Hi Guys, Just thought I would share what I found last month. I found a clip of my Ex Chapman car with Colin riding shotgun as Maggie Thatcher was driving him! How cool is that? It was on a Channel 5 documentary about British cars a few years back. Found it on Youtube,-albeit it has Turkish subtitles.... My Esprit (1).mp4 And here is Chassis 970 today!

Well if you did that I think you would find it very hard trying to convince anyone of that considering Chapman died..... in 1982!!

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C853143 This one seemed to sell within a couple of weeks very recently.....

Cheers Dave. Many thanks!

But briefly: Most of the modifications made on this car were made at his behest as improvements to the car to better suit his busy lifestyle. It has a one off hydraulically assisted steering that was special to this car. The pump was driven off the exhaust cam using components that had been developed for the Federal USA Turbo Esprit that used an air pump mounted in the same location of the power steering pump on this car. The Aerodynamic Improvements were nothing more than extra weatherstripping around the side glass to cut down on wind noise. The HVAC system was fitted with a cabin filter to reduce the amount of pollen entering the cars interior. Colin Chapman suffered badly from Hay Fever and this mod made the car more comfortable for him to drive. The engine was also fitted with a shield in between the cam towers to prevent water from running down on to the plugs in wet weather and causing a missfire. It was also the first Esprit Turbo car apparently that had the BBS wheels . Chapman knew the Compomotives were fragile and so was keen to swap to the more robust BBS

From previous owner: Letters of authentication from Lotus accompany car. http://www.lotusespritworld.com/EOwners/mikeford.html If anyone really wants to know more and see more pics of the car then please feel free to pm me and send me their email address and I would be happy to send them an invite to a Dropbox link.

Oh well, will do!

Thanks Bauke! And here is where the great man Chapman plonked his rear end!!

Hi guys, I'm not sure who has updated the dry sump tables but they have incorrectly put down that I do not have the roof stereo. However I do have the roof stereo as this was put in from the factory for Mr. Chapman. And perhaps someone could put in the comments only 11k from new and still original Cheers

Well not sure how they are selling but this advertisor isn't phased https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C853143

Nothing wrong guys with trying to push the boat out on a historically significant Lotus Esprits . I think the only thing that is absolutely correct imo in the sellers description is that the Lotus Esprit turbo is coming of age as important and collectible classics and so prices should rightfully reflect that. I do hope this guy gets his 70k. If it was a Ferrari or Porsche the price would have been multiples of 70k and I think there would have been absolutely no argument. Why not a Lotus then?

Likewise with mine. Although it does indeed have only about 10k miles on it and has been pretty much pampered sitting in a garage most of its life......

Well yes, the Vetro's are more expensive than comparable steel ones. Main reason for the increased price is relative rarity and first of series I guess. Vetro 308's are nice(I just sold mine two weeks ago) however to be honest, there is no advantage to them apart from the fact that the panels don't rust. However still alot of steel on them that does rust and therefore one still needs to be careful. There is also not that much difference in weight either-maybe 20-30kgs at the most. I don't think the GRP cars of any brand are at a disadvantage anymore in terms of perception like it was perceived 30+ years ago. With the advent of composites being considered exotic thesedays, it has raised the reputation of GRP cars I think. No the problem with Lotus has never been the perception of the GRP being a problem. Its been other niggly problems as well as reliability and fragility issues that has sunk their reputation- particulary outside the UK.

Well one man would disagree with you-Colin Chapman- which is why they made one with power assisted steering at his request at the beginning of 1981- a car I currently have in my possession. Apparently he wasn't a fan of the Esprit's steering. Of course it was the only one they made, and it was about 18 months before he died. Who knows, if he was alive longer I suspect the Esprit would have had power steering possibly as standard soon afterwards. As it transpired of course they made them standard 13 years later.

Yes indeed, that would be the assumption then although I would say its the first non essex esprit turbo then(with the Essex Esprit being the first Esprit turbo made). How many miles on yours then?

Very nice Tocus. When was yours made then? As you may know mine was effectively somewhat of a prototype as it was the only one made with power assisted steering amongst other modifications for Colin Chapman. Although it doesn't have the Compomotives(which although perhaps looked nice-were somewhat fragile and proved to be problematic in the long run-something Chapman was aware of) it does have the panasonic roof and is pretty much Essex spec otherwise.

Well its probably later than January 81' I think with a chassis number 1004. Mine is production number 970(and is likely among the first non Essex turbo's) and was finished in Feb 81'. Essex chassis numbers as you may know is roughly from 899 -950 made mainly in 1980. Of course this is what I am aware but happy to hear others chip in.

The ashtray on mine is on the door sill. Isn't that the norm for an early dry sump G turbo?

Well he was asking 47500 Euros back in 2014 before he sold it, so I figure there is no way he would be asking any less than maybe 50-55k....

Many thanks for that. I will perhaps ask Scott Walker....

I think I know which one you're talking about . A dealer in a southeast England county?....

Ta....