GTK

Could it be the difficulty getting in and out without inadvertently pulling a Britney Spears

Brilliant. But it's important you are interviewed. You obviously know the Ferrari well and have a unique perspective. The fact that you have an Esprit and the "rectified" Ferrari, drives the point home.

Andy that's so interesting. You and by association we too, have a unique opportunity here. A nicely crafted proposal to Car magazine could see them do a timely, and I should say impartial, revisiting of the two cars. An emphasis on why their respective markets are so disparate. Your list above is the kind of fodder any good journo would eat up (provided it can be substantiated, no offence intended) While I'm at it i think it's scandalous that while there are all sorts of lesser cars on both Petrolicious and Jay Leno's Garage, neither feature a G car or Stevens for that matter. We should get pro active, nominate a suitable owner and car in the states and get it rectified!

Yeah the looks don't matter. The Ferrari has Cache, build quality and proper owner support. It's cache alone renders the looks largely irrelevant, they just happen to tend to be easy on the eye anyway. And I mean that in the literal sense, they're not offensive looking. The Esprit takes no prisoners looks wise. The journos in the mid/late '70's and early '80's all told the same story about the Esprit: "quality issues, unrefined, but the best drivers car in it's class". So it's a pity that whereas Lotus built motoring genius, out of necessity they built compromise into the car in almost equal measure. I'm convinced though that all the car needs now is some good PR to get it over the value tipping point. The majority of the remaining G-cars are being cared for properly and any of the ones that have had proper attention lavished on them probably have a lot of the build issues ironed out.

I'd say it's most likely that they're actually in his own name rather than company property, at least the ones that are most poignant to him. I'd have thought that goes with the territory. If he signed over Ital Design there may well have been a clause worked in whereby he retains ownership but loans the collection out. Not to be contentious intentionally, but how do we know he's proud of the Esprit? Any of the videos I've seen with GG interviews (or on his site) don't spend too much time on it if at all. Have I missed some?

You're on! (don't happen to have the scrap chassis maybe? )

Pete I'm with you 100%! I've just gotten mine (65k on the clock) and won't even start it before a full restoration. The plan is use for on long GT trips on the continent (I love your S.France via Slovenia, I've done Portugal via Greece) and the first one for the Esprit will be a palace in the Trieste region via the Stelvio pass

Great to hear! How often do you use it, and has the engine been rebuilt? (if you don't mind me asking?)

oh! That's terrible news. Has GG retired/walked away?

and and and!?

Reading down through and not having gotten to the photos I was thinking "get them to put it back to original!", but that chassis mod is a beautiful job. The pal who I bought my S2 from told me he had tighten up the manifold bolts periodically. He put it down to the differing expansion rates of the cast iron and aluminium. (I'd love to hear from anyone who has experience or thoughts on whether he just didn't have his bolts cinched up enough. The few Esprit's I've ever heard running sounded like they were blowing). Anyway point is... I suspect that if you do ever need to get at the manifold you'll wonder how anyone copes without your chassis mod Beautiful work all round btw and I for one would love to know the results of a weigh in on your redundant mild steel parts. And if it wasn't a personal question; the cost of all that titanium. I've got a feeling we're talking in the region of the purchase price of a rough Esprit!

Still... fingers crossed.

Ha ok! Bad news all round. My paperwork from Lotus says mine is one of 41 in its colour combo, but one of only two in that spec that had the factory radio option. I've never been so unappreciative of a piece of info

Have been watching that steering wheel thanks Paul. It started at £39. £250 (as it stands) for a mediocre wheel without the cover is heartening but not an attractive proposition for me. I was wondering, is it possible it's from one of the other models? Are they interchangeable? The frustrating thing is not being able to contact the right people, the original wheels were often swapped out and I can imagine there's probably a handful of them dotted around the UK, hanging up in garages covered in dust, forgotten. I've seen an original Lotus Motorola, although not sure if it was a 551 or 558. Realistically that's probably not going to be gettable, but ever on the lookout!

It's a bit rich for me after postage and currency conversion but happened upon this feature on ebay and when I couldn't find the article on LEW thought someone (isn't Mr. K's son here?) might like to know about it.

It's a Marmite car for sure, some will fall over themselves for it while others will be repulsed. I drive a Disco too Paul btw. Originally as a workhorse while I restore my '73 Range Rover, but I have to admit I've fallen for the Disco in the meantime.

Paul (Godfrey), no one knows for sure which is prob why the lack of response. If parts are anything to go by in general we really are on the cusp of the value jump. In my quest for parts I happened upon a factory S1/S2 steering wheel this morning on ebay. It's in decent condition and comes with the boss but doesn't have the foam capping. It was at £39 when I saw it this morn, this eve it sits at £147 (over €200) and interestingly one chap took it from £50 to £125 in one bid. I feel both screwed and happy that things are coming to this. Good signs!

I'm going to read innuendo into that even thought I'm fairly sure it's clean.

"I do what I want" ...will cost you less

What do the owners say? From my own interest I've searched for anything about reliability on here and even when someone straight asks the question, little if anything is said. So whats the story, is it a case of Lotus didn't build them so great but a well rebuilt car is a viable driver, or are they just inherently highly strung?

Can I put in a standing order for an original G Esprit gear knob, steering wheel and Motorola LT551 head unit please Oh and the knob/switch the dash is marked "bright" for. A little worried about finding this stuff

Wow the work on the DIY knob is beautiful, but I need an original and by the looks of what's available for Esprits these days I'm too late!

It strikes me that its completely our fault if the Esprit market isn't performing in line with how other comparible marques appreciate. As an aside I had an ironic realisation about that guy selling the two knackered cars. Perhaps he was motivated by money and convenience, or perhaps he was acting out of passion for the cars, either way we should all have been rooting for those cars to sell for silly money. In that sense I feel a little guilty. I digress. I'm going to come off even more judgemental now, but while the community continues to applaud each other for doing things like changing the colour of a car from original, the marque will continue to be seen as a cheap classic or first timers resto. It's silly when you think about it, the numerous nut and bolt rebuilds by fanatical enthusiasts on here producing beautiful work and effort but scuppering the market by allowing for little indulgences. Yes they're our cars to do with what we choose but being flippant just says we don't take the car as seriously as we want the market to take it. Maybe I'm a purist, but I want my car to be regarded as it should be. It was a better drivers car than anything in its class when new and could you imagine a 308 or Merak owner straying from originality in a resto?

Got ya, never thought of the offset. the fronts might be ok but the rears... That's that then. Couldn't understand why no one had them (those Eclat wheels, don't know what they're called) on an Esprit, I think they'd really suit it.