[Sunday Breakfast 26/5 - The Bakehouse at Ashridge Conference centre]

Just my luck that you would have a meet in Bucks the weekend I'm down in the south west visiting family.

[Plastic coolant clip NLA]

I bought some of the bigger versions of those from SJ, do they not do those?

An alternative might be P-clips like these perhaps? I've used these for other applications on my car.

https://www.westfieldfasteners.co.uk/A4_PClip_RbbrLnd.html

[Building an Esprit S1 from scratch]

That's depressing and more to the point makes me wish I'd bought one much, much sooner, not that I'd have had space to keep and run one had I bought all the way back then. Adjusted for inflation thats about £3250 today, but either way makes the real deal look like an absolute steal by comparison. That said I don't have any running costs for the model

Back on topic the second pack of parts arrived a week or so ago so I've now assembed:

• A seat; the covering is actually soft touch and has a cushion under it, a nice bit of unexpected detail
• The inlet manifold and carbs have been fitted to the cylinder head I built in the last pack
• The gearbox and bellhousing - it's made of metal and quite weighty.

[Several Lotuses/Loti at Wallingford Vehicle Gathering]

In no particular order I spotted these today.

- A pair of Lotus Carlton's

- A red Emira and a yellow one doing Sporting Bears rides

- I think I also clocked a liquid yellow Elise returning from a Sporting Bears ride, but only glimpsed it from a distance

- A red Esprit Turbo keeping a Jag CX-75 company

[Alunox what are the chances?]

On 03/05/2024 at 11:17, Gjk said:

I’m surprised to hear that, I would of thought that it would have been rectified by now.

It hadn't been rectified when I fitted mine during the peak of the COVID lockdowns.

[Esprit Picture & Video Thread]

What colour is that @unity1?

Looks a bit like something from the early 2000's MG Rover Monogram scheme; Typhoon or Poseidon perhaps?

[Yellow Emira M40 northbound at High Wycombe]

Spotted this morning (Sunday 14th) about 11:20 going north up the hill between junctions 3 & 4 on the M40.

[Building an Esprit S1 from scratch]

4 minutes ago, slewthy said:

I say, if it gives you pleasure and soothes your head, go for it.

Couldn't agree more

3 minutes ago, slewthy said:

The kit looks very good quality. Do they become collectable when built?

To be perfectly honest, I don't really know if they're that collectable once built, especially in the case of Agora models because they're a relatively new manufacturer to the market.

The old Pocher 1:8 Ferrari F40 models (from prior to Hornby taking them over) fetch good money on the used market. I could easily sell my unbuilt F40 model now for probably double what I paid for it a decade ago, not sure about how their values fare once built though.

[Building an Esprit S1 from scratch]

36 minutes ago, Gjk said:

Are you going to “super detail” the kit or build it straight from the box?

I'm just going to box build this one, if I were to go for extra detail I would want a kit of parts, I don't have time to scratch build all the finer details.

That said I do have a boxed original old stock 1:8 Pocher Ferrari F40 with a complete detail transkit to build at some point that I've had for a long time, but that it going to take even longer than this to do. Plus I have a real Esprit that still needs work too 🤣

14 minutes ago, LotuStuart said:

£1400 for a 1/8 model.

 

That's about the going rate for these kind of subscription kits, even retail Pocher 1:8 models about around £1000 mark when not on offer. But if you think that is expensive, don't look at the price of some of Amalgam's 1:8 models.

It all depends what your interests are as to where you spend your money, some people spend thousands on audiophile speakers, I've got a £100 set I'm quite happy with. Each to their own as to what they way to spend their hard earned cash on.

[Building an Esprit S1 from scratch]

Sorry for the blatent 'click bait' title, but I couldn't resist

I posted a few months ago about Agora Models releasing a 1:8 scale Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me; given I'm not aware of any Esprit modelled in 1:8 scale I took the plunge signed up to the subscription and the first pack of parts arrived at the start of April.

 

So last night I spent a little over an hour or so assembling the all the parts from the first pack.

Better view of the front valance

Interior view of the door

Close-up of the engine

I'll keep this updated as more packs arrive with me in the post over the coming month.

Mods, if this should really be in another section please feel free to move it if you feel this doesn't qualify as an "Esprit Project".

[What made you choose a Lotus?]

I was curious about the Lotus position.

[once-in-a-lifetime classic used cars for under £50k]

How ironic that they're talking about a V8 but the red one pictured in the article is an S4s.

[Non Lotus Main Dealers - Charlatans!]

This doesn't surprise me in the least. Vauxhall pulled this stunt every year with my wife's Corsa and she'd always check with me before authorising the garage to do any work.

First time they tried it on saying the brakes needed doing was at the first MOT following an advisory. I measured the pads after she came home and found just shy of 70% of the meat left on the pads.

We stopped using the main stealer once the 10 year 100k warranty ended. Yes I know we didn't have to use them but if it needed any warranty work (which it did) we wanted to leave them nowhere to hide if they were the only people to ever service it.

 

[Sport 300 - The masterpiece that flirted with perfection]

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/lotus-esprit-sport-300-the-mid-engine-masterpiece-that-flirted-with-perfection-227534.html

[Possibly the World's Only Lotus Cortina Mk1 Convertible]

Pretty sure that was the one at Brooklands.

[Esprit at Brooklands New Year Classic Gathering]

Nice Bond spec S1 right by the public entrance.

[1:8 scale Spy Who Loved Me Esprit S1]

Agora Models have announced their second 1:8 scale model in their new 007 collection, the Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me. Pre-orders are being accepted now.

The model has a host of working features that you can find out more about on the pre-order page: https://www.agoramodels.com/wet-nellie/

[Esprit Market Watch]

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/auction/15976125

Guide price seems quite low compared to some recent S4s auctions.

Is that one of @Chillidoggy's brake kits I spy too?

[Aftermarket air filters]

23 hours ago, Gjk said:

I have an SE with standard exhaust manifold (well, standard everything to be fair) and I don’t mind being the Guinea pig for test fitment to another model, and I’m not a million miles away down here in Walton.

If you're happy to do a trial fit then I'll let you know when I'm in a position to do so and we can arrange something.

[Aftermarket air filters]

There won't be a minimum order required, the fabricator can make one-offs but if there is more interest it will bring the cost per unit down; plus less faff for me making one trip to the fabricator for a batch rather that lots of one-off trips!

I just need to get my original off the car to be able to make a jig to make more from. I'd also want do a test fit of mine on other variants other than the S4s+Alunox to be sure it will fit. The Alunox manifold for exmaple makes the turbo sit nearer the rear of the engine, which I have designed for, but I haven't tested on one without the Alunox to be sure it still fits. It should be fine because of the silicone couplers at each afford a degree of adjustment, but I'd sooner test it to have confidence to say it will fit.

[Aftermarket air filters]

6 hours ago, Gjk said:

The elephant’s trunk would be the next part to be addressed. Having read a few threads on this forum it seams the hose can be re manufactured using aluminium tube, a silicone elbow and a couple of silicone reducers.

Are you referring to my intake tube? If so I am intending to get it off the car this winter while I do other work on the car to refine my design and make a jig to enable my friendly fabricator to make more if there is interest.

[Aftermarket air filters]

I have the ITG ProFilter on mine and had no issues with fitment whatsoever. I just had to remove the rubber trim thingy (technical term that ) from the perimeter of the OE filter and transfered it to the edge of the metal frame on the ITG item. Filter itself was a special order item through Demon Tweeks.

[Concorde Memorabilia]

I see there is a crowdfunding project running to try and raise funds to submit a planning application to get a Concorde (ideally Alpha-Bravo by the sounds of it) on permanent display on a platform on the Thames in front of the London Eye.

https://concordeonthethames.co.uk/

[Potentially unsafe Collision 'Avoidance' systems]

1 hour ago, Escape said:

Bottom line, for me, you shouldn't rely on things like that but take driving seriously and give it your full attention. Same with automatic lights and wipers, if flicking a switch when you realise it's getting dark or rain is hitting the wind screen is too much effort, maybe you should take a train...

Staggers me the amount of cars I see, at this time of year especially, driving about in the evening with no taillights on. The DRLs are so bright and their dashboard is lit brighter than Blackpool Illuminations 24x7 that they fail to realise their lights aren't actually on. If they haven't noticed that what else aren't they concentrating on?

[Forum Software Update]

What have you done to upset LNER @Bibs...