Rolf

Tried to get the colour codes from Lotus for the silver paint on the factory wheels for the Sport 410 (2019) and the Exige S (2015) to get some touch up paint for stone chip repair. Answer from customer service: " Unfortunately, we are not able to advise on this as we do not paint the wheels and they come ready coloured by the supplier. I would suggest speaking with a paint specialist as they will be able to match the paint colour. I apologise that we cannot assist on this occasion.!" Not sure that any paint shop will make a colour matching for a bit of touch up paint for an economical price. What was your solution for that?

Had also strange behaviour of the DPM system, caused first by a minimal steering play from a bad u-joint. Symptom: Accelerating on the Autobahn for overtaking at 100 mph it went in limp mode on the left lane. No fun reaching for the breakdown lane while rolling out... After several restarts the yellow TC light followed by the yellow spanner symbol disappeared, car ran fine on the defensive 2 hours drive home. No codes in the system could be found! During the steering column lower u-joint exchange the garage misplaced the pin of the steering angle sensor which can be seen in the video. No problems on the 60miles drive home from the garage, but strange claq claq sound when steering at low speed into the garage. Claq-claq sound at certain steering angels can be heard in the linked video.

Even a small steering play may result in similar behaviour as the breaklight switch problem. Drove my 410 on the autobahn on a hot day in summer. During acceleration and overtaking at 100 mph car went into limp mode, quite scary. Display showed TC fault and CEL, but that disappeared after a few restarts. Drove home 2 hours with no further problems at this day, but problem randomly appeared again. Exchange of break light switch did not cure the problem. Final result: Lower U-joint in the steering column was the culprit for steering play and exchanged under warranty.

Lotus service partner did not exchange them on my 410 at the 2 yrs service during warranty time. Got the service stamp in the book for second service done, was good enough for me. Not sure if an exchange makes sense imho. Risk of sump deformation when removed was mentioned. Plastic film hinges as used for the sump baffles may last forever in this application. No load, only movement. If not, some plastic flaps are swimming in the sump. If not tracked, I would not bother.

Funny to see this Esprit after 17 years again. Had a look at it when for sale in 02 2006 and loved the colour combination. Good to see the car now mechanically sound.

Bought me a genuine Lotus one. A116V0228F £44.91 + VAT etc

Had a S for 3 years and after driving a 410 on track was impressed by the sound and extra performance. Went the upgrade path with no regrets...

Would be great if somebody who has a headlamp out of the car could measure the dome position marked in the picture including the height.

The carbon seats have less padding thickness in the lower back area than the standards I had in my former exige s. Tried gel pad from motorcycle supply, does help a bit.

@lotus-62 Love that hillclimb too! Drove the St Tropez three years there. The driving picture of the St Tropez is from "The Loser Hillclimb". Give me a note when you go next. Better buy a finished St Tropez. It may be cheaper and a lot faster finally.

That was a great experience with the St Tropez in the alps. Its half an hour drive from my home to reach the first pass Add ons as the Elise 111R and later the Exige 410 did help to overcome the separation pain.

Don´t see the point here. The roof is foldable and fits in the rear luggage space. Just fetch it out when rainclouds appear.

39.000€

I always loved the look because it is so 80s! Yep, that was mine for 9 years. Its the car in Jeremy Waltons book. A friend of mine had seen it in Donington 2007 for sale and sent me some pictures. Took a flight the next weekend and bought it. Dealer fixed a couple of small items and two weeks later we drove it in two days to south Bavaria. It is an awesome experience to drive an Esprit open in summertime. The chassis is very stiff and there were reinforcements inside, e.g. in the sills and the A pillars, no flex flex flex I can assure you. In the pictures above the white TurboEsprit with the red stripes is a one off made by Kollinger in Germany. The red GHB 550V above is shown in two pictures, found not long ago in a backyard, overgrown, curious if somebody will rescue that one. The other pictures represent the two blue cars made. Overall I would say 6 or 7 cars were made. If you are interested have a look on my website in the link below

It is the first St Tropez made by PBB. Last time seen it advertised for sale around 2007 in a very sorry state. Looks like a decent made frame off restoration to me from the pictures. Also interior looks well made. Softtop will need a refresh. Conversion to LHD executed now. Sills would be helpful for the overall appearance. Curious for how much it will sell.