Esprit S1 Racecar

[plumdeplakmuis]

With the dream of racing an Esprit someday in the future and doing research once in a while, i could not resist the "buy in now" button when the former Sportscarworld S1 racecar came up for sale at ebay.com. After some arrangements the Esprit S1 arrived from the USA here in the Netherlands. Which process was less difficult than i expected it to be. 

Idea is to give it a good check, some adjustments to bring it to modern safety standards, and if all goes well do some races in historic championships.  

As the history of the car is a bit unclear, other than that it has raced SCCA championships in the early 80s, I'd love any info that people might have about it.

[mike_sekinger]

Sadly I can't help with any information on car, but what a great buy. 

Well done for taking the plunge and getting the car back to Europe.

[yeller77]

Back in the day, just about every Esprit came out of Paul's shop with those Gotti's, red Koni's and a Weber conversion, mine included and I bet the race car is the same. Paul was a good wrench as well and the car's were well sorted. His personal car then was a Europa with a Cosworth BDA in it. Wicked. He's obviously gone on to bigger and better Lotus.  😎 Good luck and have fun with the car. Keep us posted on the exploits!

[plumdeplakmuis]

Thanks Eric, yes the car is fitted with Koni's and the Weber conversion. 

Car needs a lot of TLC and some paint. Now figuring out the paint scheme options. Also i'm thinking going a bit larger wheel size from the Gotti's as to have a better selection of rubber. 

 

[C8RKH]

Personally I like the two with the red in them. Great project, really looking forward to seeing a video of her in action when  completed.

[plumdeplakmuis]

I got some very nice info from the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen (International Motor Racing Research Center | IMRRC)
The car was driven by Dennis W. Hackler under ownership by James Pirtle, in the SCCA twice. The first time at Texas World Speedway on the 4th of July in 1981. It had teething issues as with any new racecar. Then the 2nd time they raced it at GSW, which stood for Great Southwest circuit which was made up of the runways of the old Ft. Worth Airport. That time the car overheated and damaged the rings.

Picture of the car running at TWS

[LOTUSMAN33]

Wow that is some superb research from nearly 40 years ago, well done 👍🏻
Dave  

[plumdeplakmuis]

Also got some nice pics of the original build through the International Motor Racing Research Center | IMRRC  SCCA_Lotus_Esprit_S1_IMRRC_001.tif

[plumdeplakmuis]

Trial fitment of the turbo

Some update of the disassembly process

[cor]

wow.

Jaap prachtig, droom ook eens zoiets te vinden en te kunnen doen.

[plumdeplakmuis]

Almost ready for the roll cage, many new parts getting in. 

 

started with some cage modeling

Edited May 8, 2021 by plumdeplakmuis

[plumdeplakmuis]

New roll-cage in production

[grayp77]

Resurrection!

Hi plumdeplakmuis

I hope that all is well with you. Just wondering if you had finished the build and whether you are using it?

I recently met another S2 race car owner who races and lives in Denmark (He bought his red S2 racing car from Scotland in 2019/20). 

Always interested to hear how a fellow Esprit race car owner is getting on..

[plumdeplakmuis]

Hi Grayp, build is still in progress, body is now at the bodyshop for polyester work and painting, the chassis just finished KTL treatment and powdercoating. So I hope to start building again in January. 

[grayp77]

🙂👍 awesome

thanks for sending an update. 

If you are happy to stay in contact then it would be great to follow your progress and see it finished/on track.

Catch you in 2022!!

[plumdeplakmuis]

Yes no problem, idea is to post some nice pictures of the rebuild here. 

Next update expected in the last week of the year

[plumdeplakmuis]

Chassis now in KTL and powdercoated, start of the rolling chassis build up

[plumdeplakmuis]

Sanding started

[pmth95]

@plumdeplakmuis according to this registry of Lotus Esprits, I would have the original engine of this car 261H in my newly acquired 105H. I am curious if you have the original engine of 105H. The original engine number is AC7770413717

[pmth95]

@plumdeplakmuis

[plumdeplakmuis]

Painting finished, and chassis build up started

[plumdeplakmuis]

@ pmth95

Attached picture of the original race engine

[pmth95]

@plumdeplakmuis  That doesn’t look like standard engine number that start with AC77 for the Federal US cars (Link). A quick google search on your number didn’t show much. 

[plumdeplakmuis]

Not sure what the engine is, I plan to keep it original on the side if I ever want to sell the car. For racing I'm building a new engine. FYI chassis nr is 771050261H or 77050261H 

[kkv444v]

That looks like a Jensen Healey engine number - B 73 05 2816.

It fits in sequence with other numbers from 1973. 

Edited February 21, 2022 by kkv444v
typo.