Bugatti Blue Esprit S4 Revival

[MrDangerUS]

In 2019, I got interested in this Bugatti Blue S4 (SCCFD30C5SHF61469) because of its unique color and (advertised) 415HP.  Particularly, I was interested how such a power was achieved. The fact that it had Red Race chip +upgraded "T5" turbo and larger injectors, indicates that it was modded/owned by one clever Esprit "prototyper".

For description look here http://www.2040-cars.com/car_info/?id=771623    .    Interesting, huh?
For a while car was owned by Alek Hegg in St. Lake City. He said he bought it with all modifications already implemented.

In 2013, car was offered for sale in Salt Lake City trough Global Car Marketing 1301 Miller Ave, Salt Lake City, UT 84106
I found the GCM former owner, Ian Harding, who retired to Mexico.
What an exciting story!
He lives on the beachfront of the Sea of Cortez not far away from Jesse Ventura's villa.
He said, he remembers the car and it was faster than Bat From Hell!
He sold it in 2013 to... Bruce Bantin in NY!

After talking to Bruce, I found out that he enjoyed Bugatti Blue Esprit very much until he spun on wet leaves and kissed off the curb and made a contact with a tree. Damage was not substantial, but Insurance company totaled the car and it was listed on auction website www.iaai.com with a salvage title. In 2016, Lotus Enthusiast Rafal Karny  bought the car and exported it to... Poland, where he lives now.
He is doing frame off complete restoration of this unique Bugatti Blue car.

Only one Esprit was made in this color, ever.

[MrDangerUS]

Correction:

Heggalek was a YouTube pseudo, his real name is Jeff Greenland.

Who owned this car before Jeff? Who modified it?

[MrDangerUS]

Beginning of restoration 3 years ago.

[MrDangerUS]

Chassis has been completed a while ago.

[MrDangerUS]

Polyurethane and LOTAC bushes. Springs and shocks supplied by PUK

[ramjet]

What's with the odd radio aerial?

[MrDangerUS]

Michael,

Those are brake lines, not tucked away, yet.

[MrDangerUS]

Body has been straightened and repainted in the original colour.

[MrDangerUS]

There are two "Blue" colors on the Bugatti, one lighter, almost "aqua" and second-much deeper.

Consulting the colour chart for 94/95 model year, it seems that Lotus called the deeper blue...  "Pacific Blue".

Mystery solved!

[Hornsey Boy]

Hi John

Yep its "Pacific Blue", as per my 1995 S4 

Romano Artioli owned Bugatti at the time and brought into Lotus in 1993 odd, hence the link maybe by a previous owner trying to upmarket the car, when they were selling it  ?

Looking to forward to following the rebuild :)

 

[MrDangerUS]

Hi Dragan,

Whatever it is called...looks really good on Esprit!

[MrDangerUS]

Next, the engine was rebuilt.

Lighter "H" connecting rods, rings, shells, gaskets, etc. and steel liners were incorporated.

[MrDangerUS]

More shots of the engine

[MrDangerUS]

Anti-slosh baffles and mouse trap doors were added to prevent oil starvation in turns.

[MrDangerUS]

Original turbocharger has been refurbished. PO mentioned it is a "T5 or R5" turbo, specs missing. Turbine cover looks like .63 A/R with 51mm exducer port. Too bad they did not measure wheels internal diameter when the piece was serviced.

Compressor is quite large, .60 A/R with 45mm inlet and outlet. Plate attached to the cover indicates that it was built by  Turbo Engineering Corp. However, I could not find any company with this name anywhere in US, perhaps it changed the name or went out of business.

I hope to find more details when I talk to the second owner (Chris Urban?), who probably was the mastermind behind all these modifications.

Recently, I found this note from Calvin Hamada, "maxvelocity" on Lotus Talk (from February 2014):  

"Funny how things come full circle. I actually have been in contact with Chris Urban since last November a week before I bought the car. He moved from Chicago and now lives near Milwaukee. The car and I have history as it was the 1st Esprit Turbo that I drove about 15 years ago. It was several years later when Chris bought it and brought it back to Chicago. I was visiting relatives in St Charles, IL and they told me about a small car dealer off of Randall Rd. There it was and I took it for a test drive, also met Nuncio there right before he went to start Fox Valley. Must have been on consignment cause he would not budge on the price. Just a little over my budget as it only had like 7K on the clock at the time."

So, if anyone knows how to find Chris, please chime in.

 

[sailorbob]

I'm guessing TEC went out of business as their website isn't available any more:

www.turboengineering.com

[greentengu]

Corvetteforums posts and Supra forum posts from 2005 indicate the owner of TEC died and the business (in Colorado; there are other Turbo Engineering Corps, in CA & CT) closed. 

[Vulcan Grey]

Turbo Engineering was in Golden Colorado. They are defunct

[Vulcan Grey]

Chris Urban actually owned a stock Midnight Blue Esprit SE (with the interior ripped out for a re-upholstery, when I saw it).

I talked with the Colorado owner, he was the one who had the modifications done, though I'm sure the 415hp was optimistic... Jeff in Utah bought it in 2013.

[MrDangerUS]

Thank you Travis.

Does he have any idea what are the specs of this turbo?  0.60 A/R compressor seems guuuge!

[MrDangerUS]

Exhaust header had been made by KRAAZ (?) from Long Island NY approximately 5-6 years ago.

Seems to be somehow similar to Alunox.

It is of 4-2-1 type, similar to Dave's L. (Changes), whilst Alunox is a double parallel separated 2-1 type.

Hard to tell which one is better.

Edited January 20, 2021 by MrDangerUS

[MrDangerUS]

Green dot pulleys were installed so the MOP is 104/104 deg.

PNM has new parts: https://www.pnmparts.co.uk/lotus-green-dot-pulley-set-2019

I can't believe that old US "emission" pulleys were still on the car!

 

BTW: I'm using verniers, which are set up at  104/108 MOP.

 

Edited February 9, 2021 by MrDangerUS

[MrDangerUS]

There were many discussions about this blue colour, which some call Bugatti Blue. It is not clear who first used this fascinating hue.

Perhaps, it should be called Rebel Raider Blue?

Here is another sample of the very close factory blue body colour, this time from American Motors.

In 1969 New York and New Jersey-area  AMC Rambler dealers offered The Raider version of the car. Based on the uni-body midsize Rebel, it featured "Electric Green, Tangerine , or Blue-You've Never Seen" exterior colours, as the Marketing Brochure claims.

We know those colours instead as "Big Bad Green", "Big Bad Orange" and "Big Bad Blue", as they were specified on the Factory window stickers of 1969 Rebel Raiders.

 

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by MrDangerUS

[MrDangerUS]

Engine and transmission installed, no hick ups.

 

[MrDangerUS]

Notice the 220A modern alternator. Smart move!