Hi from Edinburgh, Scotland!

[NeilT]

Hi everyone from Edinburgh. I have purchased my first Lotus Esprit V8 and look forward to contributing to the community over the coming years.

All the best,
Neil.

[Bibs]

Welcome Neil. There are a few more V8 owners in your neck of the woods! 

Please feel free to pop up a few pics

[stephenwhyte]

Yeah let’s see some photos Neil so we can see which spec it is. There’s 3 V8’s that I know of up here in Scotland and I’ve got the Giugiaro Turbo version👍 Hopefully we’ll get a chance to see you & the car at a meet at some point. Welcome to the world of Lotus👍😎

[Kimbers]

Welcome! There's a very active Group in Scotland so pop on their Section and say hi!

Pics please!

[hedgerley]

Welcome Neil. As Stephen says, a few V8 owners up here, including me. I'm sure @bingoking and @Andrew C will be along to say hi shortly. We are all long term owners so if you need any help/advice, get in touch. Mine's been off the road a while, pending a bunch of work but hopefully I'll be on the road by the Spring. Sign up to the LEGS local chapter to be notified of any upcoming meets/drive outs.

Its a small market - can I ask where you sourced it?

[NeilT]

Hi All, 
Thanks for the warm welcome!
The car was just delivered tonight, so looking forward to getting some pictures up for you all tomorrow.

My son and I flew to London to purchase it and have been looking for around 3 years for the right one to come along. It's exactly 30 years ago that I experienced the 300 sport and been on my mind ever since. Glad to be a Lotus owner at long last. It's the Titanium V8 SE, 1999.

Look forward to attending some event and meeting up with you all.👍

[hedgerley]

Was that the one down in Isleworth? That's a very tidy, low mileage example. My first was a 98GT in Titanium. Lovely colour.

[NeilT]

@BibsI managed to get a chance to take some photos for the forum.
@hedgerley@KimbersThanks for the LEGS recommendation which I have now signed up to also.
The car runs great, only question at the moment is the fuel gauge seems to have a mind of its own! Enjoy the pics.

 

[Frickin_idiot]

That’s a nice motor. Congratulations.

[ramjet]

Welcome to TLF Neil.

A lot of the Esprit fuel gauge needles seem to have a mind of their own. I only really check mine if I am sitting at lights or parked. Otherwise it wobbles all over the shop.

Any questions or issues with using the forums, feel free to ask one of us mods. We're here to help.

[NeilT]

Thanks for the support and clarity on the fuel gauge. I read a few other post and now understand the technique of filling slowly and waiting 10 seconds for the 2nd tank to equalise. I presume the fuel sensor in the nearside tank or the so when it shows empty it means it ? 
I would like to add a new stereo and reverse camera in the summer such as a Pioneer 1025922 AVH-Z7200DAB, so may look for advice nearer the time.👍
Thanks again.

[Kimbers]

I had that issue with my old S4, its quite common. if you can live with it do so. Theres a whole topic here and about half way down it recommends not trusting the gauge but the light is right! (Catchy phrase to remember there). Our Resident Grease Monkey @Sparky can tell you more......but he may be playing with his Lego so may take a while to reply! 

 

[stephenwhyte]

Very nice Neil. Have always thought Titanium was a great colour for the later Esprit’s! Great choice.😎👏🏻👏🏻

[hedgerley]

My first was a '98 Titanium V8-GT, without the wing. Lovely colour. Unfortunately it met its end on black ice on the A1 back in 2008. I had it shipped to Hethel for a chassis check - bent beyond repair. And the parts list, no paint, no labour, no VAT - £27k 😬 But the insurance paid out what I had paid for it in 2005 (£15k) and I bought the 2001 straight away. Once an Esprit fan......... No regrets.

[Barrykearley]

That’s simply stunning.

[C8RKH]

1 hour ago, Barrykearley said:

That’s simply stunning.

Looks like it might polish out you mean?

On 24/11/2021 at 22:49, NeilT said:

 

 

It looks like it's going 100mph just sat there. What drama. Lovely car.

[exeterjeep]

9 minutes ago, C8RKH said:

It looks like it's going 100mph just sat there. What drama. Lovely car.

Particularly with the nice wing.....

[C8RKH]

9 minutes ago, exeterjeep said:

Particularly with the nice wing.....

[NeilT]

17 hours ago, hedgerley said:

My first was a '98 Titanium V8-GT, without the wing. Lovely colour. Unfortunately it met its end on black ice on the A1 back in 2008. I had it shipped to Hethel for a chassis check - bent beyond repair. And the parts list, no paint, no labour, no VAT - £27k 😬 But the insurance paid out what I had paid for it in 2005 (£15k) and I bought the 2001 straight away. Once an Esprit fan......... No regrets.

Wow that's some crash! Your car looked great and so similar. Shame it was written off but your new one looks stunning also.
I was looking for the OZ Nova alloys, but they seem to be quite hard to find. Any ideas where's the best place to look?

[hedgerley]

Some decent pictures here. I know its subjective, but you might want to consider the round rear light conversion.

http://www.lotusespritworld.com/EOwners/MarkRigby.html

As for the Oz Nova's, as rare as hens teeth these days. I was looking for a set in the early days but they just don't come up. And on the odd occasion they have, they are ridiculously expensive and mostly in the States. IIIRC, a set came up a few years ago and they went for over $6k. Just keep an eye out on the classifieds here on the Forum, eBay etc. but I've not seen any for a couple of years now.

[NeilT]

2 hours ago, hedgerley said:

Some decent pictures here. I know its subjective, but you might want to consider the round rear light conversion.

http://www.lotusespritworld.com/EOwners/MarkRigby.html

As for the Oz Nova's, as rare as hens teeth these days. I was looking for a set in the early days but they just don't come up. And on the odd occasion they have, they are ridiculously expensive and mostly in the States. IIIRC, a set came up a few years ago and they went for over $6k. Just keep an eye out on the classifieds here on the Forum, eBay etc. but I've not seen any for a couple of years now.

Yes I thought the wheels would be a tough ask.
Your current car is stunning. I may catchup with you at some point about Murrays Edinburgh for servicing, and read tail lights etc.  Thanks again for sharing.

[C8RKH]

34 minutes ago, NeilT said:

Murrays Edinburgh for servicing

They are long gone!  Where taken over by Leven which went bust, the main dealer is now Parks in Hamilton.

However, if it was me, I'd take it to Craig Moncreiff in Sighthill. He was the Service Manager at Murray's when it had it's best reputation and has been the leading lotus independent in Scotland for the past 6 or 7 plus years. He always has at least one Esprit in getting worked on at any time so his knowledge is still current. Not sure if Park's would have ever worked on or serviced an Esprit?

[hedgerley]

I'm afraid Murray gave up the Lotus franchise many years ago Neil. The Leven Group picked it up along with Aston Martin but they went bust. Park's in Glasgow now have the franchise so they are the only official dealer in Scotland at the moment. Most of the Scottish owners have been using Craig Moncrieff (ex-Murray service manager) in Sighthill. Really good work although he does get very busy.

You can get most of the spares, modifications etc, including the rear light mod, from SJ Sports Cars, PNM Engineering, Lotus Bits, South West Lotus and a few others. I used the SJ rear light kit on the '98 which is pretty good. The 2001 mod was done at the factory by the previous owner.

 

Well that was weird @C8RKH, hitting submit at the same time...

[C8RKH]

21 minutes ago, hedgerley said:

Well that was weird @C8RKH, hitting submit at the same time...

I was quicker. But then my wife says that's always been my problem.

[JamieF]

Welcome! What a stunner, that colour and wing combo.