The Basic Instinct Esprits

[shadeone]

So ive been trying to hunt down where the two esprits from Basic Instinct went to as the black one appeared for sale in 2002 out of chicago and such so its gotta still be out there somewhere.

I put in a lot of emails to various places but havent gotten any responses yet except for one...

The license plate frame on the black car has the name "Ron Greenspan" on it which was evidently a dealer out of San Francisco that supplied the cars to be used in the film... Well, imagine my surprise when I log on here a week or so ago and have a private message from a "RonG" referring to the movie car....

The message stated:

The Black Lotus in the movie was actually mistakenly driven into the hole rather than the "mule". The car landed on it's roof and incredibly it did not collapse and the dtiver was able to open the door and get out.

Ron Greenspan

I responded to him but havent gotten any response yet and he has yet to post on the boards or log back on here. His message raises so many questions about this car now... like was the car being sold out of chicago the mule car that was "supposed" to be crashed? that would mean that sharon stone never drove that car if it was just the crash mule.

the other rumor floating around was that the black esprit got ruined in production and was later repainted lime green and used in the carlie sheen / clint eastwood movie "the rookie"..... this was literally impossible because fiming for basic instinct didnt even begin until after the rookie was already released....

anyways, if ANYONE knows anything about the whereabouts of this car, please help put the puzzle pieces together!

shade

[sanj]

The only thing I do know is that partway through the crash sequence the black car becomes a G-car.

[shadeone]

i do know that the only shot they used the g-car for is when it crashes through the rails and goes over the edge... that low angle shot... if you do a frame by frame you can clearly make out the mesh wheels.

shade

[dodgey_rog]

Found this;

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_2362-Lotus-Es...pe-85-1991.html

[Advantage]

Pic from Roger's post:

Come on you CSI types, dust off your Sherlock Holmes deerstalkers....

[shadeone]

for the chase sequence, the car remains the same black car seen throughout the movie right up until it swerves to go over the edge:

you then see the angle change to a lower one and the car suddenly becomes an 80s turbo, complete with mesh wheels:

the angle then switches even lower and you see the SE come over the edge and smash straight into the ground:

angle change once again as car settles... floorpans and underside parts clearly visible:

shade

[Advantage]

I've got one or two stills from that movie. None involve any cars, though.

[arbell9]

I would never have put you as a douglas fan/admirer Pilko?

Edited July 25, 2009 by Alex --GT3--

[Advantage]

He's a good looking fella. Just like me.

[shadeone]

hahaha its sad that whenever i mention the movie to someone they go "isnt that the one with sharon stone and the dress thing?" and im like "no, its the one with the two lotus esprit SEs!!"

shade

[kodiak]

A friend of mine ownes the (origional) lotus from the basic instinct movie.

[shadeone]

That is pretty vague You also emailed me about this. Can you provide more details at all? possibly some pictures or get me in contact with the gentleman who now owns it?

Thanks!

Jamie

[lotusespritse]

Anyone see this eBay ad for an Esprit that was supposed to be a Basic Instinct car?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lotus-Esprit-LOTOS-COUPE-LUXURY-SUPER-CAR-/161689875497?forcerrptr=true&hash=item25a577b429&item=161689875497&rmvSB=true

[ramjet]

Nope. That's a V8 and says in the description 'matches' the Basic Instinct car.

 

Note to eBay seller. No it doesn't.

[Escape]

That was my first thought as well, but the engine is a non-chargecooled turbo. So it must have gotten a V8 bodykit at some point, possibly after the crash damage that is mentioned.

What I don't understand is how the certificate can have 'Esprit SE' on it when the chassisnumber corresponds to an S3 Turbo?

[comem47]

Note how the Ebay car is referred to being in the movie "Basic Instincts"  (plural)  

 

Don'tcha just love it when they don't even do that much homework. (either that or there was a porno film by that name the car was used in !!!  )   

[ramjet]

That was my first thought as well, but the engine is a non-chargecooled turbo. So it must have gotten a V8 bodykit at some point, possibly after the crash damage that is mentioned.

What I don't understand is how the certificate can have 'Esprit SE' on it when the chassisnumber corresponds to an S3 Turbo?

 

Ah. I didn't read all the blurb. Not bothered. The certificate info seems really weird.   

[Advantage]

It's a strange piece of officialdom. Despite the fact that it's claimed to be a 1988 car the SE didn't appear until May 1989, let alone the spec defining items being present or missing. Some of the interior bits are very early Stevens. What's the bets the vendor will state until their dying day that it's an SE?

 

The film "connection" is simply advert blurb and subsequently meaningless.

[mayevora]

If that was the Basic Instinct car, you wouldn't do that to it lol.. Shiney on the outside, dusty on the inside. Had some money spent cosmetically with the V8 body kit, but engine bay looks a bit neglected. Mileage as advertised is also a long way short of what the picture shows.

[Instinct]

Hi All, 

I just happened upon this thread.  I am the first owner of the Black 1990 Lotus Esprit following its use in the movie Basic Instinct.  I purchased the car off the movie set and took delivery from Carolina Motor Cars.  The drive back to Chicago was incredible.  I have a letter from Lotus Cars USA documenting that the car was used in the movie Basic Instinct.  I also have a black and white headshot of Sharon Stone on which she wrote..."Dear Mike, I hope you are enjoying my car!"

I owned the car for approx 5 years and traded it back to a local Lotus dealer, I believe it was called the Exchange.  That dealership then sold it to a gentleman out of state.

Just wanted to post here to answer any questions that any of you may have had.  Hope this helps!

Mike

[The Pits]

Great first post, welcome to TLF. Tell Sharon she can drive my car any time.

 

[tslagrn]

This car is now home in Minnesota and is not for sale

[Barrykearley]

Welcome to tlf

Yours ??? Pictures would be great

[Real Basic Instinct car]

Hello,

I just found this forum and I have some information on the missing Basic Instinct cars.  in 1992, I was offered the two other cars from the movie Basic Instinc (I live in LA and have met many people from the motion picture industry.)  At the time they were out of my price range but my brother stepped up and purchased them.  The cars were sold by the head of the transportation department for the production  company (I think his name was Bryce Smith or something like that).  Included in the sale was one complete running driving brand new 1991 black Esprit SE with some cosmetic damage from the chase scenes and a black mocked up mule that was originally green and previously used in the movie The Rookie.  My brother drove the car sparingly for about two years and parked it since the mid 1990's never to drive it again.  He complained that the insurance was too high and he was starting a family.  It shows less than 15-20k miles and he has provenance from the production company and LOTUS USA connecting the car the Basic Instinct.  Unfortunately, he junked the mule car about 4 years ago when he lost storage space for it.  I have photos of it somewhere i just have to find them.

[lotusespritse]

15 hours ago, Real Basic Instinct car said:

Hello,

I just found this forum and I have some information on the missing Basic Instinct cars.  in 1992, I was offered the two other cars from the movie Basic Instinc (I live in LA and have met many people from the motion picture industry.)  At the time they were out of my price range but my brother stepped up and purchased them.  The cars were sold by the head of the transportation department for the production  company (I think his name was Bryce Smith or something like that).  Included in the sale was one complete running driving brand new 1991 black Esprit SE with some cosmetic damage from the chase scenes and a black mocked up mule that was originally green and previously used in the movie The Rookie.  My brother drove the car sparingly for about two years and parked it since the mid 1990's never to drive it again.  He complained that the insurance was too high and he was starting a family.  It shows less than 15-20k miles and he has provenance from the production company and LOTUS USA connecting the car the Basic Instinct.  Unfortunately, he junked the mule car about 4 years ago when he lost storage space for it.  I have photos of it somewhere i just have to find them.

That's a bit of a sad story that a significant Esprit ended up with someone that didn't have the means to keep it up.  A common Lotus fate.  Even if you don't drive the car, you still have to insure it from theft, etc, so I am not sure how he thought it saved money to keep it in the garage.  My Esprit with 41K of agreed value and zero deductible is around $600/yr to insure with Grundy, that's about a 1/3 of what I pay for my modern Jag XF's.