G car for big money

[WayneB]

My old turbo dry sump car 0pw679w ,had all the essex fitments fitted ,dry sump full black leather roof console .lotus reduced the price of the turbo esprit after the essex cars, and then as ever body knows fitted bbs alloys instead of split rims .when i owned my car i wrote to lotus i think they said in total they built approx 125 dry sump cars .i would love to own an essex car if i had the money .mind you any turbo esprit is a fantstic car or maybe an hc turbo i can only dream

Heres Mikes old Ex.Lotus press demonstrator , Ex. Pete Hall/Andy Rouse/ Gerry Marshall ICS British Touring Car Championship OPW679W Turbo Esprit as it sits today in the racing Car Hall of The Haynes Museum .

Besides its sisters the Bond cars, I believe its probably the most interesting and potentially desirable of the pre HC turbo esprits.

Scotts right about his Ltd. edition no. 20 , its a superb car in timewarp condition. surprised alot of you view it as overpriced, I thought it was a bargain considering its fabulous condition and low milage! Maybe one day some of the members of this forum will wake up and realise how undervalued the Giugiaro Esprits are. Talking about them like they are a bunch of shagged out knackers isnt going to further the cause at all.

I would have bought Ltd. Edition no. 20 in a heartbeat if I had known it was for sale

Oh well I still have my car !

Edited November 1, 2006 by WayneB

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

That black Turbo - What's with the machine gun ports in the front valance?!

[USAndretti42]

...I'm going to put it to use for the purpose for which Colin C intended it!

Would that be generating money for Lotus Cars?

I wouldn't want the white Essex car. My JPS car was re-painted by an earlier owner who obviously decided that black with "World Champion" in gold on each side and an individual serial number on the flanks was not enough to pick it out in the car park. So he (she?) painted it burgundy!!!!!! Still got all the sign-writing, much of it hand-painted which makes it worse. Means I always feel compelled to explain it's not the right colour and what colour it should be and why. The same would apply if I owned the white Essex.

[nello]

'Neil, is that Pauls car you'r talking about?'

Yes Chris! Glad I've finaly got your Forum details!!

Paul isn't in the 21st cenury and online yet so I get the news from here to him! Great to see you again at Hethel - we were both suprised and pleased your still like us with the cars after all this time!

The White Essex is I believe one of the few cars from when Lotus realised the Essex Liveries weren't too popular at the time and were introducing the car in other colours. I guess they were just using up what was left. As stated though we caught that car in Donnington about 8-10 years ago and its was a genuine Essex/changeover car complete with Panasonic 'Cockpit' stereo as you can see in those photos plus 'Essex' logo'ed cam-covers (not quite visible on that site piccy.')

As a footnote anyone know how many Giugiaro HC Turbos were built (including the 21 Hethel anniversary cars) before the Stevens shape was introduced? I heard a figure around 68?

Oh and that Essex is IMO overpriced..............Any Esprit hearding near

Edited November 1, 2006 by nello

[nello]

One more thing I've just noticed if anyone else is interested in tracking down that white Essex...............

I you check those photos out - the rear shots to me - the reg.plate looked in a strange format - HHH 75HH?

Check the first shot out -

Looks like the actual reg is on the front *** 759W?.............

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

Looks like XXX 759 W to me?

The White Essex is I believe one of the few cars from when Lotus realised the Essex Liveries weren't too popular at the time and were introducing the car in other colours

HA! :) ;-)

[matk]

Wayne

Judging by the previous posts this looks like the one then Mike Brewer owned prev, so he must have some more info on this. Over to you Mike?

Regarding genuine "Essex/Changover" car, with the greatest respect it either is or isn't an Essex! I suppose only Lotus can really answer this for us . If Lotus say it's an Essex then I suppose all the reference material needs updating. Once again I really feel this is not an Essex car and shouldn't be called as one until we have proof. As we all know Lotus did sling all sorts of non standard parts on vehicles (anyone remember Marc Bradley's end of line white S1 with an S2 front end?) so to me it is extremely likely that there would be an early dry sump fitted with Essex cam covers, roof stereo etc.

It probably appears that I'm being quite pedantic here but it probably has a big effect on values too. If you were the owner of that white car can you imagine the increased value if Lotus substantiated it as an official Essex. As the only white one it's prob worth more than all the others! (of course this takes no account of condition, and I note it's misssing it's wheel centres). If on the other hand it's only an early dry sump then it's prob not worth as much as the other Essex's. As I said earlier I am genuinely intrigued as I actually really like the Essex's.

[Mark Blanchard]

I recon the Essex Esprit's will be more valuable and collectable than standard Turbo Esprit's, just because they're rare and were the first Turbo cars. Exclusivity matters more in the Classic car world. IMO they look super cool.

This car is in the Haynes Motor Museum. IMO one of the best car museums in the UK and knocks spots of Beaulieu.

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

I'm so going to get shot for this!

Beyond the specific ones with history (eg the ones actualyl IN the Bond films or say, #001...) I personally don't think ANY Esprit is going to be particularly valuable (I will be happy to be proven wrong!)

Look at those cars that were asking

[esprit22]

So are you guys saying that if you buy a Turbo Esprit, there's a high chance of it breaking if you drive it (hard)?

Hi Rob, reckon Robin knows more about technical stuff than most, but like any car if driven hard without proper respect, "OUCH"

I'm so going to get shot for this!

... Consider yourself wounded, not fatal.

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

NUH UH!!!

Wayne and Troy (among others) are the go to guys for the technical info!

But you cane anything and it will of course have implications!

Bear in mind these cars are designed to be driven 'with intent' (!) but the pre-87 / HC cars had cast pistons that melt! (in the Turbo application at least)

[matk]

I've PM'd Kimbers re the "white Essex" to see if he can check with his Dad. He's responded that he'll follow it up (MJK currently in Malaysia) and asked me to post this so hopefully, for a definitive answer, watch this space......................!

Kimbers, thanks for taking the time.........

[tonyp]

That black Turbo - What's with the machine gun ports in the front valance?!

Ever see Gerry Marshall race !

[esprit22]

NUH UH!!!

Bear in mind these cars are designed to be driven 'with intent' (!) but the pre-87 / HC cars had cast pistons that melt! (in the Turbo application at least)

Never heard of "melting pistons" in G cars before, cambelts snapped, head gaskets blown, manifolds cracked and the like, but never pistons melting. When should I expect this to occur?

[Mark Blanchard]

The Esprit just isn't considered that desirable by most collectors

. . . at the moment. And across the board, 80's wedges are fetching sill money. Last year the Testarossa was selling for

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

Mark - you have a forum full of people here hoping you're spot on!

Chris - How long is a piece of string? Depends on how you drive it etc etc It is a well known flaw in the early pistons and hence why they made the move to the Chrome Topped, Forged, Mahler Pistons and Nikasil Liners. I beleive they "hole" the piston If my car was in the 80k-120k miles bracket I'd be starting to get very nervous (but I'm a nervous owner! )

Hmmm... Wonder how much Id' get for a trade in on a Testarossa?!

[Tony K]

Over here, you can buy a decent Testarossa for $45,000 USD. A decent 308 can be had for $25,000, and a Turbo Esprit for under $20,000. These are the cars that were on posters of every kid's bedroom in the 1980s. Their time will come; not everybody wants E-Types and Daytonas!

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

$25,000

They're about

[esprit22]

[(but I'm a nervous owner! )

Hmmm...

If I had spent the ammount of

[Tony K]

[(but I'm a nervous owner! )

Hmmm...

If I had spent the ammount of

[Mark Blanchard]

This months Octane magazine has 2 Testarossa's from Dealers in the classifieds, one is

[esprit22]

I just spoke with the cambelt god, and he told me to rebuild the (spring loaded) tensioner with every scheduled cambelt change. Cheap insurance for something that needs to work smoothly!

This is something that has always bothered me, cambelt change, WHEN! I get mine changed every 3 years (3k miles to me) Other guys leave it 6 years, some dealers say 2 years, others say it should be changed due to miles done not time and versa visa. Thoughts??

[Tony K]

In a 'better safe than sorry' frame of mind, I think it is better to go by time than miles. Going by miles, my S1 would only have had one cam belt change by now!

The rubber still ages whether you drive the car or not, and when it sits, the belt remains parked and tensioned in one exact position for a long time. I don't really know how much this affects longevity, but it is worth a mention.

Knowing I will never do 12k miles per year, if I could stick to a regular schedule, I would change my t-belt within 3 years. Every 1-2 thousand miles, I visually inspect the timing belt. If it would start to fray, or harden, or be soaked in oil, etc., I would change it early.

A couple of considerations specific to my car are that 1) an S1 is hot and poorly ventilated in the engine bay, which may or may not accelerate aging of the rubber, 2) early cars have rectangular cogs on the belts -- don't last as long, 3) I don't really rev mine past, say, 5500rpm (maybe 6000rpm very rarely) -- has never seen redline, and is not driven particularly hard.

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

It's both / either - time / miles - whichever comes first!

[cbclotus]

Right guys here we go , Mat trying to answer your question ,my car was a lotus road test car ,it was approx one year old when bought by Pete Hall of industrial control services ,who i belive campanied the car with the help of Andy Rouse the roof consule was missing striped for racing ,i know it had one fitted by reading the road test in car magizine 1981 ,it also had light weight panels fitted with Rodger Beckers name on inside of doors ,when i went to the factory visit i asked Brian ANGUS IF HE rembered the car he said he had the engine on a test bed trying to sort a few problems out ,the car was approx 275 bhp ,later owned and raced by the great Gerry Marshall who broke the lap record at silverstone driving the car ,i belive the engine was built by Norvic engines ,not sure if it was Steve Stanville not that up on it if any body know please post here the holes in front of car are to get more air into brakes etc i loved that car ,i am with Wayne B,i to think it is the most important turbo car from that time with all its history ,rembered fondly by MJK.AS IT WAS ONE OF HIS ROAD TEST CARS ,THANKS FOR THE PICTURES WAYNE B , the reason lotus went to wet sumps was cost also difficult to check oil leves hope this helps ,there cant have been many cars with roof consules built .