Esprit Turbo project car - part3 - the further continuation

[Lotusfab]

Well my thought process has done a 360 on this. To restore my Turbo as origiinal to a very high standard and selling it will not compensate sufficiently for the man hours and I will have to do it all again for a Bond car. I dont like red and Im building the car for me so I am going to make the most accurate copy of the FYEO car as I possibly can! There will be a very few improvements to make the car reliable and useable. To that end I need to redo the interior. Does anyone have a copper bronze Esprit or anynother dry sump with the same colour interior? If so please could I have a tiny sample to match? Thanks.

[Lotusfab]

Theres has always been a big debate about originality or new. My take on it is practically is no car forty years old is original. It will have a new paint job, interior and lots of new parts. As soon This is the case its not original. It might happen to be similar colours or material, but even these may not be exact. I think people who attend shows and other owners should judge which cars they like best - but this is never going to happen knowing human nature. 

Who cares anyway, when you have a chance to own and drive some of the most iconic cars there have ever been, happy days!????

ps at least the skis and bindings will be genuine Olin MkVIs and Tyrolia .380s!

[The Pits]

Done to your standards Fabian it's likely to be worth more as a Copper Fire FYEO replica. I know that's not what this is about but for every buyer who scoffs at the colour being non-original there will be three who see the car of their childhood dreams. The scoffing sorts tend to steer clear of Lotus cars anyway so I reckon you'll be alright among us lot! Has restoring S1s to Bond spec harmed their value? I'd argue not. When everyone's repainting them white, it makes the other colours rarer so actually increases the value overall. Same with Copper Fire, there's a reason so many want to respray that colour - it looks amazing! To everyone's credit there are very few Essex clones out there, it must be tempting being so widely admired but in any event my first choice of colour for a respray of a project car would be Copper Fire too. Demand for Turbo Esprits in that colour will always exceed supply.

[jonroberts]

Copper Fire is an amazing colour. Go with your choice Fabian - it will be outstanding !   

[The Pits]

Nicely put Buddsy. I reckon another red one painted Copper will only increase the rarity and value of yours and Stephens scarlet beauties! Everyone's a winner!

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Chaps, will just have to get on and build it!

[The Pits]

Will you be brave enough to colour match the old school Copper Fire? The newer one is a nicer colour in isolation but it would be nice to see someone have a go!

[Lotusfab]

I need to research the paint. The original does look different to the new paint I have seen, but why? In theory it should be identical. If I have to head to Miami this project could take a long time!

Has anyone got an original Copper fire Esprit that has not been resprayed that could be colour matched?

[Lotusfab]

Having had some amazing luck introducing my cx500 4 stud comp centres, there's no going back, burn all the bridges!

[Lotusfab]

There are still problems. I have lots of Barrels and lips, but the Bond sizes are elusive. I believe the sizes should be as follows, hopefully Johnny or Jo, as the resident experts will confirm? 

Front 5 inch barrel, 1 inch lip.

rear 3.5 inch barrel, 4 inch lip ???

finding the centres leaves only one issue, rolled edge rims. I have 1.5 inch fronts, and 3.5 inch rears without a rolled edge. I have seen these fitted and they look fine. But this has to be exact. Have to try and get them made if no joy hunting them. 

If anyone can help with the rear Barrels or Lips please let me know. 

[The Pits]

Bond's was Copper Fire but Lotus later did a very similar colour called 'Autumn Bronze'. Nice colour actually and pretty much what Lotus give you if you order a Copper Fire car these days.

[Lotusfab]

Roman Bronze?looks different. Was Matts 2.2 Copper fire???

Copper fire?????

Has anyone got an Original unsprayed copper fire Esprit? If so please can I colour match it?

[Lotusfab]

Paint looks so different???

I may contact Connelly leather and see if they can match the leather colour.

If anyone has any info please chip in. This research took me as much time as building the S1!

[Lotusfab]

No worries any info helps.

[The Pits]

Roman Bronze is stunning! @hopo's is the only original Copper Fire car in active service that I know of.

That famous FYEO shot in the snow really sets the colour off but isn't a good reference, snow does crazy things to the light.

 

 

[Lotusfab]

Got to have white Lotus on the bumper!

Do we know if Hoppos paint been redone or is it original?

 

Is this Hoppos car, looks great and the paint looks fab?

[The Pits]

I believe it's very original.

@hopo? We're talking about your car again.

He describes it very succinctly as more Copper than Fire!

It's very coppery, like the top of a Duracell battery. Definitely the closest I've seen to the Bond promo shots. That one (which may or may not be THE one in Monaco) is also similar.

I love it personally!

 

[Lotusfab]

Mmmm, I may have found my new best friend!

[Dan E]

Bromance lurking? 

[Lotusfab]

Well good news. Matts car was Copper Fire and he kept the filler cap which is in perfect condition so the paint could be matched! When I get the paint matched will let everyone know where it was done so they can make more on request. They should be able to store the colour. 

[The Pits]

A lucky break, great news! 

[Lotusfab]

Matts car looks spot on, here's the Bond car at auction, QED.

[Lotusfab]

Will give Andy Graham at Lotus heritage a call and see if he can shed light on the official trim colour.

[Lotusfab]

Having looked into wheels for some time if believe there may be three different variants.

1. Early car cx500 in centre of wheel.

2. Later car cx500 on outside of lip.

3. Five stud cx500 lotus supplied , possibly different barrels and lips. Why, the suspension might be the same as the wet sump???  The lips on the five stud cars at the rear do not have rolled lips. I believe they are the same that came with my new wheels. I think they may be 3.5 inch and not 4 inch in the rear (which is what I have), and the lip deeper on the front? Someone who has one of these cars may like to measure them and confirm. It's simple to measure from the inside to the outer edge then take off half an inch. 

Interestingly I have a picture of what I think is the Deezer car at the Lotus Hethel plant and it doesn't have rolled edges???

[Andyww]

Did the factory ever sell any cars with 5-stud CX500s?

I wonder why they originally went with 4 stud though when the wheel was clearly designed for 5. The 4 stud wheels dont look very correct, both from the aesthetic aspect as the pattern repeats 5 times and also from the engineering aspect, the area where the bolts are is thin and has no strengthening webbing and the nuts too close to the centre hole. I am convinced that the reason they binned a lot of CX500s was because they had some crack and didnt want anyone to find out.