Dry Sump Register

[Andyww]

Lovely!

Great to see a car which is totally original and not been messed-about with. I have just spent £££ and many hours de-speakering my doors so they now look just like that.

Gear lever surround needs folding over like this though.... OCD strikes again

[stradman]

13 minutes ago, Andyww said:

Lovely!

Great to see a car which is totally original and not been messed-about with. I have just spent £££ and many hours de-speakering my doors so they now look just like that.

Gear lever surround needs folding over like this though.... OCD strikes again

Oh well, will do!

[ChrisJ]

Not sure I agree there. Mine is also totally original and is the same as Alex's surround (except in cloth)

[The Pits]

53 minutes ago, stradman said:

Hi guys, I'm not sure who has updated the dry sump tables but they have incorrectly put down that I do not have the roof stereo. However I do have the roof stereo as this was put in from the factory for Mr. Chapman. And perhaps someone could put in the comments only 11k from new and still original

Cheers

I'm sure @LOTUSMAN33 will update the register accordingly when he gets the chance.

Great to have some info on Chapman's car, is there a seperate thread on this car? I'd love to see some more pics of it.

[stradman]

From previous owner:

Letters of authentication from Lotus accompany car.

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

 

If anyone really wants to know more and see more pics of the car then please feel free to pm me and send me their email address and I would be happy to send them an invite to a Dropbox link.

Edited March 31, 2017 by stradman

[stradman]

But briefly:

Most of the modifications made on this car were made at his behest as improvements to the car to better suit his busy lifestyle.
It has a one off hydraulically assisted steering that was special to this car.
The pump was driven off the exhaust cam using components that had been developed for the Federal USA Turbo Esprit that used an air pump mounted in the same location of the power steering pump on this car.
The Aerodynamic Improvements were nothing more than extra weatherstripping around the side glass to cut down on wind noise.
The HVAC system was fitted with a cabin filter to reduce the amount of pollen entering the cars interior.
Colin Chapman suffered badly from Hay Fever and this mod made the car more comfortable for him to drive.
The engine was also fitted with a shield in between the cam towers to prevent water from running down on to the plugs in wet weather and causing a missfire.

It was also the first Esprit Turbo car apparently that had the BBS wheels . Chapman knew the Compomotives were fragile and so was keen to swap to the more robust BBS

 

Edited March 31, 2017 by stradman

[LOTUSMAN33]

Great update Alex, a fantastic, rare and very valuable Dry Sump. 

Dave  

[stradman]

3 minutes ago, LOTUSMAN33 said:

Great update Alex, a fantastic, rare and very valuable Dry Sump. 

Dave  

Cheers Dave. Many thanks!

[Andyww]

3 hours ago, ChrisJ said:

Not sure I agree there. Mine is also totally original and is the same as Alex's surround (except in cloth)

Definitely supposed to be folded over into itself so the top ends up level with the base. Thats how Guigaro designed it, from S1 onwards. Only takes a few seconds to do. Thats why the top of the surround has no finishing trim, because its supposed to be hidden.

[RichardJGC]

Agreed Andy. All the period brochures show it folded over into itself and that how I've always had mine. The parts list shows it in its unfolded form which may lead to some confusion.

[LOTUSMAN33]

Bought this today from April 1981, Essex/Dry Sump pricelist..

What I found most interesting was the Essex roof radio was an option and the car was only just under £4000 more expensive than a base model Dry Sump. Time you add full leather, Air con, roof radio and metallic paint to the dry sump you soon close the price gap. 

Dave  

[Andyww]

Never realised that even the half leather was an option. 

There doesnt seem to be any choice of flat vs ruched leather on the non-Essex. I am sure I have seen Turbos with flat. Maybe they were later cars.

[silverfrost]

Was it not just the Essex cars that had the really puffed up red leather ?   Like Barries  Essex Esprit  when Richard Hammond  drove it and compared  the interior  to an elephants scrotum 

[Bazza 907]

19 minutes ago, silverfrost said:

Was it not just the Essex cars that had the really puffed up red leather ?   Like Barries  Essex Esprit  when Richard Hammond  drove it and compared  the interior  to an elephants scrotum 

I still want to know how he knows what one looks like..  

[Andyww]

The ruched leather was normal for Turbo Esprit. Flat leather on S3 but I think some Turbos have flat, probably at customer request and they dropped it for the HC I believe?

On the Esprit FB page MJK mentioned this was a Guigaro feature, part of his turbo upgrade design package and this was not specifically an Essex upgrade. He said the trim shop had a few issues with it! The leather had to be thinned down when it came from Connolly to make the ruching work. I forget the technical term.

[AdelaideEsprit]

I have a 1982  Dry Sump Turbo Esprit

VIN: SCC082910CHG10437      Engine Number: CD910820520287

It is Calypso Red (A25) and has tan upholstery. It is fitted with the 3 piece/5 stud BBS wheels.

It was Registered in Hong Kong (12/07/82) and imported into Australia in 2003. It still has the Hong Kong plates (DD 6768). As far as I know, it has never been registered in Australia.

[PhilW]

Mark

Can you post some pictures?

[AdelaideEsprit]

Hi Phil

A photo of my 1982 Turbo Esprit. It is a work in progress! I have been collecting the parts I need to get it on the road and am nearly there. The car is quite sound with no rust and the body and leather interior are quite good. Brakes, clutch, exhaust and windscreen need to be installed.

Mark

[cbclotus]

Hi Mark .Good luck with your car ....Looks fab . Very rare in Oz .Welcome also ....Mike

[silverfrost]

15 hours ago, AdelaideEsprit said:

Hi Phil

A photo of my 1982 Turbo Esprit. It is a work in progress! I have been collecting the parts I need to get it on the road and am nearly there. The car is quite sound with no rust and the body and leather interior are quite good. Brakes, clutch, exhaust and windscreen need to be installed.

Mark

Mark

  You do not have BBS wheel you lucky fellow !   You are now part of the dry sump compomotive CX500 brigade.   These wheels are extremely rare and well though of in the esprit world.  If they are 5 stud will mean they are even more rare on an esprit as most left the factory with four studs until they changed over to the 5 stud BBS wheel.,  I think hopo on here has them on his car ?  

Great looking car,  Search the forums for compomotive wheel threads from owners like PITS,  These wheels have changed hands for up to 4000 sterling recently  Which just shows how desirable they are and how much owners want them on their turbo esprits ! 

[AdelaideEsprit]

Thanks Dan!

I had no idea. The wheel centres have BBS badges so I was going with that. A friend of mine here in  Adelaide has a Black dry-sump and that  must have the BBS wheels. I will need to check. My wheels are definitely 5 stud. I had them refurbished about 3 years ago. See photo.

[silverfrost]

Ah no sorry Mark for giving good news too soon !   I looked at the red picture and from picture they looked like compomotives   The wheels you have are aftermarket wheels from the wheel photo you pictured above and lotus have never fitted these wheels from the factory.  Sadly not worth 4000 sterling 

However on a brighter note,  they do look period correct and have what looks like the same offset as the lotus wheels,  and are good looking wheels none the less and make your car more unique in the long run ,  in fact have never seen these before so very retro and maybe even more rare than the comps lol. 

Sorry for getting your hopes up on the compomotives, my bad.  But from the pic they did look like comps 

Regards Danny

[AdelaideEsprit]

Thanks for clarifying this, Dan. I bought the car a few years ago because the body colour and the gold wheels were just as I remembered in magazines in the early 80's. Like the one below.... I'm not sure of the original source of this photo.

[Jack Stone]

Just stumbled upon this thread after spotting the wrecked Essex-Blue Esprit on P2 that was sold through Copart in 2011. Sadly that was my pride and joy for 22 years until I had an accident in 2011 (enroute to Silverstone Classic!).
The car was SCC082910BHD11002 first reg on 18-8-81 as KOU 634X to the London address of Sheikh Basil Al Sabah (of Kuwaiti royal family). I acquired car in Feb 89 and ran it for 22y on a cherished plate.
Hope this helps. Pics:

 

 

[Jack Stone]

While digging out the pics above I found this one of a W-plate which is certainly a dry-sump, pictured at SGT in Sep 81.