A Lotus, pretty cool eh?

 

Nice
I've admired the striaght sharp lines of this car.
Don't see many unfortunately. Didn't they get bought out by some big auto manufacturer? I don't remember....

 

the espirit has been discontinued....

 

very rare car, wouldnt mind driving one of those every day

 

weren't some of the Esprits a 4-banger with turbo?

 

Funny thing, I saw the same car in yellow yesterday!

 

Cool looking cars, a guy down the street from me has a yellow one.

 

i think lotus is trying to make a comeback, they are opening up a new dealership in nyc

 

actually the car was not a 4 banger turbo but rather a 6 cylinder turbo that dissapointed many who could afford an exotic such as this, being that a v8 is what most were looking for. Eventually it became a v8 turbo, im not sure how long after its original production. Its been around since the 1970s.

 

The ESPRIT (not espirit) has been a 4 banger turbo which offered incredible performance up until about 96 or 97. Around the late 90's it then was upgraded to a V8 twin turbo which boosted performance and power considerably. These cars are what I would consider the "SC400" of the exotic sports car market, in that they can be bought for reasonable prices when only a few years old.

 

The Elise is finally coming to the American market....a car that many auto enthusiasts consider the best-handling production car on the planet. Some of the old British woes with the Lucas electronics and unreliable engines are being dealt with by the new Toyota-supplied Celica-GTS-based 1.8L drivetrain and modern up-to-date electronics. However, the jury may still be out a little on the engine.....that has not been one of Toyota's more reliable engines in the Celica, perhaps by kids running them past redline in drag races.

 

Always like it, but still looks almost the same as the one in the James Bond movie >20 years ago, it's getting a little boring.

 

The Esprit has never done anything for me. The styling was dated before it was even released.
The addition of fender flares and big wings have only cluttered the design over the years- it always reminded me of how the poor Countach looked towards the end: I expect a guy named Vinnie to get out of the car, wearing an unbuttoned silk shirt with three gold necklaces!

The turbo V8 is only a marginal performer, a 996 Turbo or 360 Modena would beat it pretty handily. Add in questionable British build quality and electrics- strike two. It's appearance in the movie Pretty Woman with Richard Gere "driving" (grinding?) it: strike three.

But I guess it's a good way to pick-up a semi-exotic for half the price of new (depreciation KILLS these cars).... my money would be in a used NSX, though.

 

Those were exotic looking, that was it...no power to back up its looks whatsoever
I knew a guy who had a white one and was pissed eveytime I smoked him in my 97 Eclipse GSX back then...LoL
Though I would never try my luck with the V8 TT model.....

 

Lotus has ALOT of problems. I was actually considering buying a 89 Esprit for my first car, but then all the people I asked said its always in the shop and its so damn $$$ to get things fixed. Quality and reliablility both stink Looks on the other hand are pretty damn nice.