About this vehicle
1977 espritVehicle Details
Up for sale is my 1977 esprit in carnival red with the tartan interior. 49,XXX miles. This car has a good history so I’ll do my best to get through it. 8 or so years ago, a well known lotus guy in the northwest took the body off the frame to do a full restoration. Everything from painting the chassis to replacing the clutch and all the bushings was done. He basically had every bit of the car restored that wasn’t part of the body or interior. After the body was mated back he unfortunately died before the rest of the car could be finished, which was mostly cosmetic. Fast forward a few years and his wife sold it, I then picked it up from the guy who bought it from her. Since then the car has done just a few miles a year until I purchased it.
The car ran and drove but needed a good bit of work from sitting along with desperately needing paint. The first thing I tackled was the paint job, it looks great now and matches the factory color perfectly. Every single piece of the exterior, trim and interior were removed including doors, hatch, and bonnet to get all the hard to reach places . After that I needed to make sure it ran the way it looked, so the following has been replaced by me earlier this year and over last winter
-gates blue timing belt and tensioner bearing
-water pump
-thermostat
-Front and back rotors and pads
-braided brake lines, oil pressure gauge line and braided clutch line
-new tires
-lower control arm bushings
-anti roll bar bushings to control arm
-adjustable shocks and top mount bushings
-4 u-joints on the driveshafts with grease fittings
-lower ball joints
-steering rack boots
-tie rod ends
-front and rear wheel bearings
-radius arm bushings
-rear lower links and 4 bushings
-motor mount upgrade kit from SJ
-motor braces fitted
-all 6 trans mount bushings replaced
-tanks cleaned
-countless new hoses
-valve cover gaskets
-cap, rotor, wires, plugs
-carbs rebuilt
-new fuel pump
-larger aluminum radiator and hoses
-headlight motor and linkage repaired
-4 new headlights
-front splitter
-front and rear euro bumpers
-rear euro valance
-countless body gaskets
-window motor guides regreased and new clips
-fuse box upgraded kit
-battery
-all fluids changed
-fresh oil change
-license plate surround
-alignment
I’m sure I’m missing things. I’ll include videos of the car and some driving slow and fast, and running through gears. Overall I’d say it’s better than a driver quality car, but not a show winning car. The paint looks great and I decided to leave the original interior. It shows patina, but not bad enough to need redone, there is one 3 inch rip in the passenger seat seam that was restitcted, but apart from that it’s just a little faded. Still supple and not fragile. It drives well and true. Some creaks and groans here and there but what do you expect of a 50 year old hand built British car
There’s only one thing I can think of that is an issue with this car and it’s the front and rear quarter windows. At some point somebody must have used a wire brush to remove the paint on the trim around them and in doing so scratched them up around the edges. I have priced them out and in total the glass would cost around $550 and is relatively simple to replace, especially the rears as they’re held in with 2 screws
I’ve taken this thing on many long road trips recently and it’s been rock solid and I expect it to be that way for some time to come given all the work that has been done. I had bought this to restore and maybe replace my v8 esprit, but as much as I love this car and its simpler cleaner lines, the v8 is where my heart is at given I’ve had one for so many years and I know it much better in and out. I kept this long enough to enjoy for a year and put some miles on but it’s time to go. Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll be happy to help!
Exterior
Interior
Engine
Other
