1977 Lotus Esprit Project

I'm a sucker for "that'll just buff out" cars... probably lucky this one was already sold by the time I saw this posting.

@ Toffee: seriously? The MGA's far easier, and probably cheaper, too. Everything's easily available--you could build a complete A from repro catalogues--and everything's analog. The electrics are about as complicated as the average flashlight; test light, not multimeter. Screwdriver, a couple of wrenches (sorry--spanners), and a ball peen hammer for when the starter acts up. It's not even a close call.

@TJP From the stand point of cost and ease of restoration, which one would easier? MGA or Esprit. I know that they are very different, but just curious.

Wow, definitely best of luck with that one...

Sold for $3,249. Best of luck with the project!

At first I was a bit puzzled why would BaT even bother with this listing. However, I just finished pursuing eBay and found another great car for a reasonable price. Thank BaT for bringing Lotus into the spotlight, although there are several more noteworthy candidates being offered at reasonable price level. Those that are considering this project should take a look at the price levels for daily drivers (if such term can be applied to a Lotus). If someone wants to have a Lotus for a song, take a look at the Eclats, one for $4k.

If the body shell and the backbone are intact, the car can be restored. A wrecked/disintegrated body shell is a dealbreaker, as is rust on the backbone. Everything else on this car can be reconstructed relatively easily and cheaply, even though the interior has been hacked up here. These cars are not complex, and parts are surprisingly easy to come by. Now, of course you can buy a nice, running example for the same (or less) money than the restoration will cost you. But that's true of a lot of cars, and people who take on restorations like this do so because they want to restore a car, not because they want a deal.

i...must...buy. i know better and have too many projects, but $2000 for a piece of lotus...my wife will be pissed, but it must be mine...pundits please help me more

@easytiger Although I'm retired with plenty of time on my hands, I don't know if I want to spend years to sort and restore an Esprit knowing the finished production will probably be under water value wise. And knowing I can buy a sorted Esprit for less. A quick look on eBay's SOLD list: '84 restored for $13.9k <a href='http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&amp;pub=5574639392&amp;toolid=10001&amp;campid=5336921388&amp;customid=1984-lotus-esprit-turbo-restored-and-very-clean&amp;icep_item=310796950677&amp;ipn=psmain&amp;icep_vectorid=229466&amp;kwid=902099&amp;mtid=824&amp;kw=lg' rel="nofollow">1984 Lotus Esprit Turbo Restored and Very Clean</a> '86 decent looker/driver for $12k <a href='http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&amp;pub=5574639392&amp;toolid=10001&amp;campid=5336921388&amp;customid=1986-lotus-esprit-s3-coupe-2-door-2-2l&amp;icep_item=321230655284&amp;ipn=psmain&amp;icep_vectorid=229466&amp;kwid=902099&amp;mtid=824&amp;kw=lg' rel="nofollow">1986 Lotus Esprit S3 Coupe 2 Door 2 2L</a> 1986 Lotus Esprit Turbo HCI 38,000 Original Miles $14.2k <a href='http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&amp;pub=5574639392&amp;toolid=10001&amp;campid=5336921388&amp;customid=1986-lotus-esprit-turbo-hci&amp;icep_item=151174454360&amp;ipn=psmain&amp;icep_vectorid=229466&amp;kwid=902099&amp;mtid=824&amp;kw=lg' rel="nofollow">1986 Lotus Esprit Turbo HCI</a> 1990 Lotus Esprit mechanic's special but in much better shape than our '77 $9.4k <a href='http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&amp;pub=5574639392&amp;toolid=10001&amp;campid=5336921388&amp;customid=lotus-esprit-se&amp;icep_item=131077087239&amp;ipn=psmain&amp;icep_vectorid=229466&amp;kwid=902099&amp;mtid=824&amp;kw=lg' rel="nofollow">Lotus Esprit SE</a>

@ easytiger: if this one wasn't cut up and bodged, I'd completely agree with you. My caveat here isn't primarily about condition; it's about inheriting someone else's dubious modifications. If it's all you can afford, by all means take on a neglected project that requires more sweat than money. But don't start with one that's been butchered.

"Ed L January 11, 2014 at 10:11 pm Thumb up 0 or Flag as not constructive @ easytiger: any car can be restored, even by a DIYer with enough time. The question is, why would you start with this example? I think it’s an understatement to suggest that a modified Esprit isn’t the best DIY project. The entry price may be cheap (or likely will be at auction’s end), but how much time will it cost you to undo the mods? How many other bodges will you find along the way? If you don’t like “run away”, I’ll happily change it to “walk away,” But it certainly isn’t the equivalent of “Fix it Again, Tony,” and your equating it to that leads me to wonder why you want to pick a fight. Please let’s not." Yet...a friend of mine bought an esprit that was sitting in a carport for ten years, due to a divorce, for $7000, and it was as bad as this one. But he scraped together $7000 and bought it. If it was $10,000, he could not have done it. About three years of hard work...and not much money...just a lot of sweat....he had a very nice white lotus esprit. Again...the difference was...it was at a price he could actually afford. He did it, instead of just talked about it. And to someone who gets this, for $2000 or so...I say...great. I hope it goes to someone who has to save up $500 at a time to do it bit by bit but ends up with a car they would otherwise never be able to have. I totally respect that. If you can't do the work yourself, of course, starting from here would be dumb, yes, it usually pays to buy a car after some other sucker took a bath restoring it... But here is an opportuninty for someone with not a lot of scratch to actually own one of these...go for it. Me, I'm not in the market for one of these...but I do like them.

That garage is in more need of restoration than the car...

I like the idea of the Yamaha 3.2 V6 stuffed in there, if you can mate it to the original transmission. Can't weigh much more than the original motor, and for the likely price of the motor work on the original motor you could likely get most of a healthy SHO motor + engine management. No reason to try and keep this one original. Someone has taken care of that for you with that nightmare dash. I don't know how that would get sorted. Parts from an SII?

I love the SBC comments - in 1977 - I believe the SBC was in the 110 hp range - smog inhibited - A high school friends dad bought a Nova Concours - Nice car though not a Lotus. Gutless but smooth Now in retrospect - this car was an outlier to the Chevy Nova in performance - Really - did a large pungeant care package arrive from Colorado. Give me a break - I think the Corvette hotted that number right up to 150 HP in a 1000 lb heavier car. These were sad times - and your remembrance is foggy at best - the Lotus Power to weigh was still in a higher class,

@ easytiger: any car can be restored, even by a DIYer with enough time. The question is, why would you start with this example? I think it's an understatement to suggest that a modified Esprit isn't the best DIY project. The entry price may be cheap (or likely will be at auction's end), but how much time will it cost you to undo the mods? How many other bodges will you find along the way? If you don't like "run away", I'll happily change it to "walk away," But it certainly isn't the equivalent of "Fix it Again, Tony," and your equating it to that leads me to wonder why you want to pick a fight. Please let's not.

@KyBash For me, an electric Esprit or something like that would be perfect to drive from my house to mountain cabin on "Palm to Pine" Highway, all 35 miles of it. This is a map of that route, starting from an elevation of 150ft, end at 4600ft. http://lateralg.org/roads/orange/palms8.gif http://lateralg.org/roads/orange/palms6.gif

@Toffee: That's wild! I have the cars for cruising highways and feeling the rush on hilly country roads. I'd want this for quick errands (which seems to be about 96% of my driving these days), never more than a few miles, half the time stuck in traffic. Personally, I'd feel better making this electric than stuffing in any non-original engine. I've never done a swap without cutting or bending something. An electric motor could bolt right in, no alterations, so if someone wanted to put the original engine back, there'd be nothing to undo.

The Lotus 907 has a bad rep for a couple of justifiable reasons. The early motors had a bad habit of catching fire. They were sparse on low end torque, and they had oil distribution problems, but lotus used Jensen Healey as a test bed for their engine development. By 75 they had worked out the majority of the problems. The Dellorto Carbs are very good and reliable, once set up properly. On the Jensens they added about 20 horsepower. This would be an interesting project if I didn't already have two projects going already. Good luck to seller and buyer.

@Kybash &amp; Varjak Like to blow off some corvettes and vipers? See how this ordinary looking Datsun owned and humilated C5 corvette (http://youtu.be/369h-SEBXd8). Your electric Esprit can be faster than that Datsun and handle better. But you have to dealt with limited range, which is OK with me as it will only be my Nth car and I love to surprise the German and Italian supercars that crowd the streets here in the desert.

@beaucephalus Unless you either have skills, facility and time to do at least the mechanical and electrical work this is too much of the project for you. When it ones to vintage cars, you should always by the best you can afford. Problem with many project cars, ths being case in point, is by the time you are done spending money, time and effort on completing them you would be better off all around by buying a finished end product. TJP has a very good recommendation. To that I would add driveability and serviceability. I could say reliability but its hard to compare reliability of 60's, 70's, 80's and even 90's cars to today's standards. Make sure spare parts, especially maintenance, are readily available and not expensive. For initial candidates look for simple mechanical set ups. Exotic mechanical set ups make great conversation pieces and are cool but only when they function properly. By driveability I mean if the candidate would be suitable for your driving style and needs. For example a 2Cv may be cool to drive short distances around town but is probably murder on open highways, especially if elevation is involved. Also buy a basic set of tools, service literature for your car and learn to use both. When considering buying something cool be sure that you can sell it with relative ease when you will be ready to move on to the next ride. Chances are you will and last thing you will want to happen I to be stuck in something nobody else wants... Just my $0.02. My sincere apologies for pirating this thread...