Lotus Esprit – affordable supercar?

I cannot make up my mind about the Lotus Esprit. Is it an overlooked supercar or a cheap and slightly nasty attempt at the real thing, made of plastic and stifled by a four cylinder motor?

Launched in 1976, the Lotus Esprit was an attempt by Colin Chapman to take his Lotus car company upmarket. Lotus was well established as a creator of light and balanced sports cars made of glass fibre. Some of the company’s cars were beautiful (the Elite and the Elan) and some were not (the Europa and Eclat). For the Esprit, Lotus contracted the styling to the great Giugiaro. Always a fan of the wedge, the Esprit is perhaps the most successful, and one of the most extreme, of his pointy-nosed designs. Underneath, the car was mid-engined as the Europa had been. However the supercar appearance was hardly backed up by this engine being merely a two litre four cylinder powerplant. Admittedly, it was an all-alloy motor blessed with twin cams, but with only 160 bhp, the car was no rocket, despite coming in at 1033 kg.

The early Series 1 and Series 2 cars were, in strict accordance with Lotus tradition, under-developed. The Series 1 cars, in particular, have an appealing purity about them, but for bargain fun, the later cars stand out. The Peter Stevens restyle, launched in 1987, took away the purity of the Giugiaro design, but stayed true to the concept with a gentle softening of the corners. Not since Pininfarina updated the XJ6 Jaguar from Series 2 to Series 3, had a car’s styling been so successfully developed from the original. By the late 1980s, pretty much all the cars available in Australia were turbo-charged, providing a significant performance boost for the Esprit.

Unfortunately, Esprit interiors both date and wear quickly. However, the fibreglass bodies are tough and rustproof. The steel backbone chassis can rust, but this is rarely a problem on an Australian-delivered car.

Esprits are available for as little as $20,000. While at the other end of the spectrum, a NSW dealer is offering a 1997 3.5 litre V8 (pretty much the last stand for the Esprit) for $79,990.

The real value seems to be in the later four cylinder turbo models  built around 1990. These cars are more developed, have the Stevens facelift but are not yet burdened stylistically by the huge spoilers that were applied from 1993. They are available around the $30,000 mark.

ONE FOR SALE

Tempting to have a look at is the smart-looking 1990 Series 5 that has been on Carsales.com for about a year. With 55,000 km and the option of clipping in either a solid roof or glass sunroof, this car looks interesting at the asking price of $34k. The car is in Victoria and is offered for sale with a roadworthy certificate.

YOUR VIEW?

Is the Lotus Esprit a bargain supercar or a plastic pretender? Please post a comment containing your view.