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This is the car Lotus wanted to sell. Instead of detuning their wonderful V8 due to drivetrain issues, - fix the weak transaxle and let it pump out the 500 horses it was intended to! That’s exactly what you have here. The current owner ( only the second ) has taken a, sweet 20K California car and spent well over 100, 000 to build this Ferrari eating supercar. All this and it is still capable of passing the strict California Emissions test and dropping a very happy kid off at school. Most of the work was performed by a well known Los Angeles County Lotus specialist and there has been a lot of it. Starting with the engine, it has been completely disassembled blueprinted, balanced and rebuilt using new bearings, forged pistons etc. The heads have been reworked and fuel system has benefited from a set of matched injectors and an ECU that is reprogrammable with the use of chips. Breathing in through K&N free flowing filters the turbo’s ( both rebuilt) now cool the air in a large charge cooler prior to the engine breathing out through racing cats. The manifolds have been Jet Hot coated and the racing exhaust system features upgraded O2 sensors and the turbos have new blow off valves and a very neat 15 pound boost gauge added to the interior. The result is an amazing sound and incredible performance. Aesthetically the engine also looks the part with a lot of candy blue powder coating, Aeroquip lines and braided or silicone hoses. The whole thing is held in the car by a set of heavy duty engine mounts. The torque is gripped by a 3 plate racing clutch and fed into the upgraded UN-1-13 gearbox, and custom linkage that is controlled with a brushed aluminum shifter knob with Lotus logo. The final drive was replaced with a Quaife limited slip differential. The rubber that hits the road consists of a good set of Dunlop Sport 9000 tires, 285/35ZR18 on the rear and 235/40zZR17 on the front. Suspension tweaking was next with new Lotus Bilstein shocks front and back, held up by Eibach springs all round with a 17mm sway bar fitted at the front. Finally stopping power was increased to match the forward motion by using Willwood 6 pot calipers on the front with a similar set of 4 piston units at the back with 12 inch ventilated discs all round. The cooling system did not go untouched either, having a new water pump, hi capacity radiator and high performance fan set-up, which all keep this fire breathing beast cool at all times.. To protect this vulnerable area a ¼ inch thick skid plate was added under the front. There is also a manual override switch controllable from the drivers seat. To help keep you driving, the car is equipped with Generation 8 High Power laser interceptors with quad detectors and a Valentine One radar locator, high range hidden system with controls units in the dash and hidden sensors installed in the front and rear bumpers – Stealth? The interior shows a little use, but is in good condition, with race inspired leather seats and dash, as well as a leather wrapped steering wheel and hand brake. It has also had a Halon fire extinguishing system neatly installed – just in case! This Esprit also has been equipped with a Kenwood radio with IPod connection, DVD and GPS system, and has had additional speakers installed for a total of 6 Alpine and 2 Infinity speakers, 4-mid range and 2 large woofers, and two tweeters with an external amplifier system. The car also has an active Low Jack anti theft system installed. The factory heat and air conditioning, both work as intended. The headlights were upgraded to new Hella Headlamp System, and the taillights are LED. The entire front half of the car has been shielded with SC Clearbra to eliminate road rash and it has done a good job. The exterior paint very nice, a deep black and in good condition, there is one minor scratch on the driver side quarter panel. There are some chips and scrapes to the lower valence/bumper but nothing unexpected or unusual. It has had a new gasket kit for the sun roof installed. There is a lot of invoices and a current smog certificate that go with this car along with a hardtop panel and some extra exhaust parts. This black beauty starts with ease, idles smoothly with performance that is breathtakingly fast. Although this car is obviously extremely powerful, it is surprisingly docile and easy to drive. The racing clutch is firm but forgiving and the gears selection easy and precise, not always the case with mid engine cars. It’s easy to just to cruise around town - until you stop wanting to cruise. The upgrades have come together to make this an exceptional automobile. This is a testament to the overall approach of no cutting corners by the owner and the professional manner in which these upgrades have been carried out. It
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