Description
1982 Lotus Turbo Esprit
This Turbo Esprit, is the very First Wet Sump model (chassis no. 11193, evidenced on the Provenance certificate & letter from Lotus Cars)
18700 miles from new
1 previous owner
XPW960X original Norwich number as per PPW & OPW of the James Bond Lotus cars.
Original dealer plates still on car. Original Bill of Sale and Sales Pack including 2 sets of original keys.
This particular example of an early Turbo Esprit was bought in 1982 by the 1 previous owner, who lived in Essex. The car was in use until taken off the road from 1993 to 2015 due to a hole in the exhaust manifold. Unable to find a suitable replacement, the car lay unused for 22 years.
I purchased the car when it came up for sale in ‘14, where it took almost 2 years to find a replacement manifold. Recommission work was then carried out by Craig Moncrieff Cars Edinburgh - previously the Team who worked at Murray Lotus for 17 years. During the recommision the following work was carried out :
Exhaust Manifold replaced
Refurbished Turbo & Wastegate
Wheel refurbish with new Pirelli tyres fitted
New Engine Oil/ Gearbox oil change / Coolant changed with new original Lotus stock
Full C service
Brakes - front discs skimmed
New fuel & air filters etc
New front bushes including anti-roll bar etc
The car was then used sparingly, at sensible low speeds as the car hadn’t been driven for more than 2 decades. After a period some other issues started to show themselves. Due to the time I believe was needed on the car, I then decided to send the car to GST Lotus Esprit specialists in Newmarket. The car was transported there and back, and a list of all the work carried out can be found in the paperwork file for the car. Part of the work carried out, included the full rebuild of the carburettors which subsequently got the car running perfectly. It’s now a pleasure to drive but only used sparingly on dry days and to attend local Summer car shows. The car has attended Glamis Classic Car Show twice in my ownership, and each time has won a trophy - it attracts a lot of positive attention, due to the fact it’s still so factory original.
I’ve now owned the car 12 years and in that time covered just over 1000 miles, and feel the time has come to move it on so someone who can get more use of it, and to take it to more shows to let people see just how original it still is.
The car still enjoys the factory original paintwork, other than the wheels which were refurbished in ‘15 due to dulling over time. The seats currently fitted in the car were retro-fitted in ‘15 to keep the originals preserved. The original seats will be refitted, and the seats fitted can be sold separately to the price agreed for the car as they are worth £2000 for the pair, being so rare.
There are some areas where further improvement would benefit the car, such as the heating not working (never needed it so haven’t remedied), electric aerial not working (can still be raised manually) and there’s an intermittent issue with the right side door radio speaker. The original headlining & sunvisors would also benefit from recovering as they sag a little when the car is cold inside, but as soon as the car is in warm conditions the sagging is much improved so I’ve chosen to leave as is.
2025 was the 50th Anniversary of the Lotus Esprit, so now is a great time to own this truly loved Lotus variant - this particular example has to be a guaranteed future investment due to the low previous owner number and truly extraordinary, one-off low mileage from new.
