Time to buy a Lotus Esprit?

"Oran J Sands III" (merlyyn) 01/01/2015 at 10:45 • Filed to: Lotus Esprit Top Gear Patagonia

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After watching Top Gear's Patagonia Special I'm wondering if I should buy a Lotus Esprit. It survived everything admirably. And the prices seem reasonable. And it appeals to the masochist in me as well. :-)

http://www.carsforsale.com/used-cars-for-…

Tareim - V8 powered > Oran J Sands III 01/01/2015 at 10:52

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if you've got the money and like the idea of it then why not? go for it and enjoy it

Oran J Sands III > Tareim - V8 powered 01/01/2015 at 10:58

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It's the usual "Hey! A cheap Supercar!" routine. Very fast, very cool, 25 years old, made of unobtainium and may need fixing often. On the flip side I love fixing cars that don't run (there must be a medical term for this malady) and making them live another day for my enjoyment of what they have to offer.

I should find a sponsor to buy the one with 56K miles and write for a year about keeping it going. Sort of a more painful Doug DeMuro routine. No warranty, no cash and no clue.

Got to admit it's a pretty car!

davedave1111 > Oran J Sands III 01/01/2015 at 11:00

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In my book, those prices aren't reasonable, they're utterly insane. Unless I'm going mad, three or four years ago you were looking at more like half or a quarter of those prices, and even at that level Esprits were a bit of a risk.

My dad almost bought one new, back in the day. He's definitely never regretted deciding against. When they're good, they're very, very good, but when they're bad they won't start when the dealer offers you a test drive.

Tareim - V8 powered > Oran J Sands III 01/01/2015 at 11:01

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sure is a pretty car, I would love one but unfortunately I don't have much patience or knowledge to fix cars if anything major goes wrong so I couldn't get one but I felt like I needed a nice car so went for the BRZ, anything major goes wrong I got warranty to do it for me :D

Svend > Oran J Sands III 01/01/2015 at 11:02

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This one in L.A. looks good.

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C454559

Extremely well taken care off Esprit S4S

in original black paint

all service records included and maintained by one of our best lotus shops in the area.

42,500 original miles

ice cold air

original steering wheel is included.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

There are 47 others on carandclassic.co.uk

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/list/29/esprit…

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > Oran J Sands III 01/01/2015 at 11:17

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I don't remember Esprits being that expensive...

KatzManDu > Oran J Sands III 01/01/2015 at 11:21

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If you can afford it, do it.

Oran J Sands III > davedave1111 01/01/2015 at 11:42

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That would be a non-starter for me as well! Pun intended.

RallyWrench > Oran J Sands III 01/01/2015 at 12:03

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How tall are you? If over about 5' 10' you might find it a bit cramped. I'm a little over 6', and could hardly fit in an '87 Turbo that we had in the shop many years ago.

Oran J Sands III > RallyWrench 01/01/2015 at 12:38

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5'8" fortunately. N o need for this

Aaron James > Oran J Sands III 01/01/2015 at 13:08

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If you are serious do some research. I looked into them 10 years ago and there are issues with something really important cracking. I can't remember if it's the frame or part of a composite unibody, but something can crack and be bad news. It's what kept me from pulling the trigger, I just can't remember off hand what it was.

DoYouEvenShift > Oran J Sands III 01/01/2015 at 13:13

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Ive always lovee these cars.

http://www.caral.co.uk

Oran J Sands III > DoYouEvenShift 01/01/2015 at 13:31

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Wow! Some serious options there!