1980 Lotus Esprit S2
We got the Esprit in September, 2006 and sold it in May, 2014. It is a very original car with only 27,000 actual miles, and is an absolute blast to drive. The Esprit is a weekend, good weather car that spends most of its time back home in the garage, when its not out turning heads.
This Esprit S2 was signed off the production line in November, 1979, painted Monaco white with a black leather interior. It was first sold through Jim Loose Imported Cars, a dealership that also sold and repaired Aston Martins, Jaguar, Ferraris, Bentleys, etc. A number of early Esprits passed through Loose Imported Cars, and they also installed "factory authorized" sunroofs and A/C units on S1 Esprits, as none had factory air. Loose closed around 1990, and the dealership was torn down.
After leaving the lot, the Esprit racked up a mere 17k miles across the next 26 years!
The owner wasn't using the car much and it ended up in the hands of my mechanic at Burnett's British Auto Service. He kept it in his shop, and I drooled over it every time my Elite went in for service. He was willing to sell, and for a low price too, but I was a student with one Lotus already and just couldn't make it work. It looked like my dreams had stalled.
In early September, after I graduated high school, my mom told me to come outside with her. As I walked across the front lawn, my dad pulled up in the Esprit! They had gone ahead and purchased it, and I willingly agreed to sell Elite 107B and cash my savings to pay them back.
The Esprit lived within 2 miles of the dealership she came through until 2014 when she was sold to a very enthusiastic new owner Ben, an American living in Geneva, Switzerland! After a few years there, Ben sold 234T to a car enthusiast in France in 2017.
This Esprit S2 was signed off the production line in November, 1979, painted Monaco white with a black leather interior. It was first sold through Jim Loose Imported Cars, a dealership that also sold and repaired Aston Martins, Jaguar, Ferraris, Bentleys, etc. A number of early Esprits passed through Loose Imported Cars, and they also installed "factory authorized" sunroofs and A/C units on S1 Esprits, as none had factory air. Loose closed around 1990, and the dealership was torn down.
After leaving the lot, the Esprit racked up a mere 17k miles across the next 26 years!
The owner wasn't using the car much and it ended up in the hands of my mechanic at Burnett's British Auto Service. He kept it in his shop, and I drooled over it every time my Elite went in for service. He was willing to sell, and for a low price too, but I was a student with one Lotus already and just couldn't make it work. It looked like my dreams had stalled.
In early September, after I graduated high school, my mom told me to come outside with her. As I walked across the front lawn, my dad pulled up in the Esprit! They had gone ahead and purchased it, and I willingly agreed to sell Elite 107B and cash my savings to pay them back.
The Esprit lived within 2 miles of the dealership she came through until 2014 when she was sold to a very enthusiastic new owner Ben, an American living in Geneva, Switzerland! After a few years there, Ben sold 234T to a car enthusiast in France in 2017.
Life with 234T

So what is it like to have an ultra-rare exotic sports car?
Awesome. It looks great, is a blast to drive, responds quickly, can tear through corners with ease, is surprisingly easy to drive and civil in traffic, not to mention she attracts plenty of attention!
However, it isn't exactly a "real" car. It takes several minutes to warm up, you can only bring one friend along, the trunk space is very limited, visibility is moderate, and it is not designed for navigating parking lots, scrapes on driveways and SUVs seem terrifyingly large. I used the Esprit as my daily commuter for a week, and found it is much better as a weekend toy!
Awesome. It looks great, is a blast to drive, responds quickly, can tear through corners with ease, is surprisingly easy to drive and civil in traffic, not to mention she attracts plenty of attention!
However, it isn't exactly a "real" car. It takes several minutes to warm up, you can only bring one friend along, the trunk space is very limited, visibility is moderate, and it is not designed for navigating parking lots, scrapes on driveways and SUVs seem terrifyingly large. I used the Esprit as my daily commuter for a week, and found it is much better as a weekend toy!
Repairs and Maitenence

British cars have a bad reputation for electrical problems, leaking oil and being mechanically unreliable. Our Esprit hasn't been too bad, but she has had a few expensive visits to the mechanic.
In late '06 when the clutch slave cylinder went out, while driving on the freeway. We got her to the side of the road safely and had her towed to our British car mechanic. After driving her on a racetrack in mid '07, she started acting up and the ignition system had to be replaced. In 2009 we brought her in for a new timing belt, new brakes, a leak in the cam tower and alignment. July 2010 we had an exhaust leak fixed and both carburetors tuned, then a smog check in December.
In Sept 2011 the clutch pedal would only engage/disengage right off the floor so she went to Burnett's British Auto Service for a new clutch master cylinder, front tires and alignment. Everything was fine until late 2013 when she had clutch problems again! Barry from Spencer's Motorsports did top notch work getting her back on the road.
Even with a low mileage, good condition Esprit like ours, repairs, maitenence, registration, insurance and gas costs add up and the Esprit is not a cheap car to operate!
In late '06 when the clutch slave cylinder went out, while driving on the freeway. We got her to the side of the road safely and had her towed to our British car mechanic. After driving her on a racetrack in mid '07, she started acting up and the ignition system had to be replaced. In 2009 we brought her in for a new timing belt, new brakes, a leak in the cam tower and alignment. July 2010 we had an exhaust leak fixed and both carburetors tuned, then a smog check in December.
In Sept 2011 the clutch pedal would only engage/disengage right off the floor so she went to Burnett's British Auto Service for a new clutch master cylinder, front tires and alignment. Everything was fine until late 2013 when she had clutch problems again! Barry from Spencer's Motorsports did top notch work getting her back on the road.
Even with a low mileage, good condition Esprit like ours, repairs, maitenence, registration, insurance and gas costs add up and the Esprit is not a cheap car to operate!