Lot 113: Lotus Esprit Turbo

It may be hard to believe but it is 30 years since the Lotus Esprit hit the scene. Featured in the James Bond movie "From Russia with Love", the Giugiaro penned Esprit was way ahead of its time and a worthy replacement for the Europa Special. Despite the futuristic Giugiaro exterior, the underpinnings were pure Lotus with a steel backbone chassis, independent suspension all around and an off the shelf engine. In this case it was a Vauxhall unit of 1973cc, which grew in size to 2.2 litre and had a Turbo added in 1980.In 1987 Lotus releases the all new Lotus Esprit Turbo, which was designed by Peter Stevens. Code named X180, over £2 million was spent on the development and design of the car. Design work started in October 1985, and the new Lotus Esprit Turbo was launched in October 1987, with deliveries beginning almost at once. The new car was mechanically the same as the previous Turbo Esprit HC, other than the transaxle and gearbox. In place of the previous Citroen unit, Lotus fitted the Renault GTA transmission. The new gearbox also meant a change in the rear brakes. These became outboard, mounted on the cast alloy hub carriers. Inside the car there was more legroom, an updated instrument display, revised door panels and seats and better ventilation.This 1988 example of the 2.2 S2 Turbo, has covered only 52,000 miles in 19 years. It is finished in blue with magnolia leather and is described as being in excellent condition throughout.The car is offered complete with a number of previous MoT certificates, a service booklet containing 10 stamps and a file of invoices.