1993 Lotus Esprit 2.2 Turbo S4

The Lotus Esprit was built by Lotus between 1976 and 2004, as well as a future release in 2014. The silver Italdesign concept that eventually became the Esprit was unveiled at the Turin Motor Show in 1972 as a concept car, and was a development of a stretched Lotus Europa chassis. It was among the first of designer Giorgetto Giugiaro's polygonal "folded paper" designs. Originally, the name Kiwi was proposed, but in keeping with the Lotus tradition of having all car model names start with the letter "E", the name became Esprit.

In 1993, another exterior and interior revamp of the car resulted in the S4 which was the first model to include power steering. The exterior redesign was done by Julian Thompson, which included a smaller rear spoiler placed halfway up the rear decklid. Other major changes were to the front and rear bumpers, side skirts and valence panels. New five spoke alloy wheels were also included in the redesign. The S4 retained the same horsepower as the SE at 264 hp.

The Esprit is well remembered as the Bond car of choice in the 1977 film "The Spy Who Loved Me" and the chassis number of this particular Esprit ends with 007!

Purchased by our vendor in 2013 and offered genuinely due to lack of space. The previous owner bought the car in 2001 from CD Bramhall, Milton Keynes, the invoice states a mileage of 23,800. In the following 12 years this low mileage example has covered just a further 12,350miles to show a total at time of cataloguing of 36,153miles.

A comprehensive history accompanies the car and the original service book verifies the mileage to 2001 with receipts for service and MoTs since then. Within the last 2000 miles the clutch has been replaced along with the belts.

Externally the vehicle is excellent and the original Jupiter Red paint retains its depth and shine. Unlike other examples the Beige leather is still soft and in very good condition whilst the large dash has not succumbed to sun damage like so many others. Supplied with a current MoT and Tax the car is ready for the successful new owner to drive from the auction, safe in the knowledge that four new tyres were fitted within the last 100 miles.

A true sports car from a great British marque at a very reasonable guide.