2003 Lotus Esprit V8 SE 'Facelift'

In 2002 the Lotus Esprit reached a milestone in its illustrious history. Unveiled in 1972 as a styling concept at the Turin Motor Show, the Esprit entered production in the mid-1970s, and today is accepted as being one of the world’s finest supercars. To celebrate 30 years of this performance car, Lotus gave the Esprit a facelift as Russell Carr, Chief of Design at Lotus explains:

"The Lotus Esprit is an iconic design, a classic blend of traditional supercar razor sharp edges combined with design elements that have evolved over three decades. Therefore, we decided not to change the car dramatically for 2002 as this would be changing the true spirit of the Esprit, a classic supercar."

The resulting car was known as the 'Facelift '02 V8' in the UK. The redesigned rear panel and light cluster, which featured round rear lights set in pairs, carried over some of the (then) new Elise design elements and the front inherited the lip spoiler from the legendary Sport 350. The new high-backed seats featuring an embossed Lotus logo were available in two-tone leather and a distinct aluminium-theme was evident throughout the interior providing an elegant, technological, lightweight finish to the gear lever, handbrake sleeve, inner door panel and new inner door sill which also displays the Lotus logo.

New ‘Crystal Titanium’ finish, multi-spoke, OZ Racing alloy wheels hide powerful 4-pot calipers with an advanced Kelsey Hayes ABS system. Large 320mm diameter AP Racing two-piece brake discs are vented and cross-drilled, front and rear, for maximum cooling and heat dissipation and the race-specification calipers, pads and discs ensure that the Esprit stops as well as it goes. The new model continued to be powered by the Lotus-designed 3.5-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 producing 350bhp at 6,500rpm.

The car presented here is one of these last-of-the-line/’facelift’ V8 SE (2003 model year) examples, being a UK-supplied right-hand drive example, with just 18,588 miles (only 1,500 miles covered in the last six years) and only two previous owners, having previously been part of a small private collection. According to its accompanying Lotus Certificate of Provenance (see image), it was manufactured on 31st January 2003 in striking (and extremely rare) Laser Blue metallic (B85) paintwork with a Light Blue and Stone leather interior; this example represents the absolute best-of-breed of this small and exclusive last production run of the Esprit.

It was sold new via White Dove Garages Ltd. (Lotus) in Cardiff to its first local owner, and was purchased by our vendor just 18 months ago and has recently been fully serviced, including a new fuel pump and gasket. The car has very impressive service history (see images), summarised here:

• 12 Feb 2003 - First Registration
• 26 Jun 2003 - Service - Lotus Main Dealer - 1,438 miles
• 19 Aug 2004 - Service - Lotus Main Dealer - 4,990 miles
• 04 Mar 2005 - Service - Lotus Main Dealer - 5,590 miles
• 27 Jun 2006 - Service - Lotus Main Dealer - 7,090 miles
• 24 Aug 2007 - Service - Lotus Main Dealer - 8,423 miles
• 13 Mar 2010 - Service - Lotus Main Dealer - 11,268 miles
• 21 Nov 2011 - Service - Lotus Main Dealer - 12,457 miles
• 07 Jan 2014 - Service - Independent Dealer - 13,201 miles
• 27 Jan 2015 - Service - Independent Dealer - 17,381 miles
• 18 Oct 2016 - Service - The Supercar Rooms - 18,531 miles
• 28 Feb 2022 - Service (inc. cam belt) - The Supercar Rooms - 18,569 miles

Also included in its history file is a letter from Lotus (see image) documenting the details denoted by the chassis/engine numbers, this car's exact specification and also giving information about how many of these final Esprits were made and in what specifications.

These late-model Esprits are the last true analogue supercars of the 1990s/2000s, and this example represents a real high-tide mark in terms of model-evolution. These final models are held in the same regard as the rare Esprit Sport 300, with Silverstone Auctions achieving over £60,000 for a 50,000-mile example in 2022, and consequently we feel that this low-owner, full service history, 18,500-mile car is an opportunity not to be missed.