1985 Lotus Esprit

1985 Lotus Esprit

The Lotus Esprit was a sports car built by Lotus from 1976 to 2004. The Silver Italdesign concept that eventually became the Esprit was unveiled at the Turin motor show in 1972, and was a development of a stretched Lotus Europa chassis. It is held to be among the first of designerGiorgetto Giugiaro’s “folded paper” designs. Originally, the name Kiwi was proposed, but in keeping with the E naming format of Lotus tradition, the name was changed to Esprit.

In 1980 the first factory turbocharged Lotus, the Essex Esprit was built, and these special editions were superseded by a production turbo car. The new turbocharged engine was known as the 910 type, and produced 210 horsepower, with an impressive 200 lb ft. of torque. 0-60 mph could be achieved in the low 5 second range, with a top speed of over 150 mph.

Performance improvements were coupled to a revamping and strengthening of the rear suspension, where an upper link was added to alleviate strain on the halfshafts, along with brake improvements (with the front suspension upgraded again in 1985). Turbo cars are recognized by an aerodynamic body kit with a ducktail spoiler and boxy bumpers, with more and larger ducts all around. A Lotus Esprit was driven by Roger Moore in the James Bond movies The Spy WhoLoved Me (1977) and For Your Eyes Only (1981).