The Lotus Esprit was a sports car built by Lotus in the United Kingdom 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.
Turbo and S3 Esprits (1980 - 1987)
Essex Turbo Esprit
In 1980 the first factory turbocharged Esprit was launched. Initially, this was another special edition model commemorating F1 ties and reflecting current sponsorhip, this time in the blue, red and chrome livery of Essex Petroleum, and is therefore known as the Essex Esprit. The new turbocharged dry-sump type 910 engine produced 210 hp (157 kW) and 200 lb·ft (270 N·m) of torque. 0-60 mph could be achieved in 5.6 seconds, with a top speed of over 150 mph (240 km/h).
V8 (1996)
The Esprit V8 used Lotus' self developed type 918 3.5 L twin turbo engine, in front of the same Renault transmission as before. Derek Bell developed an uprated gearbox that overcomes a lot of the gearbox problems with a much thicker single piece input shaft Power was up to 355 bhp (265 kW/360 PS), however the capability of the 918 engine was limited by the fragility of the Renault transmission. Zero to sixty miles per hour came in under 5 seconds. Some examples of the engine are noted however to suffer from a leaking cylinder liner problem.
Lotus Europa
The Lotus Europa or Lotus Europe was a two door mid-engined GT coupé built by Lotus Cars from 1966 to 1975. In 2006 Lotus began production of a totally new, Lotus Elise-derived design, a mid-engined GT coupé named Europa S.
The Europa was designed and built to be an embodiment of Chapman's oft-stated philosophy of automotive design: "Simplify, then add lightness."
Lotus Elan
Lotus Elan is the name of two convertible cars and one fixed head coupé produced by Lotus Cars. The original Type 26, 26R Racing version, 36 Fixed Head Coupe, 45 Drop Head Coupe, and the "Type 50" +2 Coupe, circa 1962 to 1975, are commonly known as the '60s Elans. The Type M100 from 1989 to 1995, is also commonly known as the 1990s Elan.
Lotus Seven
The Lotus Seven was a small, simple, lightweight two-seater open-top sports car produced by Lotus Cars (initially called Lotus Engineering) between 1957 and 1972.
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