88/89 Esprit Wanted to Buy

[Aussie Luke]

Gday All,
New to the Forum so hope you are all we..
I am after a Lotus Esprit to bring to Australia. Must be a car that is built prior to the 1/1/1989.
Preferable a turbo, and in good condition.
Many thanks in advance to those that can assist in pointing potential sellers my way.
cheers,
Luke
[e-mail]

[Tentenths]

Once you've looked at the relevant Pistonheads Classified Section pop over to the For Sale area on LotusEspritWorld.

Finally, you'll find quite a few Aussie Esprit owners and enthusiasts on LotusEspritForum. I'm sure they'd be delighted to help in any way that they could.

Edited by Tentenths on Friday 8th February 18:49

[Lawrence5]

Aussie Elise's (www.aussieelises.com) have some guys who can help with info on importation processes if needed

[Aussie Luke]

Thanks for the help guys. I used to live in the UK, and when we came back here, I brought my BMW and Kawasaki Ninja, so am familiar with the process of doing it.
I was hoping somebody knew of some cars for slae, as there are only a couple for sale on the website that fall into the category of what we are after.
Also - how much hassle is owning a turbo - vs non-turbo?
cheers,
Luke

[abrussich]

Luke,

F.Y.I. Turbo Esprits were built prior to the date you have listed. I have an 89 Turbo Esprit that has a 12/88 build date on it. A friend in Dallas has another that is six digits off in serial number.
No difference unless you are wanting an SE model.

[Aussie Luke]

Thanks
As mentioned, under the Australian legislation, only a car built before 1/1/89 can be imported
I am running up against a bit of opposition from the Australian Suthorities. The car must meet ADR guidelines for the year of manufacture. i.e. if I am inporting a 1988 car, then that car must meet the Rules here as they were in 1988. That means basically it has to be fuel injected and have a catalytic converter.
I think the US models had this but the UK models did not change until 1992.
Does anyone know any different?

[Tentenths]

UK SE's were equipped with both fuel injection and a cat, though production didn't start until April/May 1989.

[Kylie]

There are quite a few UK version 89SE's here in NZ with fuel injection etc. So how do you get on with newer cars over there? Can you import something with a lower build number to go under a different classification? Or a sad case of just buying new from a dealer.

[Aussie Luke]

I assume that the NZ cars were like Australian delivered (an Nth AMerican delivered) in the fact that they had to comple with emmission standards in 1988, and therefore were fuel injected.

Unless anyone knows someone selling a fuel injected model built before 1/1/89, then I guess I am out of luck.

I can import a car around 1985 with no real drama, but I like the newer shape.

There is a bloke here in Australia that is putting in a 3 litre v6 turbo (Nissan engine) into his esprit to get around the legislation. He is doing all of the engneering himself.

[Kylie]

No ours is not as strict as yours on the older cars and you can bring them in with carbies and decatted.
NZ is going in the other direction in the future and making it hard for all cars older than 2002 to get into the country for emissions control. That is one of the reasons why I sold my 89 Carbed Turbo to help fund my dream car before xmas just been. These laws may come into effect real soon so many people like myself are buying up while we can
So I take it you cant import from NZ either. Theres got to be a way around it so you can have a newer car surely. That sucks big time.

[LotusSE89]

The 1988 Esprit Turbo was BOSCH constant Injection

From http://www.espritfactfile.com/indexs.html

'88 Model Year Introduction October '87
Esprit (N.A.); U.K. & Export 85 D 3000, 85 A/E/G/H/S 1000
Esprit Turbo; U.K. & Export 82 D 3000, 82 A/E/G/H/S 1000
Esprit Turbo (H.C.P.I.); USA F - 2000
As prior '88 M.Y. cars except:

Peter Stevens designed body, Lotus O.Z. wheels, open back (N.A.) or glazed (Turbo) tailgate. Non-USA cars; Renault transmission. USA spec.: Citroen transmission (as prior '88), Bosch fuel injection.
'89 Model Year: October '88
Esprit (N.A.); U.K. & Export 85 D 3374, 85 A/E/G/H/S 1087
Esprit Turbo: U.K. & Export 85 D 3374, 85 A/E/c/H/S 1087
Esprit Turbo (M.P.F.I.); USA F - 2500
As '88 M.Y. cars except:

Heated door mirrors
Central door locking
Electric filler flap release.
USA spec.: Lotus/Delco multi-point fuel injection, Renault transmission.

[Tentenths]

Think that was US models only though, Travis.

My understanding is that Luke is hoping to import a UK car; pretty sure EFI on those wasn't introduced until 1989.

James

[mwmackenzie]

Did you not notice mine for sale luke? 88 turbo, heavily modified th a higher spec that an S4s, it was the grey one with the sport350 body and azev wheels V8 brakes etc...

Mark