Colin Chapmans Esprit?

[Dodgey_Rog]

I seem to recall reading about this car somewhere, the owner had collated alot of info on it, apparently its got a blue printed engine, some aerodynamic modifications and also some other special tweaks because it was once used by Colin Chapman;

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1131943.htm

Anyone know the story behind it?

[LotusExcelSA]

well I can never recall a S3 Turbo having a black printed engine, I think all 2.2 engines were printed red

and it was fitted with Power steering, a very rare mod (and I've heard it can be expensive)

[GKP]

I thought all G Turbos had black detailing on the engine? The red bits didn't happen until S cars, did it?

As for the power steering, that's the whole point of this car. It was used as an experiment for factory pas, pre-dating the factory fitted stuff by about 10-12 years.

[Bazza 2174]

In 1987 for the HC and the HC Turbo Lotus painted the cam covers red

[Dodgey_Rog]

Bazza 2174 said:

In 1987 for the HC and the HC Turbo Lotus painted the cam covers red

For some, the last great Esprit, although the Stevens was a vast improvement on driveability. But, i've always hankered after a late HC, gutted i missed out on the Royal version that Strattons had, that would have been perfect!

[beano700]

I think you all need to read up on the Esprit history.Also a 'blue printed' engine is not one that has been painted blue!
All HC engines were with red cam covers.Oh and as for driveability, they are all superb.

[Dodgey_Rog]

beano700 said:

I think you all need to read up on the Esprit history.Also a 'blue printed' engine is not one that has been painted blue!
All HC engines were with red cam covers.Oh and as for driveability, they are all superb.

Thats not what i meant when i was referring to the engine, merely that it was a special engine that may have been tweaked via another department for the old man.

[GKP]

And I'd disagree about driveability across the range. The carb versions are fine, the V8s are great. The fuel injected fours are a bit rubbish at going slowly.

[Bibs_LEF]

^ He means it too!

[Dodgey_Rog]

GKP said:

And I'd disagree about driveability across the range. The carb versions are fine, the V8s are great. The fuel injected fours are a bit rubbish at going slowly.

I suppose its what you prefer at the end of the day, horses for courses and all that.

[WayneB]

I know a bit about this particular Esprit.

It was indeed Colin Chapmans personal Turbo Esprit in 1982 and most of the modifications were made at his behest as improvements to the car to better suit his busy lifestyle.


It has a one off hydraulically assisted steering that was special to this car.

The pump was driven off the exhaust cam using components that had been developed for the Federal USA Turbo Esprit that used an air pump mounted in the same location of the power steering pump on this car. I think the main reason for this power steering modification was that like most 80's business men, he (Mr.Chapman)used a huge heavy cell phone and because of that tended to drive one handed most of the time when on the phone.

The Aerodynamic Improvements were nothing more than extra weatherstripping around the side glass to cut down on wind noise.

The HVAC system was fitted with a cabin filter to reduce the amount of pollen entering the cars interior.
Colin Chapman suffered badly from Hay Fever and this mod made the car more comfortable for him to drive.

The engine was also fitted with a sheild in between the cam towers to prevent water from running down on to the plugs in wet weather and causing a missfire.

Its a beautiful car, I'm glad to see its still in such great condition.

Wayne

[f1rob]

might of been his car but he didnt use it a lot 99% of the time would see the old man in a merc an he didnt do a lot of driving as he had his own chauffer and his own pilot
know the esprit let him down an there were words along the lines of "get that fking thing out of my sight"
the old mans garage at kett hall had quarry tiles an even 1 drop of oil would set him off so dont think the esprit was to popular on that front either !

[RW774]

Blimey Rob, he must have had several breakdowns with that floor. My experience of lotus , like Jaguar ,only stopped leaking oil when they were empty

[Pat H]

RW774 said:

Blimey Rob, he must have had several breakdowns with that floor. My experience of lotus , like Jaguar ,only stopped leaking oil when they were empty

Yep, like British bikes from the 1960s and 70s.

You started to worry if they didn't leak, cos it meant that there was nowt left.