1977 LOTUS ESPRIT S1,BARN FIND 100% COMPLETE RUNNING & DRIVING CAR,HARD TO FIND! Up for sale is a 1977 Lotus Esprit. This is a very rare and hard to find S1 first generation car made famous by the James Bond movie "The spy who loved me". This Esprit is basically a barn find and has been sitting tucked away in a garage since 1997 when it was last registered. First and foremost this car seems to be 100% stock and complete but I am not a Lotus expert however so please don't critique it.
To start with, his Esprit was originally yellow and appears to have been repainted one time and changed to red. There are no signs of any collision damage or previous repairs of any kind. the body is in great shape. It needs a new front bumper for sure and this one is totally dried and cracked up. The Windshield had a chip at the bottom of the windshield since I bought it 3 years ago but I just moved the car after sitting and it cracked, o it needs a new one for sure. The headlights can be raised manually from the override knob on the motor and if you jump one of the relays on the motor they will close by themselves so they function just not correctly and needs to be fixed. The paint is shiney but has many minor blems and cracks and would certainly benefit from fresh paint. The right side mirror is missing.
The interior appears to be all original and in pretty good shape. Both electric window motors function but need quite a bit of help going up. All of the electrical includint all thelightsin the car seems to work fine. I have not driven it more then 100 feet so am not 100% sure if all the gauges work. It had the speedometer and tachometer replaced at some point because I have the original ones in a box. It shows around 23,000miles on the original speedo and 400 on the new one. I imagine that could be correct be cannot verify it. The radio works but is security locked and I don't have the code so that probably needs to be updated anyway.
Mechanically it starts up and runs well, specially considering it sat for many years. It leaks oil really bad when running, ostly from the cam seals. It has gotten worse since I have owned the car and now it seems to leak all the time, unning or not. I have driven it around my yard and the transmission shifts into the gears with no problem. After sitting in my shop for 3 years, ow the front brakes are binding and I am sure need to be rebuilt. The tires are probably 30 years old and need to be replaced. It has all 5 original wheels and they are in good shape. It even has the original airbox and tubes directing air into it, hose seem to always be missing.
If you have any questions, lease do not email me, would much prefer a phone call to discuss it. I get overloaded with emails and may not respond very quickly in general. Pleae call Randy at 480-206-1701 with any questions.