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Commemorative Edition 1988 Lotus Esprit Turbo - 1988 on 2040-cars

US $12,500.00
Year:1988 Mileage:43569 Color: Handles x
Location:

Scarsdale, New York, United States

Scarsdale, New York, United States

A rare opportunity to own number 36 of 87 Limited Edition Lotus Esprit Turbos produced in 1988 to commemorate 40 years of Achievement at Lotus. 
A huge Lotus fan, having owned an Elise and an Exige. I purchased this vehicle wanting to make it into a show car. 

The car has a tremendous amount of potential, but needs proper care and attention. Due to an unfortunate family matter, I cannot spend the time on it. But am excited for somebody else to do. 

It truly deserves a person and home to return it to realize it's potential.  One can look up this Limited edition on Barrett-Jackson Auction and they sell quite well. 
A recent example sold for $38,500. (One can do a search on Barrett-Jackson under these vehicles and you will see 3 or 4 that have sold over the last 5 to 6 years.) 

The status of the car is as follows: It starts up with no issues.  It does require a new battery. I used a jumper when starting it. 

It begins to smoke after a few minutes.  Some work likely needs to be done on the engine. My (master mechanic) who worked my Lotus Elise, and Lotus Exige, says the car doesn't require a lot but it does need some attention. 

I have video clips of the car starting and the engine running. I can send those. 

The paint as you can see is pretty good. There are areas where the clear coat is peeling.  Not sure it requires a respray. I really good detail, and a clear coat may make it look like it was straight from the factor. I haven't gotten it looked at by a body shop.  
The interior is also in ok condition. There are areas where the adhesive needs to be reapplied. It requires some care and attention, but it would come out looking quite good. 
Somebody with some time, a bit of 'know how' could make this a thing of beauty. 

I purchased a Certificate of Provenance from Lotus. That of course would come with the car.  I have included an excerpt below. I also have the original window sticker. (Listed for just over $70,000.) 

When I bought it, I also purchased some extra parts. I will list those below.  Those who know the Esprits know that these are valuable parts. 

As I want the car to go to a good home, and I don't have the time to dedicate to it, I am not asking a single dollar over what I paid for it. As mentioned, I have also not begun to do work on the car, or put additional parts into it. 
I have seen many seller want to get the value of the time, effort, energy, labor and parts they put into this car.  This is not the case. I am asking for simply the purchase price. 

It comes with a clear carfax, and I will pay to have it detailed before being shipped or picked up by you. 

In it's current state, it does start, and the electronics function, but it does not run. (As I haven't done anything do the vehicle since I bought it.)  I have been told that it would not take much to get it going. 
In full candor, I simply don't have the opportunity to focus on it. 
The car is sold as is, and I encourage people, if possible, to come and take a look at it. 

Extra Parts, followed by the excerpt of the certificate of provenance. Please call or write with any questions.  Also look at my feedback on eBay:

Parts: 
Lotus Car Dust Cover
Braided Metal Clutch Line
Braided Brake Lines x6
Rear hub bearings x2
Poly Bushings
Coilover kit
Exterior Handles x3 pieces
Extra Lotus Steering Wheel with accessories


------------------------------------------------------------


Thank you for your enquiry regarding your Lotus Esprit Commemorative Edition and please find enclosed your Certificate of Provenance, which provides details from the original build records when the car left the factory.

The VIN supplied for your Lotus Esprit was SCCFC20A8JHF62304 which can be broken down into the manufacturer identifier code (SCC=UK manufacturer, Lotus Cars Ltd.), the model type

{F=Esprit Turbo), the series (C=series 3), the ventilation option (2=heater and air conditioning), the engine type (0=type 910, 2.2 turbocharged), the restraint system (A=active belts), the check

digit (8), the mode! year (J=1988), the assembly plant (H=Hethel), the market the chassis is made for (F=USA 50 states), the market the engine was made for (6=USA 50 states, Canada &

Japan) and the serial number (2304). The original engine number was LP910 8804 24874 which can be broken down into the market the engine is destined for (L=USA 50 states, Canada & Japan), the engine equipment (P=high compression with A/C), the engine type

{910=Lotus 2.2 litre turbocharged), the engine build date (8804=1988, April), and the engine serial number (24874). The transaxle number was C5234.

The original body colour was pearlescent white, Lotus paint code P02. The interior was trimmed in limited edition light and dark blue leather with grey pigskin inserts and indigo blue carpets. As the car was a limited edition, the car came comprehensively equipped including the

following: strut mounted rear spoiler, removable glass panel roof, unique trim, pearlescent white all over (including body coloured sills and wheels), Sony I.C.E., illumination instruments changed from green to orange to match the I.C.E. system, polished wood (elm) instrument binnacle surrounds and Stirling silver fascia plaque. The car was signed from production on the 12th May 1988. The car was imported into the USA by Lotus Cars USA Inc. who would retain any further history. They have informed me that the selling dealer was Jim Marino Imports Inc. in Alhambra, CA who sold it to a customer in Los Angeles, CA on the 24th October 1988.

The 1988 model year was the first for the new Peter Stevens designed body. The Commemorative model was to mark Forty Years of Achievement at Lotus 1948-1988 and the only colour available was pearlescent white, there was meant to be 88, but I have only found records for 87 of them. The 1988 model year ran from serial number 2000 (October 1987) to 2479 (September 1988) with the serial number sequence being shared with the USA, Canada and Japan markets, so for clarification the following is based on serial number sequence and data available to date for the US 1988 model year cars only; Your car is the 262nd out of 395 cars (including 87 Commemorative models).

Your car is the 44th out of 88 cars in Pearl White (first engineering car was also in pearl white). Your car is the 43rd out of 87 Commemorative cars recorded. This differs from the edition number displayed on the window sticker which shows your car was number 36 of 88 cars as these are allocated independently from production and do not follow serial number sequence.

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Auto blog

Elon Musk buys James Bond's Lotus submarine, wants to install Tesla powerplant

Fri, 18 Oct 2013

Remember when we reported the long-lost-but-found-again Lotus Esprit submarine used in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me had sold at auction in London for $966,560 (well, $863,000 plus a 12-percent buyer's premium)? At the time, the buyer's identity remained a mystery, but Jalopnik has reported and confirmed that the man with money to burn is none other than billionaire Elon Musk, CEO of both Tesla Motors and SpaceX. What's even more shocking (maybe not for Musk) is that he wants to install a Tesla electric powertrain in it and make it transform into a road-going car.
The story of the submersible Lotus' journey from movie star to prized possession of the eccentric Musk is remarkable. After filming ended in the '70s, the car was shipped to Long Island, NY and placed in a storage container that was paid in advance by the studio for 10 years. After the money ran out, the contents of the container were sold off Storage Wars-style in 1989 and won by an area couple. It was shown in public on occasion throughout the years, but its value remained a mystery until the gavel fell in London last month. While far from the most valuable Bond car to be auctioned off (that honor goes to the Aston Martin DB5 used in Goldfinger and Thunderball, which sold for $4.6 million at auction in 2010), the Lotus submarine is definitely the most unique.
Also worth noting is that the Lotus sub is more than just a prop. Without the aid of CGI, the film's producers needed an actual submarine that looked like a Lotus Esprit, and so they hired a company called Perry Oceanographic in Florida to build it and hired former US Navy Seal Don Griffin to pilot the sub during the film.

Lotus spotted testing more extreme Elise on the Nordschleife

Tue, 19 Aug 2014

If we had a nickel for every version of the Elise that Lotus has rolled out over the years, we might actually have enough spare change to buy one ourselves. And we're not even talking about the entire separate models (like the Exige and Europa) that Lotus has based on the Elise's platform or the other automakers' cars (like the Tesla Roadster and Hennessey Venom GT) that have used the same. And now Lotus appears to be testing another one.
Spotted lapping the Nürburgring, what we're looking at here appears to be the track-bound Elise S Cup R, but our intrepid paparazzi by the side of the track tell us it's missing the switches for the battery isolator and fire extinguisher. In their place, this Elise is wearing an even bigger rear wing as part of an altogether rather aggressive aero kit - not to mention a rockin' matte red wrap.
All of these telltales make us think Lotus has something extreme in the works, and we could find out what exactly it is as early as the Paris Motor Show in October, so stay tuned and watch this space.

Lotus bows out of Paris Motor Show

Mon, 16 Jul 2012

The plan put forth by former Lotus CEO Dany Bahar was to explode the British brand into the high-dollar sports car segment and directly challenge its marquee names. The first explosion came with the surprise introduction of five concepts at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. What has continued to surprise, though, is that the explosions haven't stopped: parent company Proton has had troubles leading to a reworking of its Formula One involvement, its IndyCar effort has had a rough ride, Proton's sale to Malaysian conglomerate DRB Hicom led to a production stoppage, and while the company was reassured that it wouldn't be sold, Bahar was shown the door - along with four of those Paris concepts, as far as we can tell. Yet the company is still making highly regarded cars and going racing.
So it shouldn't be all that surprising that, according to a report in Car and Driver, Lotus won't be attending this year's Paris Motor Show at all. Lotus didn't have much to show off at the Geneva Motor Show or the New York Show as all development was halted for two months, and the new corporate owner and new CEO installed by that owner are still working through the details of its niche English property. We will hope this is nothing more than a step in the reorganization, and look forward to seeing the Hethel firm again in Los Angeles or Detroit.