1988 Lotus Esprit

Coupe

4 - Cyl.

Manual

SCCFC20A7JHF62052

Gasoline

Up for sale is an '88 turbo Lotus Esprit. It was the first year of the Stevens designed Esprits...more rounded, stronger fiberglass, making the interior ride quieter. Here's the story on this one. About 12 years ago, a guy in Houston dropped the car off to be painted. Tax problems forced him to leave the country without paying for the work. While sitting waiting for the paperwork to get resolved, the car wouldn't start. It was then sold to a gentleman in Ky. He bought it non-running and had it covered in his garage for 10 years before selling it to me. During that 10 years he tinkered with it off and on, installing a new clutch and slave cylinder, timing belt done. The gas tanks were taken out and the inside coated. A Seatrab oil cooler was installed. A new fuel pump and tons of other little things were also done. I have the receipts for all of this. He had another Esprit and after never getting this one to start, decided to sell it..Thats when I bought it....and broke the number one rule when looking to buy one of these cars...NEVER BUY A NON-RUNNING ESPRIT. As you are about to see, the potential costs in time and money to get it running can eat you alive. At any rate, when the car arrived, I was beyond excited. The paint is unbelievable. It didnt look any better from the factory. It was a testiment to the preparation put in prior to painting that nothing had bubbled up in the ten years since it had been done. The rubber around the windows, doors, trunk and lights are new looking and feeling. A new carpet set had been installed with custom floor mats. The seats and dash have no tears and again look new. I immediately had the car put into the shop for repairs. Over $5,000 later it emerged running. All of the injection system had been gone through and rebuilt, electric window motors installed and headlight fixed. However, on my first drive, the tach stopped working, the speedo went all over the place and the turn signals acted up. I was so ticked off, I threw a tarp over it and started it once a week to keep the fluids moving. Then one day I was talking to the head bus mechanic where I worked and mentioned the Lotus. Turned out, he was familiar with them as years earlier he had worked at an exotic car repair shop. He agreed to take on the project of fixing the electrical issues. Another tach, turn signal switch, emergency flasher switch, electric door acuaters, and speedo cable were installed. It now has all of those things working. The heater fan worked when I started it this morning but doesn't now... LOTUS..Don't know why...The radio is horrible, and should be replaced. The lights and windows work .The AC needs charging. During all this time, I lost the entry key to the door. Another one will need to be made. So that you don't lock yourself out, as the mechanic did, the power door actuaters have been unhooked. All the broken and loose wires, along with the grounding blocks have also been done. The car runs great. I've had it for a year and a half, driven it less than 50 miles, and I'm frankly "over" it . I've moved on to another car and rather than let it sit and have the same things go wrong from lack of use I'm selling it. The car has less than 50 miles on the timing belt/clutch injection system reapirs etc. All of the expensive major maintence repairs have been done and are good for another 30k miles. The tires are good and it has a new battery. The car looks like it just came of the showroom floor and turns heads and stops traffic any time it is on the road. You will never park it anywhere without someone coming up to you and asking about it.T The reserve is less than the receipts. I have a folder of receipts for all of the above mentioned work and parts. Please don't bid on the car unless you can pay for it. eBay charges for the sale. If you don't have a few prior history bids, (5) you will need to contact me first. I'm open to any reasonable offer. My wife wants a Triumph TR6 or a Ferrari 308 replica so those are the only two cars I would take on a trade. The car is located very near Charlotte, NC for easy access shipping. Good luck bidding......