1972   Esprit Concept car unveiled

The November Turin Motorshow in Italy saw the unveiling of the Lotus Esprit concept car on Giorgio Giugiario’s Ital Design stand. Colin Chapman had seen the potential for a future mid-engined Lotus to replace the ageing Europa, and brought the car back to Hethel after the show to start the development process.  Mike Kimberley and Tony Rudd led the M70 project, and the prototype work for the project took place at the recently purchased Ketteringham Hall.

(see picture “Esprit concept”)

1973/ 1974   Prototype vehicle development

These years saw the continued development of the Esprit with the first prototype vehicle running late in 1974.

1975   Paris Motor Show “Star of the Show”

With the development of the M70 Lotus Esprit Type 79 nearing the end, the first completed car was shown at the Paris Motor Show in October and was instantly awarded “Star of the Show”.

1976   Esprit starts production

In June 1976, the first Esprit came of the production line. The Giugiaro styled wedge shape exterior was the latest in modern design and philosophy. The great looks with stunning performance from the 160bhp 2 litre engine; its light weight together with the legendary Lotus ride and handling, projected the Esprit to Supercar status.

(see picture “Esprit S1”)

1977   “The Spy Who Loved Me”

In this year Lotus Cars and in particular the Esprit gained tremendous publicity with the release of the new James Bond film, “The Spy Who Loved Me”, with 007 emerging from the sea driving a submersible Esprit, arguably ‘one of the most famous car scenes of all time.’  In December the production of the S1 finished with 718 having been built

(see picture “Bond 1977”)

1978   S2 Esprit launched

The early part of the year saw the start of the production of the Esprit S2.  The development of the S2 had ironed out many of the problems associated with the S1 such as poor interior noise. Many detailed improvements including a new front splitter, rear valance, new rear suspension and a new camshaft offered improved performance raising the top speed.

(see picture “Esprit S2”)

1979   Celebrating Formula 1 success

To commemorate the 1978 Formula 1 World Drivers and Constructors Championships and the success of the F1 Type 79 100 Special Edition black and gold liveried Esprits were produced, each numbered sequentially.

1980   New Turbo Esprit

The start of the year saw the S2 fitted with the new type 912 2.2 litre engine.

Then, to every body’s surprise, a lavish party was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London during February to launch the new Turbo Esprit (Type 82).  The first 100 were painted in the Essex Petroleum (the F1 sponsors at the time) colour scheme of Red, Blue and Silver.  The Turbo Esprit was not a bolt-on turbo pack but was fitted with the new long stroke 910-turbo engine producing 210bhp.  The Turbo Esprit came with a new wrap around front bumper and new splitter, new rear spoiler and side skirts, and an improved backbone chassis featuring a redesigned engine bay.

(see picture “Essex Turbo & Turbo Esprit ”)

1981   The Lotus Esprit S3 announced

The Lotus Esprit S3 (Type 85) was announced to stand along side the Turbo Esprit. The S3 became an affordable Supercar, with a cost reduction of around 12% from the S2.2. The S3 had 76% of its components produced at the Hethel factory and carried over the efficient and effective S2.2 engine.

(see picture “Esprit S3”)

Once again the Esprit is the chosen car of 007 in the new James Bond film ‘For Your Eyes Only’. Bond took centre stage driving a fully equipped Turbo Esprit

(see picture “Bond 1981”)

1982 / 1983  Active Suspension for the Esprit

Lotus develops Active Suspension for the Esprit with ex F1 driver John Miles taking the wheel of the test car. This development was to pioneer the development of the 1987 Lotus active suspension Formula 1 car.

1984 –1986  Federalisation of the Turbo Esprit

S3 and Turbo production continues. With federalisation of the Turbo Esprit complete, 1427 Esprits were sold in these 3 years around the world.

1987   Introduction of the first Peter Stevens designed Esprit

This year marked the 21^st Anniversary of Lotus at Hethel.  This was celebrated by the introduction of the limited edition Turbo Esprit HC.  The 16 valve 2.2litre engine was uprated to High Compression (HC) giving 215bhp and a top speed of 152mph.  October saw the introduction of the first Peter Stevens designed Esprit.  Stevens was able to re-draft the basic shape of the Esprit to such an extent that the Esprit was given a new lease of life.

(see picture “Esprit Turbo”)

1988   Lotus 40^th anniversary

Lotus celebrated it’s 40^th anniversary and a limited edition of 40 Esprit Turbos (as they were now known) were produced.  The 40 cars were all painted in White Pearlescent paint with matching wheels, distinctive rear spoiler and blue interior.

1989   163 mph Esprit Turbo SE fitted

Lotus announced their fastest ever production car.  May 1989 saw the introduction of the Esprit Turbo SE fitted with the 2.2 litre 16 valve engine developing 264bhp, giving performance 0-60 mph in 4.7seconds and a top speed of 163 mph.

1990   Esprit goes racing in the USA

Lotus enters the USA SCCA Race Series with the type 105.  This heavily modified Esprit gained four victories and six pole positions in the eight races, finishing second overall in the championship.  In October Lotus Cars USA put twenty SCCA World Challenge Racecar Replicas known as the X180R up for sale, with a top speed of in excess of 160mph and a 0-60 of 4.7seconds

(see picture “X180 Race Car”)

1991   New vision

At the British Motor Show in October the Esprit range was shown with the new ‘High Wing’ which gave improved rear vision and the benefits of improved downforce. For this model the glass back was removed and replaced with an open tailgate with two oval vents on the engine cover, to reduce reward reflections and increase rear vision.

1992 Sport 300 hits the streets

Lotus unveiled their highest performance Esprit to date at the British Motorshow - the Sport 300. Developed from the X180R, this “race car for the road” offered a light weight body, race specification brakes, optional roll cage option and with 300bhp from the turbo and charge-cooled 2.2litre engine it was “at the time” the highest power/litre of any production car.

(see picture “Sport 300”)

1993   Lotus returns to Le Mans

Russell Carr, current Chief of Design at Lotus, showed his first major design project with the new face lifted Esprit S4. The S4 updates included power steering as standard.  Production of the Sport 300 production car began in May and Lotus returned to Le Mans in June with two Lotus Esprit Sport 300 racecars.  This was the first works supported Lotus entry at Le Mans since 1962.

 (see picture “Esprit S4”)

1994   Lotus Esprit S4s

The British Motor Show was the venue for the unveiling of the new Lotus Esprit S4s, with a 285bhp engine, new wheel and tyre package, uprated suspension and the rear wing from the Sport 300.

(see picture “Esprit S4s”)

1995   400bhp version of the Sport 300

Lotus announces it’s involvement in the GT2 category of the global endurance GT championship.  Team Drivers were Alessandro Zanardi and Alex Portman. This substantially new GT racer was based around a 400bhp version of the Sport 300 with its F1 style aerodynamics giving 30% more downforce than the road car.

(see picture “GT2 Race Car”)

1996   Lotus Esprit V8

The Geneva Motorshow in March saw the introduction of the Esprit V8. The Esprit V8 replaced the S4, S4s and Sport 300. The Lotus developed twin turbo 32 valve 3.5 litre V8 developed 350bhp and enabled the Esprit to hit 0-60mph in well under 5 seconds. The V8, meeting all global homologation would be the engine to take the Esprit into the new millenium. The GT3 was also introduced as an entry level Esprit.  This was a stripped down version of the S4 using a 2.0 litre version of the 4 cylinder chargecooled engine.

(see pictures “Esprit V8 & Esprit GT3”)

1997   V8GT adopted the spirit of the GT3

October’s London Motor Show saw the introduction of the V8GT.  This model adopted the spirit of the GT3 but with the V8 engine, and some of the luxury items of the V8 striped away, reducing the weight by around 50kg. All versions of the Esprit received a new style interior, including a new fascia with a smaller instrument binnacle, a new instrument layout to improve cockpit ergonomics and an all new heating and air conditioning system.

(see picture “Esprit V8GT”)

1998   The Sport 350 the most extreme road going Esprit supercar

The Birmingham Motor Show heralded the arrival of the Sport 350, the most extreme and focused development of the road going Esprit supercar ever to reach the market.  The Sport 350 made intelligent use of the highest specification materials and components to give the car a true competition feel. Upgrades included race specification brakes, carbon fiber rear wing and Magnesium wheels, with a top speed of 175mph.

(see picture “Sport 350”)

1999 The last four cylinder Esprit

With the introduction of new emissions legislation, the decision was made to remove the four cylinder Esprit from the line up and go forward with V8 models. To this date a total of 9186 four cylinder Esprits had been built.

2000   Lotus produces the 60,000th Lotus car

The new millennium broke two major milestones the manufacture of both the 60,000^th Lotus road car the 10,000^th Esprit.

2001   02MY Esprit released in November

The new 02MY Esprit was released in November with many improvements made to both the interior and the exterior including a redesigned rear light panel and light clusters adapting design elements used in the 2001 Elise.

2002   The Esprit reaches a milestone

The Esprit reaches a milestone in it’s illustrious history when it celebrates it’s 30^th birthday. The 2002MY Esprit would not only celebrate the 30years from concept but also, as importantly, celebrate 25 years of the Esprit in the important USA market. From the 1972 concept car to first production car in1976, through to the Esprit of today, the Esprit is universally accepted as being one of the world’s finest sports cars.

(see picture “Esprit 2002”)

2003   The end of the current Esprit

Lotus announces that the current Lotus Esprit will reach the end of its long and illustrious life in 2004. The last European version of the Esprit was sold in the middle of 2003

2004. The Last Esprit comes off the line

On 20 February 2004, after a build run of 10575 units, the last Esprit comes off the line. This car built for the USA market is finished in Saffron Yellow and marks the end of the legendary supercar. But fans and followers of Lotus need not be disappointed however as a new supercar is in development for release in a few years time.