But unfortunately Chapman passed away in 1982, aged 54, from a sudden heart attack.

Buyer / Seller Questions? 310-975-0272

Yet Colin Chapman’s legacy was immense and he certainly played a large part in the provenance of this car, this ’97 Lotus Esprit. By the time he died, the production side of Lotus Cars had built tens of thousands of relatively affordable, cutting edge sports cars. And Lotus was one of but a handful of English performance car builders still in business after the industrial decline of the 1970s.

After that epic run, the Esprit was one of the last cars manufactured with pop-up headlights, together with the 5th generation Chevrolet Corvette.

The Esprit was a sports car built by Lotus Cars from 1976 to 2004 at their factory in Hethel in England, in the eastern county of Norfolk: the Lotus nucleus had been set up on a former USAAF World War 2 base, the headquarters for the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing of the 2nd Bomb Division – the runway was used by Lotus for car test runs.

The Esprit had a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout and was among the first of the almost straight-lined, hard-edge creased, and sometimes wedge-shaped, polygonal ‘folded paper’ designs of the prolific, and highly successful Italian industrial and automotive designer Giorgetto Giugiaro.

The Lotus Esprit received its first significant restyling by designer Peter Stevens, who also did styling on the McLaren F1. Stevens gave the Esprit overall softer lines and shapes, but the car did not get a new series number – it is instead often just called the ‘Stevens Esprit’, or by its project number, the X180, made from 1988 to 1994.

In 1994, an official Series 4 Esprit, drawn by designer Julian Thomson, had a further rounded shape, especially the bumper sections and lower body of the car. Styling-wise, this became the most long-lived Esprit (1994–2004), only receiving its last changes, by Russell Carr in 2002.

The car boasts a sleek and timeless design that is sure to turn heads wherever it goes.

It comes equipped with a 5-speed manual transmission, V8 engine, four-wheel disc brakes, pop-up headlights, fog lights, side marker lights, fender-mounted antenna, rear spoiler, 18-inch alloy wheels, Michelin tires, and a full-size spare tire. Featured amenities include air conditioning, power mirrors, power windows, power-adjustable sport seats, 4-spoke steering wheel, center console, sun visors, analog clock, and a Pioneer radio with a remote.

Notably, the car that we have on sale is the truly power-packed edition of the Lotus Esprit. Over the years, the performance of the Esprit’s 4-cylinder engine was increased from around 150 PS (148 hp; 110 kW) and just under 200 N⋅m (148 lb⋅ft) of torque, to double those power figures, mainly through greater inlet and exhaust flow, and strong turbo-charging. And from 1996, a new 3.5 L (214 cu in) V8 twin-turbo engine was added, offering 355 PS (350 hp; 261 kW). Contrary to a long list of low-volume British (sports) cars, with the 3.5 l Rover V8 engine, the Esprit received a Lotus in-house designed V8. Top speed rose from some 214 km/h (133 mph) in 1976, to over 280 km/h (174 mph) for the V8, twenty years later.

Colin Chapman may not have been with us by the time this highly puissant Esprit was produced.

But it stands as an utterly fitting tribute to a magnificent man, an innovator and producer of absolutely marvelous driving machines.

-Alex Manos, Owner