ESPRIT DE CORPS
The Lotus Esprit proved to be such a fundamentally excellent design that its production run spanned four decades. The idea was actually first put forward in 1970, that a midengined car with a wedge-type shape might replace the Europa, but the limited resources at Lotus kept a lid on the pace of development and then a dive in the Lotus finances in 1974 delayed things further. Loyal fans were patient, though, and excited about the car that had already been previewed as an Ital Design ‘exercise’ at the 1972 Turin Motor Show.
The Lotus Esprit was officially unveiled in 1975. It was built on a steel chassis with a new twin-cam four-cylinder engine purpose-built by Lotus, finished off with a lightweight glassfibre body designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Ital Design. The engine was already familiar to Jensen Healey owners, making 160bhp and 140lb. ft of torque, and was put through a Citroën five-speed gearbox. The Esprit weighed less than 1000kg, and performance was a claimed
