Lotus Esprit S1
How The Spy Who Loved Me inspired Paul to buy and restore an Esprit
‘Iremember seeing the film and the Lotus really stuck with me even though I’m not a classic petrolhead – design interests me more than engineering. Regardless of the James Bond nostalgia and the fact it’s a supercar, to me the Esprit is art. It’s a beautiful thing that sits happily beside other beautiful designs, such as the Supermarine Spitfire.
I always wanted one of those, but it won’t fit in the garage.
‘I spent two years looking for the right car and found this one ten years ago, on a driveway in Bristol. First registered in September 1976, it was bought by the previous owner in
1982 and was laid up in 1989. It has a central ashtray, small pod wing mirror and green tonneau cover – all of which only the very early cars had.
‘Sadly, the car was in a bit of a state. The first job was to crack the body off the chassis and once separated, I set to work on the glassfibre tub. The process was neither quick nor pleasurable. In the end, I spent four years alone doing the bodywork.
‘The chassis was in equally poor condition at the rear, so I had to replace the rotten rear tubes and engine mounts. The top tubes always rot under the exhaust manifold, so I fabricated them using thicker metal. I even painted the insides and injected it all with wax.
‘I came close to selling it twice. It gets to a point when you’re doing endless work and it doesn’t look any different. I left the glassfibre repairs for six months to make sure the filler didn’t sink.
‘Painting a glassfibre car is very different. You have to be careful with the thinners on a car like this as they can fetch out any previous repairs. It took time to perfect the technique. One of the front wings had runs the whole way down, which led to hours of sanding it back. But I got it right eventually.
‘A previous owner had wanted to fit a Rover V8 but, fortunately, the car was sold to me with the original 2.0-litre four. Before refitting the engine, I stripped it and fitted many new parts, including liners, pistons, rings, shells, valves and valve guides. The original head had been skimmed to bits, so I sourced a new one in Coventry for a tenner!
‘As for the interior, I had a quote for the upholstery from a coachtrimmer but just couldn’t justify the £15,000 it was asking for. The cost of doing the interior was way beyond the value of the car at the time and since I wanted to do all of the work myself, that had to include the cabin.
‘Luckily, my wife Vanessa is quite handy with a sewing machine. Over many weeks, she did the lot using the original ( but mouldy) upholstery as a template. The result is stunning, with every panel perfect and to original spec.
‘It’s a great little sports car. It has its quirks, but the handling is sublime. My nerve goes long before the Esprit begins to twitch. It’s a special thing to drive.’