New Colin Chapman product in the family

So my Dad's been casually looking for an Esprit Turbo for some time. He's followed a few leads here and there but nothing came up with the exact specs he wanted in his price range, so he was just waiting patiently for the right car. He even flew over to the U.K. and met me at a big Lotus meet & show last April, and had a good look at a few over there, but ultimately didn't see the perfect one.

Anyway, on Thursday we talked on the phone and he mentioned he'd jotted down the number for a car he'd seen for sale in someone's driveway. Yesterday he went and looked it over, test drove it, and, to my surprise as he's usually pretty conservative about these things, bought it. It's... not an Esprit at all.

[record scratch]

He brought it home this morning. Here's the new family member:

Okay, so this is probably the closest thing to an Esprit that isn't actually an Esprit. If you didn't know already, John Z. basically handed these things over to Colin Chapman to develop and thus they share a lot of technology with their contemporary cousin... Similar backbone chassis, suspension, and fiberglass construction (albeit with a sexy stainless steel skin.) The main difference being a rear-mounted PRV V6 instead of a mid-mounted transverse turbo 4. This particular one has a Stage 2 tune from the new DMC in Texas (cams, port & polish, freer intake and exhaust, etc.) I haven't driven it yet - since it's 4000 miles away - but Dad said it goes pretty well. Everything works, it's complete, and in good condition, and he basically got it for a song - how could he not?

The annoying part is this year I invited the family over here for Christmas instead of visiting them at home. It sounded like a nice idea at the time, but now it's gonna be months before I get to take it for a spin!

Coooooool.

I hope that thing can do 88!

Seriously, I always liked them.. except for their choice of Drivetrain. I think LSx here is a win

It's the Lybians!!

Nice ride - it's a shining example of why reliable high feature cars don't work so well in the US. Everyone wants to buy new cars every two years, not hang onto the same one for 25.

Awesome! Time to slam it!

mad_machine wrote: I hope that thing can do 88! Seriously, I always liked them.. except for their choice of Drivetrain. I think LSx here is a win

From what I've read, the PRV was severely underpowered because they had to fit North American emissions equipment on it. I know the same engine has made 190+ HP in Euro trim in some versions of the Renault Alpine A310. The breather mods done to Dad's/our car (I'll be buying in as part owner ) should alleviate the original hampering somewhat, DMC claim 200 brake from this tune but that figure is somewhat disputed. Dad said it felt like it made ~160-170 by the butt-dyno. We're going to keep this fairly original so an engine swap won't be happening soon. It'll probably get lowered at some point though; the 4x4 federal springs look ridiculous, and suspension upgrades can easily be put back to stock if need be.

Upvoteplzkthxbye.

Sweet car! I thought that might be what it was when I saw the thread title

I've got a friend who picked one up cheaply a ways back, and has been working on rebuilding it into a driver. The engine is pretty much toast, and he hasn't decided whether to rebuild it (or replace with another PRV), or do an engine swap. He's got a spare 13B he keeps thinking about installing.

DukeOfUndersteer wrote: Awesome! Time to slam it!

Wow. That makes me a sad panda.

BTW, this car was purchased from the third girl on the right, who, as it turns out, is the granddaughter of former DMC president Don Lander. Strange but true. (Dad didn't mention she was a smoking hot rocker chick, geez!)

LOL - I used to listen to them back in college. 6 degress to John Z?

1.21 jiggawatts!

This is heavy!

The cliche of BTTF references w/ any DeLorean thread anywhere is starting to become a pet peeve of mine, but I digress...

Odd alternative for your Dad, but still very cool. This one recently blew my mind: 2JZ FTW ZOMG

http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7164689&postcount=564

That slammed Delorean has FAIL written all over it. Current trend of slammed cars is basically an Idiots game

gamby wrote: The cliche of BTTF references w/ any DeLorean thread anywhere is starting to become a pet peeve of mine, but I digress... Odd alternative for your Dad, but still very cool. This one recently blew my mind: 2JZ FTW ZOMG [...] http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7164689&postcount=564

Holy crap! That's gotta be a tight fit in there. Interesting that he mated it to the OE transaxle - not known for its robustness at all. Lotus used the same one in the V8 Esprit - scuttlebutt has it that they had to detune the engine because it originally made too much power and kept breaking them.

I'm going to get things thrown at me but I kinda like that slammed one. It looks ridiculous to drive but cool in a crazy late-'70s concept car sort of way. I do like his treatment of the front splitter and sideskirts.

gamby wrote: The cliche of BTTF references w/ any DeLorean thread anywhere is starting to become a pet peeve of mine, but I digress... Odd alternative for your Dad, but still very cool. This one recently blew my mind: 2JZ FTW ZOMG http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7164689&postcount=564

That is a cool as all get out. I would never run an engine without an air filter unless the owner insisted.

I'm so jealous my ears are ringing.

If there is one car that could cause me to rear end someone because I was staring at the car and not the road, it's a DeLorean.

The rear 3/4 view makes me weak in the knees.

Congrats on the new toy.

If my experience with a 1984 Volvo 760GLE means anything...

You'll soon begin hating that engine. It's the most awful, poorly designed, hard-to-work-on creature ever farted out of the womb of auto engine design.

I could be biased though.

The B28E version that was in this cursed Volvo ate camshafts, overheated, blew headgaskets, cracked heads and coughed injectors out of their worthless, spring-clip mounts.

I hope the version in the DeLorean is better. It's such a cool car.

Shawn

Jay wrote: BTW, this car was purchased from the third girl on the right, who, as it turns out, is the granddaughter of former DMC president Don Lander. Strange but true. (Dad didn't mention she was a smoking hot rocker chick, geez!)

That's an understatement. Kittie gets a lot of play on the rotation on my mp3 player!

Jay wrote: The main difference being a rear-mounted PRV V6 instead of a mid-mounted transverse turbo 4.

I thought the Esprits had their Slant 4's mounted longitudinally

I had to resist scrolling down as soon as I saw the picture loading..... it was well worth the bait and switch. I always liked Deloreans, even if they are odd little buggers. Gullwing doors never got the respect they deserve.

At least not many of the ricers ever figured out how to put gullwing doors on their civics.

The modded DMC... are the covered headlights and smooth panal where the grill goes a later addition from the factory or a modification by an owner? I think that part looks pretty good and makes the nose of the car look even wider and lower

Wow, very cool, Jay. Neat bit of history with the previous owner, too. Just please stay away from BTTF-themed custom number plates .

Also, I reckon the slammed one looks ace. For a car that never took off as a serious performance machine, but certainly does look the part, it seems appropriate.

Just a quick note esprit's were longitudinal engines all of them. Cool car have fun with it! there is a quite a devoted crown out on the west coast f you choose to pursue it.

I seem to recall spotting one at the Aspen LOG that was sporting a Lotus V8. I'll have to dig out my pictures.

Unfortunately, owning a Delorean is going to get you BTTF comments. That's just how it's going to work, like owning a Trans Am with a hood bird will get you Bandit comments or a '69 Charger will get you Duke comments.

Or a Miata will get you "flamboyant" comments