The interior is adorned with a sophisticated grey color scheme, enhancing the car’s refined and comfortable driving.

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Under the hood, our Esprit is powered by a turbo-charged 2.2-liter inline-four engine paired with a 5-speed manual transaxle. The vehicle’s dynamic capabilities are further enhanced by its factory 17-inch OZ 5-spoke alloy wheels, which not only add to its aesthetic appeal but also contribute to its agile handling. Additional equipment includes Brembo-branded brake calipers, a polished single exhaust outlet, Dunlop tires, and a rear spoiler mounted midway over the decklid.

The interior trim pieces have been tastefully covered with faux carbon fiber inlays, adding a modern touch to the classic interior design. Power windows and door locks, along with power mirrors, provide ease of use, and the air conditioning system ensures a pleasant cabin environment in all weather conditions.

This classic vehicle is also equipped with VDO instrumentation, a removable roof panel, a Sony radio, center console, pop-up headlamps and integrated fog lights.

This particular example comes with an owner’s manual, a valuable addition for those who appreciate the history and provenance of their vehicles. If you’re in search of a classic Esprit that combines elegance, optimal performance, and exclusivity, look no further than this British classic that is mechanically sound.

‘Simplify, then add lightness’ was the oft-stated philosophy of automotive design of Colin Chapman, the Lotus founder.

And Chapman’s legacy was immense. Although he unfortunately passed away in 1982 at 54, from a heart attack, he certainly played a large part in the provenance of this car. 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.

The spirit and the physical production of the Esprit began during Chapman’s lifetime, very much under his auspices. And the Lotus Esprit continued after the company maestro’s death, one of Lotus’s most long-lived models, a car with a 28-year production spell. 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.

And the list of classic cars from Lotus is virtually insurmountable: to the quintessentially rugged Lotus Seven, the Lotus Elite, the gorgeous Lotus Elan, and the space-age Lotus Europa was added the Lotus Cortina, which Jack Sears drove to the British Saloon Car Championship title, a feat repeated by Jim Clark in 1964 and Alan Mann in the 1965 European Touring car Championship. Lotus was also involved in Formula One racing, via Team Lotus, winning the Formula One World Championship seven times.

The first Formula One victory for the Lotus works team came when Innes Ireland won the 1961 United States Grand Prix. A year earlier, Stirling Moss had recorded the first victory for a Lotus car at Monaco in his Lotus 18 car entered by the Rob Walker privateer Racing Team.

In 1963, Jim Clark drove the Lotus 25 to a remarkable seven wins in the season and won the World Championship. And in 1965 Clark dominated again, six wins in his Lotus 33 gave him the championship.

The Lotus Esprit itself 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. Born in Garessio in Piedmont in north-west Italy, Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2002.

Significantly, the Esprit’s backbone chassis was later adapted to carry the body of the DeLorean car, another low-bodied, Giugiaro-drawn, sharp-creased, wedge-shaped sportscar design.

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.

All I know is that our Lotus Esprit S4 refreshes those parts of me that I didn’t even know existed.

-Alex Manos, Owner