The Roger Moore era of James Bond is best remembered for a raised eyebrow, a dry wit born of a drier and older skin than when Connery first got the gig – and an amphibious Lotus Esprit S1 that didn’t quite match the ‘elder statesman’ effect of Moore in the role. You may raise the question of just what demographic is best suited to a vehicle that effectively turns into a submarine, but this model didn’t have to be submerged to be sub-zero in coolness.
The Esprit was launched in October 1975 at the Paris motorshow, and went into production in June 1976, replacing the Europa in the Lotus model lineup. These first cars eventually became known as S1 (Or Series 1) Esprits. With a steel backbone chassis and a fibreglass body, the Esprit was powered by the Lotus 907 4 cylinder and was lauded for its handling, but perhaps lacked power somewhat. Lotus’ claim of 0-60 mph in 6.8 seconds and a top speed of 138 mph (222 km/h) may be thought of as optimistic - actual road test times indicated 0-60 mph in 8 seconds and a top speed of around 133 mph (214 km/h). Unfortunately, the marine performance of the car was unspecified; all we have on its multitasking abilities is the transition from land to sea vehicle in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me, which was as smooth as was to be expected for Q-branch. The car recently sold for £111,500 at auction, presumably complete with an array of aquatic accessories.
2012 ESPRIT
Fast forward through the Turbo Esprit, S3, a couple of redesigns, a V8, and we get to now – the preview to the new 2012 Esprit – a model that many were expecting to see launched in late 2009. The introduction of the new Evora put paid to that, however, but looking at the sketches the generally idea seems to be that it may well be worth the wait. That is until Lotus tells us that the fantastical apparition before our eyes only ‘might’ actually look like this, with Lotus insiders confirming that the images are not an accurate representation. It has not been the only delay. The model was originally due for sale in 2007, however, when Mike Kimberley took over Lotus as Chief Executive in 2006, he halted production of the Esprit, ordering new styling and engineering changes. He said "In my view, it wasn't a proper Lotus." The VVA platform will allow for a convertible version, which will increase market appeal and sales. Autocar Magazine predicted that the construction method will be so different and the level of design sophistication so much greater than the older Esprit, that the two would have little in common. Also the V8 engine will most likely come from BMW.
The model is to cost around £75,000 and will be made in England. The features? A similar aluminium bonded chassis technology to the Elise, but the car's platform will not be model specific, so it can be used for various Lotus models. This they have call VVA (Variable Vehicle Architecture). The powerplant is strongly rumoured to be the new BMW 4.4 twin-turbo V8, which is being tested in the Esprit mule, seen in Autocar magazine.
A MIXED RESPONSE
Since this is just a preview, conjecture is the only thing we can do, and there certainly has been a lot of that on the lotustalk.com forum. After an image is posted, one user notes: “The front end looks CGTish while the back is rather Lambo. Interesting”. Another writes: “This isn’t fooling me at all. The rear portion of the car is a Gallardo with an Elise-style fuel door slapped on it. The side intake below the door is straight from a Mucielago LP640, and the side mirrors are straight from a Spyker C8 with a little added exterior texture and look”. A couple see the car in the images as ‘gigantic and proportionless”. Amid the scattering of impressed posters drawn in by the sumptuous images is a sentiment of confusion, with the authenticity of some images under question and a lack of clarification as to certain specification aspects.
Indeed, there seems to have been so many false starts so far, that who knows what the car will look or drive like when it is finally unveiled in 2012. If it lives up to what may or may not be an accurate representation of its future form, we may have nothing to worry about.