Howdy,
Nearly two weeks ago, the Horseless Carriage van backed into my
cul-de-sac to deliver a '93 Lotus Turbo Esprit into my driveway. It
turned into a slight car show. First, a red late 60's Aston Martin
DB5 (my father wasn't entirely sure on the identification of the car...)
backed out of the van. Next, my red Lotus. Ground clearance will be
quite the problem. We had to stack a set of 2x6's at the end of the
ramp to prevent the air dam of the car from dragging on the ramp.
Suspended above my car, was a nicely preserved '69 Dodge Charger.
Words cannot describe the inherent beauty of the car. Nor can a
simple picture. (I do plan on uploading a GIF or two onto Hoosier
in a couple weeks...) Simply put, it is definitely *exotic*!!
After 110 miles later, I am still surprised at the handling and
general driving characteristics of the car. I have driven many
sports cars in the US$20k to US$40k range, including a '91 300ZX
and a mid 80's 944. As my boss adroitly stated, it was hard
for him to view his '92 RX-7 as a true sports car; and he only
has ridden in the passenger seat of the Lotus for 5 miles. Don't
get me wrong, I am not putting down these cars and I still love my
'89 Shelby Daytona! The main point here is that this is one
of two really expensive cars (the other being my father's Lexus LS400),
where I felt the car was really worth the extra price differential.
When the warranty expires in two years, I may have another view!! :^)
The car arrived with a non-operative horn. Actually the 'D' note
horn works, but the 'E' note horn is broke. Quite the disappointment
to only hear the air compressor doing its thing, when I expected an
exotic shrill horn!!
The good news is that Lotus, USA quickly got in touch with me to fix
it and has indicated their availability in helping out with future
maintenance issues. I live in Boise, ID; about 400 miles from the
nearest Lotus dealership and factory service department. I applaud
their efforts in extending their support in a special case.
I am eagerly looking forward to gently probing the car's limits when
I have completed the 1,500 mile break-in period (around October).
Please post followups with references to any exotic or Lotus-specific
mailing lists!! I have enjoyed the past two weeks of reading the digest
about my car's cousins. It has piqued a desire to buy a little MG or
Triumph!
Brian Wertz | txaggie.boi.hp.com | HP Disk Memory Division | Boise, ID
'89 Dodge Shelby Turbo Daytona
'49 Plymouth (only 60k miles!)
'93 Lotus Turbo Esprit
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