Dany Bahar's Lotus Esprit For Sale
August 24th, 2012 12:21 PM
Share
Perhaps the final nail in the coffin for the Dany Bahar-era of Lotus; the company is auctioning off his 2003 Esprit, which was restored with a fresh engine, paint job and interior. A Brembo/AP braking system, a center exit exhaust and a bigger spoiler are among the unique touches on this 36,000 mile cream puff. For a man with such questionable judgement in business, his taste in cars is quite good.
Comments
Join the conversation
If his taste in car is so good, why does this Lotus look like the whelp of a Storm Trooper and a Pontiac?
Can someone from the B&B gallery comment on how good and durable that Lotus V8 engine really was? It must have cost a bundle to develop, but wasn't available for very long. The Esprit was very, very old by that time. Was it a good engine in search of a better car? The answer that the market gave was that it was not a good package.
I know that a family friend had one of these. He bought it used with very low mileage, and the engine needed to be replaced under warranty not long afterwards. According to readings from the boost gauge, and the fact that he said the new engine never felt as powerful as the original, he suspected that the previous owner upped the boost on it, which definitely could have played a role in the premature failure. While definitely less practical and reliable as a contemporary 911, I always wondered why you never saw more of these around. It was a very stylish car with lots of presence, IMO.
Wow...at first glance I thought I was looking at a Fiero with a body kit.