Junkyard Find: 1978 Lotus Esprit

by Murilee Martin

September 11th, 2012 9:00 AM

In all my years of crawling around in high-turnover self-service wrecking yards, not to mention old-timey slow-turnover wrecking yards, this is the first Lotus I’ve found. And it’s not just some boring Eclat— it’s a genuine mid-engined Elite! Granted, it’s been picked over pretty thoroughly…

Someone with a Sawzall got most of the fiberglass body, but you can see hints of Lotus-ness here and there.

Thanks to all the valueless Jensen-Healeys out there, the Lotus 907 engine isn’t difficult to find these days. However, the transaxle in this car might be worth pulling.

Veglia gauges with what I assume are Lucas Electrics components— such a reliable combination!

#1970s #1978 #1978LotusEsprit #BritishSportsCars #California #DownOnTheJunkyard #Esprit #Junkyard #JunkyardFind #Lotus #Malaise #MalaiseEra #LotusEsprit

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2 of 19 comments

StaysCrunchy on Sep 14, 2012

I'll get me mechanic, Ed, to work on the oily bits straight away.

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And003 on Sep 17, 2012

I wonder if the chassis is salvageable and restorable. If it is, this car would be a perfect candidate for custom coachwork.

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