CLASSICS TO BUY NOW
WHY IT’S CHRIS HOPE’S PICK IT’S AN BRITSUPERCAR FROM THE PEOPLE FAMED FOR HANDING PERFECTION, FOR AFRACTION OF THE COST OF SIMILAR ITALIAN EXOTICS
The sharp lines that Giorgetto Giugiaro had penned for the original Esprit were more than a decade old by the time that this particular generation of Norfolk’s supercar was unveiled and had remained largely unchanged across three distinct series. So it’s a credit to Lotus’ in-house team and freelancer Peter Stevens that such bold steps were taken to re-invigorate the car for the Eighties.
Softer edges characterise the X180’s design, complemented by the use of Hethel’s clever Vacuum Assisted Resin Injection production technique that increased the car’s torsional rigidity.
Tactile steering and superb handling characterise this Esprit as much as all others, serving to demonstrate how satisfyingly intuitive and neutral the best midships can be. The Type 910 and 910S (turbo) engines were carried over now mated to a Renault 25-derived transaxle replacing the old Citroën SM gearbox. An X180 Turbo is fractionally quicker than its shovel-nosed S3 predecessor in a straight line, managing the 0-60mph dash in 5.1 seconds; it’s also a tenth of a second quicker than a Ferrari Testarossa, too.
The big difference between this and earlier Esprits, though, is that it feels tauter and better planted to the road. There’s marginally more space inside and the cabin has a new-found plushness with a profusion of soft Connolly leather and suede inserts.
Savvy buyers who can eject the James Bond/Roger Moore connotations from their mind and get more into the Richard Gere mindset of being taken for the ride of their life by Julia Roberts in the film Pretty Woman also stand to benefit. The X180 is the ‘affordable’ Esprit, offering key benefits over the earlier models while being up to half the price of the best S1s.
The most recent X180s to sell at auction suggest that these Esprits can be even greater value for money than we’re suggesting here. Manor Park Classics hammered one away for £18,688 in December while Mathewsons sold one for £19,350 last July. Both were naturally aspirated so there’s definitely provision for top-quality examples of those aforementioned Testarossa-thumping Turbo SEs with our budget here.
Best of all, there’s nothing in the most recent set of auction results to suggest that prices are going to skyrocket any time soon. If anything, things have looked relatively stable post-Covid, so there should be no great fear of losing out if you’re looking to move it on.
