Tag Archives: Giugiaro

Basic Instinct Pretty Woman – Lotus X180 Esprit Turbo

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Having been taken over by General Motors in 1986 the future of Lotus Cars was more secure than at almost anytime in the manufacturers history. Prior to the take over Peter Stevens had been employed to revamp the sharp edged Giugiaro styled Lotus Esprit, which had been in production since since 1975, around the chassis of the existing Series 3 Esprit under the project name X180.

Lotus Esprit Turbo, Classic and Sports Car Action Day, Castle Combe

Despite the new body not varying by more than an inch in any dimension from the old one Stevens managed to transform the look of the Esprit by using rounded lines. Ironically despite the smoother shape the new X180 is has a marginally higher aerodynamic co efficient than it’s straight edged predecessor.

Lotus Esprit Turbo, Classic and Sports Car Action Day, Castle Combe

15 months after Stevens started work on the X180 it was ready to be launched in October 1987 with the new body work being manufactured with the Lotus patended vacuum-assisted resin-injection (VARI) process.

Lotus Esprit Turbo, Classic and Sports Car Action Day, Castle Combe

Despite the similarity of the old and new bodies they could be easily distinguished by the new alloy wheels cast to a Lotus design by OZ. Esprit aficionados will notice that the front bumper / spoiler on this particular 1988 Esprit Turbo seen at last years Classic and Sports Car Action Day at Castle Combe dates from the final S4 Esprit incarnation which was restyled by Julian Thompson in 1993.

Lotus Esprit Turbo, Classic and Sports Car Action Day, Castle Combe

The X180 Esprit was powered by the same type 910 normally aspirated or turbocharged motors as it’s Esprit predecessors, with the 215 hp turbo motor the zero to 60 mph time was marginally reduced to 5.4 seconds from the previous 5.6 seconds and top speed was over 150 mph. The X180’s handling benefited from the improved torsional rigidity of the new body.

Lotus Esprit Turbo, Classic and Sports Car Action Day, Castle Combe

Record Esprit sales of 1058 units in 1988 would not be bettered despite the cars appearance in high profile films that included Pretty Woman 1990 and Basic Instinct 1992, and a sting of lesser films including The Rookie 1990, Taking Care Of Business 1990 and the Bond spoof If Looks Could Kill / Teen Agent 1991.

Thanks for joining me on this “Basic Instinct Pretty Woman” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Not A Bolt On – Lotus Turbo Esprit Type 82

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In 1979 Monaco based oil traders Essex Petrolium joined Martini as sponsors of the Team Lotus Formula One team, something that Martini were not too thrilled with as they decided not to pursue there sponsorship for a second year. For 1980 Essex became the teams primary sponsor which carried over into Lotus production car operations with the launch, at the Royal Albert Hall, of the Lotus Turbo Esprit as a limited edition Lotus Essex Turbo Esprit of which just 100 were built in 1980 and 1981.

Lotus Turbo Esprit, Classic and Sports Car Action Day , Castle Combe

Unlike the single carburetor bolt on turbo that Lotus dealers Bell & Colvill had been offering customers since 1978 the official Lotus Turbo Esprit was a substantial upgrade of the normally aspirated Lotus Esprit Type 79, which included a new chassis with a wider engine bay, new front suspension derived from the latest Lotus Elite, new rear suspension and a new 210 hp type 910 development of the 4 cylinder Type 907 motor with twin carburetors and Garrett T3 Turbocharger.

Lotus Turbo Esprit, Silverstone Classic

After the production run of 100 Lotus Essex Turbo Esprit’s had been completed a variation of the originals blue red and silver colour scheme was offered with red leather interior like the one seen above in the Paddock at Silverstone which features rare three piece Compomotive wheels as used by James Bond in the 1981 film “For Your Eyes Only“.

Lotus Turbo Esprit, Classic and Sports Car Action Day , Castle Combe

Most Turbo Esprit’s were supplied with one piece BBS wheels. The Turbo Esprit body work is differentiated from earlier Giorgetto Giugiaro designed Esprit body by the addition of a front below the bumper spoiler and side “skirts” with NACA air ducts for the engine bay.

Lotus Turbo Esprit, Bristol

The significance of the wider engine bay of the Turbo Esprit’s new chassis would not become clear until the launch of the V8 Esprit which although initially developed alongside it’s turbo sibling did not come to market until 1996 having been delayed by numerous other projects including Colin Chapman’s involvement with De Lorean.

Lotus Turbo Esprit, Silverstone Classic

Although well received by the press the Turbo Esprit failed to gain a substantial foot hold anticipated in the USA and the 846 examples built between 1980 and 1984 marked the beginning of a steady decline in the fortunes of Lotus Cars.

Thanks for joining me on this “Not A Bolt On” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Wheels & Ears – Lotus Esprit S2 Type 79

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The pace of innovation and development at Lotus was far too high for organised record keeping to be a strong point and some how the Lotus Type 79 number ended up being given to both the 1978 World Championship winning Formula One car and the otherwise unrelated Lotus Esprit S1 & S2 variations.

Lotus Esprit S2, The Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

The second iteration of the Giugiaro designed Esprit, launched in 1978, featured a wrap around bumper which brought down the aerodynamic measure to Cd 0.355 and improved the handling in cross winds.

Lotus Esprit S2, The Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

The Gotti alloy wheels of the original Elite were replaced by Lotus designed alloy wheels manufactured by Speedline. Inside wider seats were fitted along side new instrumentation and switch gear illuminated by fibre optics, the external rear view mirrors became remotely operated too.

Lotus Esprit S2, The Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

Ears behind the rear 3/4 window were used to feed air into the carburetor on the left and into the engine bay on the right.

Lotus Esprit S2, The Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

The Rover SD1 sourced rear lights now incorporated high intensity fog lamps. 1061 Esprit S2’s were built with the original Type 907 2 litre / 122 cui motor that gave the car a top speed of 124 mph. A further 88 S2.2’s were built with the an identical body, galvanised chassis and Type 912 motors of 2.2 litre / 134 cui with the same 160 hp but much improved torque which made the Esprit much easier to drive around town.

Thanks for joining me on this “Wheels & Ears” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Mini Bora – Maserati Merak SS

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The Maserati Merak was conceived while the company was in the ownership of Citroen as a more affordable version of the Maserati Bora launched in 1971.

Maserati Merak SS, Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival

Like the Bora the Merak was penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Ital Design and featured many similarities in the body panels ahead of the mid mounted motor though the chassis pan featured many differences thanks to the lighter weight of the Meraks 3 litre / 183 cui motor which was first seen in the 1970 Citroen SM with a slightly smaller displacement.

Maserati Merak SS, Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival

The Merak went through 3 phases of development when first launched in 1972 the Merak used many interior Citroen fixtures and fittings including a single spoke steering wheel, dash panel, instrumentation, gearbox along with brakes actuated by Citroen’s high pressure hydraulic system.

Maserati Merak SS, Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival

In 1975 Maserati fell under the Control of de Tomaso and for 1975 most of the Citroen interior derived components were replaced including the high pressure hydraulic operated brakes which became vacuum assisted and the Citroen gearbox which was swapped for a ZF gearbox. The revitalised 220 hp model, like the 1980 vehicle seen here at Bristol’s Italian Auto Moto Festival last year, was lighter than the original and given Merak SS branding to distinguish it from the original.

Maserati Merak SS, Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival

In 1976 the third and final version the Merak 200OGT aimed at avoiding the 38% purchase tax cars in the Italian market attracted if they were fitted with engines over 2 litres / 122 cui. Consequently the 170 hp 2000 GT had an engine measuring 1999 cc 182.986 cui cc.

The Merak was discontinued in 1983 having outsold the Bora by better than 3 to 1 with 1860 being built of which the Merak SS was the most common with around 1000 units built.

The 2012 Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival will be held this coming Saturday April 28th and will be celebrating not only the 40th Anniversary of the Maserati Merak and Khamsin but also the 40th Anniversary of the Lancia Beta and 50th Anniversary of the Alfa Romeo Giulia along with the 100th anniversary of the founding of Bertone. Motorcycle fans will be able to see a large selection of Italian bikes with MV Agusta being the featured manufacturer, an interesting selection of Lambretta’s and Vespa’s will also be in attendance. Best of all the event is free and can be found in the streets around St Nicholas Market.

I have arranged to meet David Roots at 11 am near his unmistakeable Lenham ALFA Romeo, SEE THIS LINK, if your visiting why not pop by and say hello ?

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Mini Bora’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Brushed Steel Roof – Maserati Bora

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The Maserati Bora was developed in 1968 to go up against the mid engine De Tomaso Mangusta, Lambourghini Muira and later Ferrari 365 GT4 BB. 524 examples of the model were built from 1971 to 1978.

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Under the direction of Citroen owners of the Maserati marque at the time, the Bora featured a steel monocoque with the longitudinal engine mounted on a subframe at the back and for the first time on a Maserati independent suspension on all four wheels.

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Giorgetto Giugiaro of Ital Design was responsible for the steel bodywork which featured an unusual for the time brushed steel roof.

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289 Bora’s including this 1972 model were powered by a 310 hp 4719 cc / 288 cui V8 with a further 235 built from 1973 to 1978 being fitted with a larger 320 hp US emissions spec 4930cc / 301 cui motors giving the vehicle a 160 – 170 mph capability. The engine compartment featured double glazing to separate it from the cabin and a carpeted aluminium cover to keep the noise down.

By the time production of the Bora had ceased Maserati was in the ownership of De Tomaso.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s brushed steel roof edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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