© Adrian Mugridge (2018)
Lotus Esprit S3
My first Esprit
I
bought
my
first
Esprit,
a
1986
S3
in
1992
from
Paul
Matty
Sports
Cars
in
Bromsgrove. I traded in my 1.4 Nova for it.
The
pictures
are
not
very
good,
but
they
are
taken
in
the
days
before
everyone had a camera on their phone.
Why won’t it go ?
The
first
thing
I
did
was
drive
straight
off
onto
the
M42
with
the
hand
brake
on.
I
stopped
on
the
hard
shoulder
after
200
yards
wondering
why
my
new
motor
wouldn’t
go
above
40
mph.
Then
I
noticed
the
big
red
‘BRAKE’
light
on
the
dash
and
smelt
the
burning.
It
went
much
better
after
I
took
the
hand-
brake off.
How much petrol ?
The
first
petrol
station
I
stopped
at
I
stood
proudly
filling
the
tank,
looking
around
with
a
big
grin
on
my
face
and
paying
no
attention
to
the
petrol
that
was
pouring
out
of
the
filler.
I
only
stopped
when
another
motorist
shouted
at
me
to
stop.
As
it
came
with
a
big
bunch
of
keys
and
it
had
different
locks
on
either
petrol
cap,
I
could
only
fill
one
tank
to
start
with.
However,
as
the
two
tanks
are
connected
with
a
balance
pipe,
the
petrol
gauge
read
full
when
I
left
the
the
forecourt
and
half
full
about
25
miles
later.
I
couldn't
believe
my
eyes
;
half
a
tank
of
petrol
gone
in
only
25
miles.
My
first
day
of
ownership was quite eventful for me.
I'm spinning around !
As
you
can
imagine,
an
Esprit
is
somewhat
different
to
a
Nova,
and
so
I
managed
to
spin
it
round
twice
in
the
first
few
weeks
of
owning
it.
It’s
very
unnerving
to
lose
control
of
a
car;
all
you
can
do
is
wait
for
it
to
stop.
Even
through
it's
over
25
years
ago,
I
can
still
remember
these
incidents
as
if
it
were yesterday.
Can’t see - can’t park
After
a
couple
of
weeks
of
ownership
I
was
wondering
what
the
hell
I
had
bought.
I
could
hardly
see
out
of
it,
I
couldn’t
park
the
bloody
thing
and
it
was
a
nightmare
to
start
with
a
hot
engine.
However,
I
kept
if
for
4
years
and
it
nearly
ruined
me.
Huge
servicing
bills,
large
insurance
premiums
etc.
meant
in
went
in
my
parents
garage
for
nearly
a
year
until
I
paid
off
my
overdraft and vast credit card bills.
It’s good, but it’s not that fast
One
of
the
major
disadvantages
I
found
with
it
was
that
other
road
users
assumed
it
had
shattering
performance
when
it
did
not.
0-60
was
6.5
seconds
with
a
top
speed
of
135
mph.
It
had
160
bhp
and
160
lb/ft
of
torque,
which
is
no
better
than
an
Astra
GTE
or
Golf
GTi
at
the
time.
Mind
you, I still spent ages washing and polishing it.