Have you ever watched the James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me”? Do you Remember the White Lotus Esprit? One of the Coolest cars created to date! It was a submarine and a car all in one. But no, seriously the vehicle was submersible and equipped with and endless amount of weapons. More over there were also two Lotus Esprit Turbos in “For Your Eyes Only”, which didn’t reveal much of the cars capabilities other than the car self destruct and driving on snow. In 2009 one of the two Esprit turbos went out for auction at the Coys Auction at Blenheim Palace in England.
James Bond films were knows for the action pact story lines and innovative vehicles that came along with the action packed thrillers. In “For Your Eyes Only” (similar to the one below), Bond uses the first Esprit (a white one) to drive to the estate of a Cuban hit-man in Madrid. The car blows up when one of the hit-man’s henchmen tries to steal it, and Q replaces it with another one, which Bond takes to the snowy hills of Cortina, Italy. Neither car was used in any chase scenes. That honor went to a yellow Citroen 2CV…
Robert Taurosas 88 Espirt Turbo
- Lotus Esprit, manufactured or sold in 1988, version for Europe
- 2-door coupe body type
- RWD (rear-wheel drive), manual 5-speed gearbox
- petrol (gasoline) engine with displacement: 2174 cm3 / 132.5 cui, advertised power: 128 kW / 172 hp / 174 PS ( DIN ), Torque net: 221 Nm / 163 lb-ft
- characteristic dimensions: outside length: 4330 mm / 170.5 in, wheelbase: 2438 mm / 96 in
- reference weights: base curb weight: 1177 kg / 2595 lbs, gross weight GVWR: 1450 kg / 3197 lbs
- how fast is this car ? top speed: 222 km/h (138 mph) (declared by factory);
- accelerations: 0- 60 mph 6.5 s, 0- 100 km/h 6.8 s (declared by factory), 1/4 mile drag time (402 m) 15.3 s (a-c simulation)
- fuel consumption and mileage: 10.1 l/100km / 28.1 mpg (imp.) / 23.4 mpg (U.S.) / 9.9 km/l average estimated by a-c: 12.4 l/100km / 22.9 mpg (imp.) / 19 mpg (U.S.) / 8.1 km/l
Sources: (http://www.automobile-catalog.com/make/lotus/esprit/esprit_stevens/1988.html, http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/james-bond-lotus-esprit-heads-to-auction/?_r=0)