Lotus Esprit Sport 300: Wedge Of Wonder | Carfection (4K)
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2024
- The extremely rare Lotus Esprit Sport 300 might be one of the greatest cars Lotus ever made. Henry took it out for a spin to see if it lives up to its reputation.
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The Esprit is not talked about as much as it deserves. It’s a truly amazing car
You couldn't have said it better
That is because Lotus went downmarket as a brand. The Esprit was a porsche 911 Turbo and Ferrari 355 competitor. Lotus doesn't make a car for that supercar segment now and people forget about their past.
The same could be said for Maserati, which made exotic sports cars that rivaled Ferraris at one time, but now just makes silly expensive luxury cars.
It is one of the best looking cars ever made. I would take this over a Lamborghini Countach any day even thoug hhhb they both look cool.
Pity they dialled-in understeer for the US /Pussy Market and made most of the mid and later cars too heavy. And lets not mention those toyota-like tail lights. Big fan of the Esprit, just being honest.
@@Dave.S.TT600 this are not toyota-like. They are straight from an A86
I'll never get bored with the beautiful shape of the Esprit.
Péter Kiss and there’s two of them to love, the Giugiaro 70s wedge, and the peter Stevens 80s plastic wedge, both are great looking in their own way but very different cars. I would sell my wife for an S1 in white, of course.
Yass
Always been my dream car. 😍
It is worth watching these videos just for the sight of Henry grinning like a mad professor !
It's also one of the best looking cars I've ever seen
It's like a mix between the Nissan 300zx and Lamborghini Diablo
And an MR2 mk 2!!
N executed perfectly instead of lookin like a Frankenstein creation 🔥
And a bit of Toyota AE86 in there as well (thanks to sharing the rear lights with one)
@@creamwobbly I have no idea who designed the Esprit actually.
It a Giorgetto Giugiaro design, one of the great designers.
That thing looks so good on track from the low down camera angle.
More Lotus content please!!
Yesss
Yasss
Love the Esprits. Fantastic looking thing. I miss 90's cars. XJ220, F1, Esprit
EB110...
@@JonathanNichollsjono Doesn't do much for me
So pleased to have been part of the small team that developed this car and brought it to production. Taking all we had learned from racing the x180R mainly in America. Sadly only 64 made and probably killed off by the production line who did not like making it (the engine bay brace was a bitch). Hope the few owners now love it. Happy days and now retired
Thank you (and the rest of the team) so very much for developing this car, the Sport 300 it is truly wonderful!
Great to hear from someone within the walls! I have an '89 SE Turbo and will probably take it to my grave with me! Tell me Alan, did you do design and development work on the Corvette LT5 engine design?
Despite it's age, the Esprit remains to me one of the most beautiful car designs of all time.
More like: because of its age! It started out not long after ItalDesign and Bertone were coming up with the wedge shape for supercars and ended just as the last of the good-looking supercars were being made (e.g. Saleen S7, Porsche Carrera GT). My favourite was the S4s with those slats behind the rear window like the Diablo SE30 also had.
A hidden gem in the history of cars
I have always been a huge fan of this car. Thanks for confirming how good it still is. Time to check out the classifieds....
Why are these videos so good Henry? Pls keep up the good work you have made carfection a real automotive cinema of content now
Greatly executed!
This brand is the perfect example that we don’t value balance in a car. We rather big HP numbers.
Absolutely. The most popular and successful sports car is rear-engined!
That one have gear box that will go broke.
That's because infrastructure designers don't like bends, so we don't get to enjoy any, which shifts the preference balance from poised handling to assuring acceleration.
I know I'm biased and have been a fan of the brand forever but is it just me or has the Esprit aged so supremely well? Even now it looks gorgeous being driven in anger around Hethel.
@@DrPittenstein 100% true. That's because most sports car buyers aren't car enthusiast and they rely on what media and fanboys say to determine what's a good product. Porsche and its fanboys have done an excellent jobs brainwashing suckers into believing Porsche is the best.
That is a purposely beautiful and archetypal sports car! This video, combined with one Petrolicious did a couple of years ago are seriously tempting me right now.
Pressed like before watching it. You had me at Esprit Sport 300!
Absolute perfection - Always have been a huge Sport 300 fan - one of the most overlooked and underrated sports cars ever - thanks for sharing and as brilliant as ever Henry! 👍👍👍
Carfection: the alternative fine wine of CZcams automotive channels. Henry, top-notch as always. I see these videos of cars from the 80s and 90s, and with each passing day, I have more and more difficulty accepting the fact that they are...old now. It's hard to explain. But you folks at Carfection do such a wonderful job putting into words the feelings and emotions these cars bring out in us. Thanks :)
Love the way you create the videos, talk, the story, the passion. Don't stop!
I absolutely love your videos. There is something special about them. You can feel the passion and love for cars.
I had an 84 turbo. These 300s are halo cars. Great video. This channel and particularly Henry are my absolute favourite on CZcams. Excellent journalism
Best video I've seen about the Lotus Esprit !!!
And there are still so many great things to say about it !!!
One of the best cars ever !!!!!!!
Great video as always Henry. Been a fan of the Esprit for decades!
Finally a video of a superb yet underrated car. Love the Esprit!
Another lovely video, Henry (and team).
The bloody thing looks magnificent from so many angles still. Only the lights show it up a lot of the time.
Well played.
Loved it! As always Henry. Would be great to see you guys drive more of these youngtimers.
Thank you Henry and team. Wonderful job.
The Esprit is my childhood dream car, ever since I first played Test Drive on my PC. This edition seems to be the best of the best! Thanks for keeping my dream alive! :)
This car and the NSX-R are two of the greats.
Thank you very much for the fantastic video, the Sport 300 truly is the ultimate Lotus Esprit.
I love your take on how you execute your videos!! Very unique!!!
Thanks Henry! Great trip back down memory lane .
What a brilliant film to perfectly describe the joys of a rare breed of cars nowadays! Henry killing it as usual!
Another brilliant video. Fantastic, guys 👍🏼
Even today it is an incredibly good looking car. Great video.
Just another great video by Henry, such a good story teller.
Amazing car, awesome review.
Beautiful car. I've always loved the design of the Esprit.
Another great video, Henry. I was privileged to drive, on the same day many years ago, a standard Esprit turbo and a 924 Carrera GT, both owned by my boss at the time. Fabulous cars, amazing day.
Love the design... the bodykit-looking styling works so well here and that wing makes it so ‘90s which is awesome. And yes turbo flutter!!!
Another brilliant video Henry!
A British Icon. My Dream Car is as Perfect as I thought it would be. Thanks for a Great video.
That's some Chris Harris quality video there! Great vid, great energy from Henry, great editing, good stuff!!
Growing up this and the F40 were my idols.
GREAT review of an impressive car that delivers on "the joy of driving" motif .
I loved that car back in the day. One of the best looking supercars of all time.
This video is in 4K and it's glorious. TY Carfection.
I don't have a 4K screen so, pretty much looks normal. they say, the human eye can't see 4K anyway. that you'd need an 80 inch screen and have to view it from about 60 feet away to truly discern the difference between 4K and 1080.
@@zzz7zzz9 I'm viewing at 2160p on a 43" 4K LED monitor about 3 1/2 ft away. The native resolution is 3840x2160. Video card is Nvidia RTX 2080. Color is calibrated with a Spyder5Pro. I have two windows open both running CZcams on full screen. One at 4K and the other 1080p. I switch between the two and see the difference. For example, at 1:30 there are swirls on on the rear quarter panel. In HD, the swirls look cloudy, but in 4K, you can see the actual swirls or scratches in paint. The pixels appear sharper in 4K.
One thing I forgot to mention is the focus in the original footage must be spot on in 4K. Any softness in the focus and you can see it clearly in 4K. Carfection has nailed the focus and pulling focus on a moving subject on the track. Bravo Carfection.
Henry, drew, Charlie and everyone at carfection if ur reading this, thank you, these vids are the modern day countach poster
this is such an awesome channel. Great video, I love the Esprit.
love the editing, the narration and the ride as well of course :) thank you for sharing this experience :) Would love to own one S4 some day :)
Cracking video yet again, on a car I loved when I was 13/14... keep up the good work 👍🏻
Great episode! Thanks!
Simply amazing vid! Well done!
My absolute favourite car.. ever!! Love the sport 300
Awesome car & vid. Thanks Henry. 👍🏻
As always Henry, fantastic video love the Esprit and love what Lotus stand for (Lightness)
I love the Esprit models, they simply are just right in about every possible way.
The Esprit is one of my top 3 must haves!
1 of my top 5 dream cars. Unappreciated but an absolute gem. That goes to all Esprits.
When I was younger, in the late 80s/early 90s, I pictured myself behind the wheel of an Esprit, carving out a canyon road in northern California(and I'm a born Southerner in Georgia, by the way). Had pictures of this wedge of wonder in my room. Such an classic exotic.
Great to see some coverage of the Esprit, the British supercar of childhood. I remember seeing the original motor show Sport 300 at London Lotus Centre which was heading off to Japan. Doc Bundy won a US championship with the X180 Esprit and met him many years later at Goodwood FoS, great character.
Same here, I met Doc at FoS, what a pleasure it was to see him and his X180R up the hill!
Brilliant.... perfect balance of history and thrills.
I remember when I was young, playing NFS 2 SE, leaving all the fast cars and go for a soothing drive in North country with the esprit, it felt right, the interior of the Esprit felt cozy. I have lots of dream cars, but I think the Esprit is my real dream car
You teased us on twitter about this video... well worth waiting for. Between you and Harry the Esprit is the one car that brings genuine schoolboy grins..
Great review Henry, i too love that turbo chatter.
Beautiful car, looks and the drive, luv it.
This used to be mine - same number plate. Best handling car at the time. I was also fortunate to own no 4 - a BRG example.
Great video. Didn't realise how many modifications Lotus made from the standard esprit s4
What a car!! Adore the sport 300...
Great video! I‘m lucky to have an S300. Dreamcar!
Always loved Lotus when I was a kid growing up in the 70s. All of them were beautifully designed; Esprit, Elite, Eclat. Always had a soft spot for the Elite, as it had a slight shooting brake or sports brake back look a la Reliant Scimitar or the later BMW Z3 M Coupe. I know they had their reliability issues and arguably their 2 litre 4 cylinder motors lacked the pizzaz and Top Trumps appeal of rivals 6s or V8s, but still, wow!
Miss my old exAMOC/750MC 91 SE, it had the sport 300 engine set up, turbo, eco chip, brakes and aero, coillies etc, was a raw experience
Not gonna lie, I changed my Speedmaster strap to the NATO one after watching Henry's videos. Such a great journalist! Nailing it.
Thx Henry, great vid!!!
THANK YO U SO MUCH IV WAITED SOO LONG FOR AN ESPRIT VIDEO
I was lucky enough to have a drive of a friend's Lotus esprit turbo in the 80's. It was awesome. A car that begged you to put your foot down and drive round bends with no body roll, like you were on rails. Loads of feedback. Watching this video brings back good memories. Ah!
One of the first cars I ever drove, I was too young to drive at the time and didn't have a licence. It was amazing, scared the hell out of me.
Try an Evora now. They're exactly the same....also wonderful.
God, this channel is great. Thanks for reminding us what greatness lies outside the P, F, and L car badges.
Damm it another wonderful blast from the past , with the beautifully styled Esprit, and in this version Lotus just highlighted , that when you get it right it's pretty timeless, with Henry grinning like the proverbial Cheshire Cat 🐱 and the usual top rate cinema graphic filming , it's pure nirvana , I need a lay down 👏
What a legend!
Now I'm left crossing my fingers waiting for Henry's review of an Elan SE Turbo of the same era :P
Wonderful but too short. Can we have a director's cut please? Some of us have waited many years for a new Sport 300 video!
Hear hear!!
I'd recommend anyone who enjoyed this to check out *your* videos of the Guigiaro Esprit. They are excellent.
Same here. Not much content on Esprits generally unfortunately
Fell in love with it ever since I saw it in Gran Turismo 2.
Looks mean AF, love the stance, and those rear tires suit the wedge shape perfectly.
Lucky bugger. When I was a kid living outside Toronto, along the hwy 401 in Pickering, there was a nice little boutique sports car dealer about 1.5 miles from my place. As kids wed often ride our bikes out to the small dealership to see what new cars they had. Once I went alone to the dealership, and I was rewarded by seeing a nice older Esprit Turbo for sale. The manager even let me sit in the driver's seat on the rather slow summer afternoon. I couldn't believe how low to the ground the car was, and I remember the rear visibility was really lacking, but I was just a kid. I quickly scanned around the cockpit, and politely left the dealership within a few minutes, thanking the manager, who smiled and waved. I've loved the Lotus brand since 1977, and the James Bond classic "The Spy Who Loved Me", I was ten years old when that movie came out, and twelve years old when I sat in the car at the dealership.
What a car! Lovely presentation bud.
CZcams videos don't come much better than Henry Catchpole driving a Lotus at Hethel.
Massively underrated car, and it looks the part in Sport 300 guise.
Hopefully there's a new Esprit on the pipeline
Wow. Just wow. Your videos are just.....
Carfection.
One of my all time favorites
Just beautiful. The car and the film
Good video, no nonsense ans good engine sounds thank you.
Henry rules and Lotus rules. nice video
Right here, is my childhood dream car. Looking forward for the day when Esprit makes a proper return.
that turbo sound is superb
Same page Henry. Same page. Love my V8 so much I just bought an S4S. About as close to a Sport 300 as I am likely to get to owning one. Cheers!
Big fan of this one!
I've been calling the Sport 300 my favourite Esprit since it was featured in one of the early nineties car mags. Impressive performance and handling aside, it's actually the best looking Esprit in my opinion.
I had a ride in a friends V8 Esprit many years ago - to this day it's the best car I've ever experienced including AMGs and a drive in a Ferrari 360... it had a magical lightness in the way it went down the road.
Back then, a customer of mine (Vulcan) had one. I designed an incredible Rockford Fosgate & Alpine electronics audio system for it. It was state of the art of its time.
I LOVED this car when I was a kid.
Makes me want an Evora more and more! Modern day equivalent. Nice vid as usual 👍
Agreed!
The music here is wonderful
Never heard of the Sports 300 before, looks a good drive.
A 💎 why I admire 90's era