ESPRIT SERIES 1 REBORN WITH V8 FOR NEW ERA

UK firm Encor to convert 50 examples of legendary Lotus

- WILL RIMELL

The Lotus Esprit Series 1 has been reimagined with a redesigned carbonfibre body and a new V8 powertrain by a startup consisting of former Hethel staff, almost 40 years after the sports car went off sale.

The new Series 1 has been created by Chelmsford-based Encor, which plans to make 50 examples priced from around £430,000.

Chief engineer Will Ives said the brief was to “refine” the classic analogue driving experience that made the Series 1 Esprit so popular in the 1970s and then pair it with modern technology to make it more usable today. He added that the car had been “improved in almost every way”.

According to Ives, the team admitting that “while we love the car, there was just so much opportunity to improve it”.

Although the new Encor Series 1 is a reimagining of the first Esprit, its base is actually the Series 4 V8 – the final version of the model, from 1994. This was chosen because it used a more advanced version of the chassis with a stronger structure.

Despite that, chief designer Dan Durrant – who was responsible for the exterior design of the Lotus Emira - said the team still had a “responsibility” to be as faithful to the original as they could.

And while Encor hasn't worked with Lotus on its Series 1, co-founder and commercial director Simon Lane hoped “they see it as kind of complementing what they're doing”.

POWERTRAIN

The biggest change from the Esprit Series 1 is the powertrain. Encor said the original Type 907 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine lacked the characteristics and emotion needed for such a car in the modern era. Instead, the company decided to give it the power “it should have had” by opting for the Type 918 3.5-litre, twin-turbocharged, flat-plane V8 from the Esprit Series 4.