This Lotus Esprit Restomod Has a Carbon-Fiber Body and Costs a Lot
Called the Encor Series 1, it will blend the wedge-tastic design of the original car with the V-8 power of later models.
encor series 1 lotus esprit front
Encor
The Lotus Esprit is 50, and a British company plans to build the ultimate version of it.
Called the Encor Series 1, this restomod will blend the wedge-tastic design of the original car with the V-8 power of later models.
It’ll feature lightweight construction with plenty of carbon fiber and improved onboard tech.
The Lotus Esprit turns 50 this month, having been shown off for the first time at the Paris Motor Show in 1975. The early cars made do with modest power to move little weight—as is proper Lotus tradition—but eventually turbocharged power arrived. Two decades after its launch, the Esprit still remained relevant, featuring a twin-turbocharged V-8. Now, a new company is paying the Esprit the ultimate birthday tribute, with a limited-run restomod that spared no expense.
The company is called Encor, and it is somewhat pleasingly co-founded by the former Lotus Director of Advanced Performance, Simon Lane. A host of other Lotus employees are part of the effort, as well as experts from the likes of Pagani, Koenigsegg, Aston Martin, and Porsche. Good news, Bond, we’ve scoured the automotive world and put together a new Q-Division.
Encor
Encor calls its reimagined Esprit the Series 1, although it somewhat confusingly requires buyers to provide their own Series 4 Esprit. That’s because the Series 4 cars were the ones with V-8 power, and only the chassis will be used to underpin the build.
Over the top of this chassis will be a full carbon-fiber bodywork, based on the gloriously wedgy original Esprit. The interior will also get modern tech upgrades, such as smartphone connectivity. The pop-up headlights will be replaced by LEDs, the 1970s Lotus build quality shunned in favor of modern precision, and the twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-8 torn down and built up with more power on tap.
Encor
And, crucially, more reliability. Lotus owners sometimes like to joke that the company’s name stands for “Lots of Trouble, Usually Serious,” and it’s one of those reputations that the cars have lived up to. Building something to be as light and lively as possible can imbue it with the lifespan of a hummingbird.
However, if Encor can pull off a Singer-like restomod version of the classic Lotus flagship of the 1970s, it’ll be turning a dream into a reality. The Esprits driven by James Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only made the car iconic to a wider audience. An Esprit that’s quick by modern standards and can go from A to B without an expensive breakdown that requires towing to C should find an audience.
Encor
It’ll have to be an audience with deep pockets, though. As is typical for one of these highly detailed restomods, Encor is charging a premium for its Series 1. Along with the donor car, you’ll need to cough up a whopping $579,000, with optional extras on top of that.
That is a heck of a lot for an Esprit, as even the nicest Series 1 cars or last-of-breed V-8s fetch about a sixth of that price. However, if you’re the kind of person who already has a Singer in the driveway, the cost perhaps seems more reasonable.
Further, Encor is only building 50 of its Series 1 cars, so these will be very rare indeed. Happy birthday, Lotus Esprit.
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Brendan McAleer
Contributing Editor
Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.