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Wrecked
Esprit's
Esprit's
that have come a cropper! Whoops!
Mark R's Crash Damaged 98
First car accident in 30 years driving. Heading South to the Autosport show early this morning, caught out by black ice on the A1 north of Berwick. Several of us were in the overtaking lane coming up the hill, passing a couple of lorries at about 50 mph, and off I went. I stopped on the opposite verge after a full 360 having knackered first the rear and then the front on the steep banking - you can see the two impact marks. Fortunately nothing was coming the other way. Just back from a full service and a new radiator 2 weeks ago as well..........
Front damage, apart from the bodywork and foglights, will mean new radiators, water and oil, plus pipework. Rear wheel completely severered, including the drive shaft which was pulled out of the gearbox, plus suspension of course - I found the rear spring 30 yards up the road. Drivers side no damage at all and the steering worked fine when it was dragged onto the breakdown truck.
BTW, the guys from Lothian and Borders Police were fantastic. Down to earth, pragmatic and with a great sense of humour, given the circumstances. Turned out one was a Lotus fan and wanted to know all about the car, the other a real petrol head with a couple of motor bikes. They even ran me down to Berwick station once we were done so I could head back to Edinburgh
Engine Fire
1986 Turbo Esprit Engine fire – Cat B. No other details are known about this vehicle.
Crash Damaged
It’s a Federal car, front end damage only, rest of the car is ok. No other info on this unfortunately!
Crash Damaged
No info on this, but looks like it hit a tree!
Fire Damaged
No info on this, but it got hot at some point!
Wrecked 1998
15th April 2007
San Diego, USA
The accident in my 1998 Lotus Esprit V8 happened on Sunday, April 15, 2007, when my wife and I were heading back home to Orange County (California) from the San Diego British Rolling Car Day with other Lotus cars from our local car club, The OC Lotus Club. We had already driven about 200 miles that day when we had our crash.
We were traveling in medium to heavy traffic at about 65 mph on Interstate 15 in Lake Elsinore when the passenger side rear tire blew out. I started to slow down fine, but the blown out tire came off the wheel and the car suddenly spun out of control, hitting the center divider hard with the front end. The car continued to spin and the rear bumper hit the divider again before we finally came to a stop in the large dirt median. The airbags deployed perfectly and the passenger compartment cage took the brunt of the impact, allowing us to walk away from the accident unhurt.
I cannot say the same for my Esprit, which had extensive front end damage - enough to have the insurance company total out the car. I was never able to fully determine what caused the tire to blow out, but in the picture of the suspect Michelin Sport Pilot, you can see that the whole inside sidewall has disintegrated. I am sure nothing in the wheel well was touching the tire, and I had just topped off the air pressure on all of the tires that morning to 35 p.s.i. since I knew we were going to be taking a 250+ mile trip in the car..
I am glad to have enjoyed this amazing car for over 2 years and am looking forward to my next Esprit. The car was repairable (to great expense) and did not appear to have chassis damage, so it may reappear on the market in the future as the insurance company will probably auction it off somewhere in the U.S. In case of this, here was my Esprit's VIN #:SCCDC082XWHA15535.
Thank you for doing a great job on the Lotus Esprit World site. It has been an invaluable resource for me, as well as our club members. Keep up the great work, Kato.,
Sean Songalia
sean@oclotusclub.comThe OC Lotus Club of Orange County, California
www.oclotusclub.comUpdate
June 2007
I ended up getting a pristine 1995 Esprit S4s this week. It's nice to be back in the saddle, it has been a long three months without a Lotus. I was hesitant at first when my friend first offered me his S4s, but I now appreciate the 4-cylinder turbo's smoothness and refinement in comparison to my old V8. My V8 with the high-torque upgrade was quite a beast and at times, difficult to drive smoothly.The S4s also feels more balanced and light, plus the overall ride quality is better. It is not as bone-jarringly bumpy as my 1998 V8. Apparently there might be only 70 left on the roads here in the U.S. I have the #5 chip in it and the application of power is
perfect. The S4s suits my restrained driving style better and I couldn't be happier.I feel privileged to join the S4s " club". Take care and keep up the good work.
Fire Damaged 1979
28th April
Portland, Oregon USA
This happened yesterday (28th April 2007). I'm still in a bit shock. It's been one hell of a year of ownership. The wife and I got out of the car fine. It got really hot. We'll it's a day later and a big thanks for all the kind words (my Wife finds the term 'gutted' quiet fitting). As far as the damage goes, I really can't bear to uncover her today. Just sorta too soon. The insurance folks aren't open until Monday, so we'll see what transpires then.
This is a way too big of a project for me to take on. And I'm sure with the amount of heat generated and all the water damage who knows how bad it really is. I recently had my Carbs rebuilt and my Mechanic inspect the fuel lines - which were given a fairly clean bill of health. I guess not.
So it's been a couple of weeks since the fire. I've had a birthday and that was all good. The insurance company is calling the car a total loss. I believe this to be a good project for someone. Just not for me. If anyone is interested in the car, please PM me and we can discuss it more.
The fire was caused most likely by a fuel line and burned up the dog house and rear hatch. The inner and rear windows burst due to heat. The passenger section survived rather well. The heat sheilds et al did their job. The engine is pretty trashed. I've attatched some photos.
I felt it best to move on. I've enjoyed the year that was and learned a tremendous amount about Esprits. I'm not out of the game - just taking a break. I'll still float around here for sure. :-)
Thanks everyone,
Timothy
aka Lotusdogg (the guy in white)
Crash Damaged
1993
April 2007
Camarillo, CA USA
Was on my way to a Supercar Sunday event here in Socal on April 1st. The car started to fishtail w/o warning. Long story short, two counter steer corrections later and a spin, jumped a curb and hit a lamp post.....
I am glad I was able to walk away, but the driver wheel actually coming through into the pedal box injured my ankle, and I am still limping, and I fractured my right thumb..
Waiting for the appraiser to come out and look at it, but figure the odds of it being repairable are unlikely....the passenger fender broke the same as the driver side, both a-pillars broke as well as driver b-pillar. Glass sunroof ejected at impact (luckily), dash is all tweeked, steering column bent, etc.
Word of warning, if an impact is unavoidable with a curb, the pedal box is definitely not a safe place for your feet. Still shaken up...it was a very violent impact.
I guess unless you have experienced a severe fishtail in an Esprit, when it does happen without warning it is a pretty scary experience, and recovery is difficult with a non power steering car...maybe if I had given more throttle it would have straightened.
There was street patch in the lane I was in that was done with that liquid tar stuff that they fill cracks in the freeways...kinda shiny (see pic above)...thinking maybe that upset the balance of the car through the turn, and with no limited slip the tire possibly lost traction just enough to induce the oversteer. Or a blow out? Not sure why the passenger tire had a cut and there was a small bend in that wheel right above the cut...maybe that happened when the passenger fender broke in half and the 'glass cut it like a knife?
Accident damaged 2000
for sale on
April 2007Item number: 320099940943
18,000 miles 1 Lord owner from new minor front damage needs new bumper and some cracks in the fibre glass body which are easily repairable unrecorded starts and drives mint pre accident and worth £25000 www.douglasvalley.co.uk be quick a used bumper is only £250 quid this car can be repaired for less than a grand!!!!
Vandal damage 2000
for sale on
January 2007Item number: 270075498447
YEAR 2000 LOTUS ESPRIT V8 GT, WE ARE AUCTIONING ALL USABLE OR REMOVABLE PARTS FROM THIS SUPERCAR, THE WINNING BIDDER WILL OWN EVERYTHING AND WILL HAVE TO STRIP THE VEHICLE ON OUR PREMISES WITHIN 2 WEEKS OF THE END OF AUCTION.
WE MUST RETAIN THE CHASSIS (THIS IS STRICTLY NON NEGOTIABLE) BUT EVERYTHING ELSE CAN GO
WE DO NOT HAVE THE WHEELS THEY HAD BEEN REMOVED BEFORE WE OBTAINED THE CAR.THIS WOULD BE IDEAL TO UPGRADE A OLDER CAR TO V8 GT SPEC OR REPAIR AN ACCIDENT DAMAGED CAR
WE CAN STRIP THE CAR FOR THE WINNING BIDDER BUT WE WILL CHARGE £250 FOR THIS SERVICE AND PAYMENT IN FULL MUST BE MADE BEFORE THE CAR IS STRIPPEDPLEASE NOTE THE FINAL AUCTION PRICE WILL BE SUBJECT TO VAT.
WE ARE LOCATED IN BURY NEAR MANCHESTER
HAPPY BIDDING !!!!!!!!!
Vandal damage 1998
for sale on
October 2006Item number: 270043258903
AVAILABLE FROM THIS SPARES ONLY CAT"B" LOTUS ESPRIT S4S 1998 YEAR ARE THE TWO SECTIONS OF DAMAGED FRONT BUMPER TOP & BTM AS SEEN IN THE PICTURE.
ONCE SOLD ALL THE OTHER ITEMS WILL BE AVAILABE VIA EBAY,
SO PLEASE
KEEP AN EYE OUT IF IT'S LOTUS ESPRIT PARTS YOU REQUIRE.
Vandal damage 1989
for sale on
May 2006
£4,500
Item number: 4639582114
Category C, no keys, no V5. Vandal damage. Registered 1st Aug 1989, 108,000 miles
Into a Ditch Backwards!
Thought I'd forward these pics of my 1985 Esprit Turbo that I ran into a ditch backwards today!
Came round quite a sharp corner at between 30 & 40mph and hit a dirty great patch of mud. I've taken this corner several timesand have taken it a lot quicker than I did today, but luckily my father was driving in front of me, so I did the speed he did.
I hit the mud, and the back-end slipped right, sending me into a spin. I managed to gain control for a second, then lost it again as I tried to shave off some speed. I ended up doing a 180 into the ditch at between 10 & 20 mph.
Aside from a headache, a case of the shakes, and some mild whiplash, I got away from this one ok. Although I hope the car isn't any more than visually damaged, which it may be due to the off-side rear wheel being an inch or 2 to the rear of where it should be.
I have considered that the reason I lost control (my dad saw what happened, and said he couldn't understand why I did) was because of a fault with the suspension, but the car has yet to be examined by the insurance "people".
Hope this makes it to the LEW website! Not as mangled as some of the others, but interesting to you nonetheless I hope.
Regards,
Tim Shaw
Wrecked
for sale on
May 2005Item number: ????
Not much info on this one yet. Think they are only selling the spare wheel at the moment.
Wrecked
for sale onItem number: 4619425719
This 2002 Lotus Esprit V8 with 17,000 miles on the clock is available on ebay. It has a reserve price of somewhere above £4,000 (current bid, 7th March 2006).
Info from Seller:
3.5 litre engine, Only cat D, with v5 log book, Manual box, r/bumper, n/s/r quarter, n/s/r lights, n/s/f wing, bonnet, f/bumper, n/s/f headlight, f/indicators, windscreen, o/s/r quarter need repair/replace.Full Leather Trim. No air bag damage, Private plate Not Included. car is in Blackpool Tel: 07709 315998 (now sold)
Info from owner when wrecked:
Not mine to sell, was an insurance write-off. The chassis is fine, so is the engine (17k) and running gear. The cabin is 100% ok. All four corners have been smacked and will need: a new nose, bonnet, all radiators, steering rack (not damaged by the accident, but be the recovery ppl), wheels (could be repaired), exhaust (US spec), Windscreen, Rear wing & valance could be repaired and I'm sure loads more. An independent Lotus specialist quoted £10,000 in parts to fix, with a possible bill of £30,000 including labour.
Update
We meet both the new and old owner of this Esprit at the Donington Show 06. The old owner was even giving the new owner a few of the parts that he had at home. This is great to see and shows the community within Esprit owners. This car is going to be rebuild by it's new owner. Will take a while, but it will be back on the road. We are hoping to following this cars return to the road, as the new owners going to take a few snaps and put some words together. Keep an eye out for this in the future.
Wrecked
for sale onItem number: 4618319180
This official Lotus Esprit Sport 350 (no. 32) registered on 10 Dec 1999 with 24,000 miles on the clock is available for a
Advertised with Full dealer stamped history, moted until September 2006, keys log book all here. Damage to nearside, rear suspension, rear wheel front suspension front body, roof panel missing but wind defector still in boot. Car is recorded as a Cat D.
This Esprit was damaged by it's owner last year. The Car is known by the Sport 350 club and was in good condition before being crashed.
Not too much is currently know about its current condition other than advertised. It's currently with a firm that sells lots of written-off cars and regularly has Esprit's. If this car has been written-off by the insurance company, then the damage must be more extensive than it looks. A Sport 350 is worth over £20,000 minimum, so for it to be written-off , the repair costs must have been pretty high.
The firm selling it doesn't think there's any chassis damage, but that's unconfirmed. The brakes are said to be undamaged. Two of the alloys look to be damaged beyond repair and it would probably need new springs and dampers all-round, plus the replacing of all the damaged suspension parts.
The bodywork doesn't look too bad from these pictures. The repair should be fairly simple. Biggest problem is finding out what else is damage below the surface. Radiators, oil coolers, AC, piping etc could all need work, adding thousands to the repair bill.
The interior is undamaged as you'd expect from this type of collision. We only hope it's not getting worse by being kept outside in a junk yard somewhere. Especially as the sunroof seems to be missing!
This is the best pictures of the damage done. The suspension has taken a really hard hit, ripping off one of the wheels. We're guessing it hit the kerb then sliding, turning the wheel under. This sort of damage could be just a chop and change, but further unseen damage could be lurking!
Is this rare Esprit beyond repair! We hope not. If you're thinking of taking it on, make sure you do some research, as you could easily end up losing money on a project like this. Especially if it's been written off and has a CAT rating, which could dramatically reduce is re-sale value. With LEW currently having a Sport 350 for sale in our Used Car Centre for only £21,500. Taking this on must be done with care.
Update
We have now heard that this Esprit is being rebuild by it's buyer. We are glad to hear it'll be back on the road in the future.
Smashed Euro V8
by Arne SundeI neither knew the owner nor the car and it came as a great shock to read about it. Family and friends of mine where also shocked as they thought it was me. They calmed down after reading the article in the local newspaper as the colour of the car is not the same as mine. According to the papers was the passenger unharmed, but the driver was hospitalizes with serious but not life threatening injuries.
The accident was reported 23.10.04 at 16.30 and was in the local news papers the following day i.e. yesterday. It took place in my hometown of Bergen, Norway.
One of the pictures shows the speedo locked at 120 km/ h after the crash (speed limit at site is 60 km/ h). This is highlighted in the papers but has really no value at all.
Witness says:
– a black car floated through the air
– the car made an insane pirouette
– the driver hung out of the car after his legs while the car flew through the air.
Bashed Bond Esprit
This Bond coloured Esprit was for sale on Ebay in mid August of 2004. With a starting price of £2,000 and not much visible damage, it could be a bargain, but you never know what's lurking beneath! Let's hope someone puts her back together again.
Wrecked Mark!
..... 45 minutes and out!
1987 Turbo Esprit HC 1st May 2004
Thought you might be interested in these picks of my 1987 Turbo HC Esprit. I had owned it for exactly 45 mins when I came off the Thrapston roundabout at around 45miles an hour. The turbo kicked in at exactly the wrong moment, sending my arse end out. I went into a spin and hit a Peugeot 206 coming the other way.
The other car was written off as was my beautiful Esprit. This was on 1st May 2004 and I have since acquired a new Turbo, however, the guilt still hasn't passed, that I feel for the old girl. The Turbos are great cars but if you haven't driven one before you need to be wary of the power, because I had owned a N/A but the Turbo was a completely different creature, especially in the rain.
Wrecked Neal!
..... that's the third in the Armco!
98 Esprit V8-GT July 2004
Neal McDonnell's 1998 V8-GT took a bashing into an Armco recently. As you can see from the pictures, it looks a little damp on the road, but this is now the third Esprit damaged in this way. LEW has also heard of an experienced S1 driver who lost it on a dry slip road.
It's seems the Esprit is having some problems with motorway slip road is both wet and dry conditions. It's affecting both Giugiaro and Stevens Esprit's, with an S1, Turbo and two V8's spinning.
So a warning to all Esprit drivers when entering any slip roads. Please be careful, none of the owners were going particularly fast and the rear was lost before they could react. We really don't want any more smacked up Esprit's!
Neal's Story
On my way to the Team Lotus event of all places! Must be something cursed about Hethel for me, destroyed a Westfield there at a track day last year too. Damage a little better than Nicholas', around the same as Robin's.
Exactly the same circumstances, road was very wet, came off a roundabout and tapped the throttle in third. Immediately the back went out and started oversteering anti-clockwise. Managed to correct that but then fishtailed the other way and couldn't collect the car before hitting the central barrier head on :-(
Car's at Kettering, about 80 miles from Lotus and I don't think there are any other dealers nearby so I guess the insurance company will have to take it to Lotus, especially since it's mainly bodywork damage.
On the plus side I should at least get the 2002 style front spoiler and rubber lip plus at least one Pilot Sport (there's a carcass bubble in the outside wall of the RHS tyre, dunno about the left). If I'm very lucky I might even get two new OZ 17"s – both were badly pitted with brake dust before but now have some kerbing damage...
Wrecked Mark!
..... And we walked away!
89 Esprit SE 29th November 2003
On Saturday my Esprit died, we were lucky it was only the car.
The weather on saturday was wet and we were accelerating along straight road to about 60 mph with a car in front and behind. Suddenly the back end stepped out, but the time I had corrected we had already hit the curb and the car was flung off the road into the trees at about 60 mph. The police informed me that the car hit 4 trees before coming to a standstill around 50yds from the road.
There was no bodywork aft of the b pillars except for the engine cover. The rear section and 1 rear alloy wheel was about 50 yds away. the other rear alloy was bent at 90 deg. Both cross struts between the a and b pillars were broken and all glass in the car was smashed. The drivers footwell had collapsed onto my right leg and the drivers door had been pushed in against my ribs. I was trapped for a few minutes until my fellow passenger managed to remove enough of the car for me to wiggly out.
As my self and a fellow list member walked away we looked back and both said "How the f**k did we survive that?"
We are both badly bruised and it will be a week before I get back to work. Any other car maybe we wouldn't have walked away but on the other hand any other car and it may have not happened.
Funny thing is I took my car keys out of the ignition before I walked away.
Mark Ledger (ex 89 SE)
Fired Esprit
This Esprit was on the race track apparently! (not confirmed) and suffered an engine fire and is how for sale here for $35,000 (don't think it's really got a six speed box – unless 6spd means something else across the pond!). So not fully Wrecked!
Wrecked Robin
1986 Turbo Esprit
These pictures are from 5th October 2003. Yahoo! member Robin's (Evil Dr Fish) Esprit was badly damaged when too much turbo on a wet bend cause it to spin and hit the crash barriers. All the damage was bodywork with no damage to the chassis or suspension. Luckily Robin and his passenger were uninjured in this accident, which is the most important thing. I hope this will remind you that the Esprit IS a supercar and to be careful.
Thanks to Robin for allowing Lotus Esprit World to use these pictures in his darkest hours.
Wrecked Nicholas!
1998 Esprit V8-GT
and Robin was his passenger!
These pictures were taken on 28th February 2004. Yahoo! member 'Brother' Nicholas explains.
"We were exiting the service on the M1 to head off to meet the Elise crowd. It had been pretty cold all day, with some snow. But when we got north the snow was all gone. However, the powdery salt remaining on the roads from the gritting from the snow storms last month was aplenty.
Not sure Nicholas was actually wearing the helmet at
the time! Derrick takes the responsibility of not damaging the Esprit (Oops
too, late).
Basically, in a hurry took a slight too wide line which put a rear tyre on the slippery stuff while I was in too low a gear. We were turning at the time, and so it lost the back. Got it back the first time slowing it down a lot, but couldn't settle it and it went the other way and smashed the drivers side nose into an Armco, then bounced back of spinning back onto a grass verge.
Somebody's happy, as the low-loader gets more Esprit business, Nicholas reflects next to the barrier, check the paint marks out!Basically, identical to robin's accident but at much slower speed. Fishy and me were both ok, as the speed was too low to feel it, but the fibreglass did. :-(
Andy Betts helps (well, not really) the Esprit onto
the low-loader!
But since we were fine, and the other cars were no where near us, it was a pretty straightforward incident."
LA Owners gets under!
The owners' name is Jeff Cook. He is one of our newest members, and was on his way to his first "Mountain Drive", with the club. The car is a beautiful 93 1/2 Black/Black Esprit SE, with a killer sound system, and Chrome Wheels.
He was on the freeway. Two cars ahead of him, someone locked up their breaks, the car behind them couldn't stop in time, and Jeff hit the second car. He is already talking to Claudius about a new set of Wilwood brakes.
Info supplied by Gordie (LA Lotus Club member)
Wrecked Glyn!
1986 Turbo Esprit
This happened on Good Friday 2004 while out for a drive. I came over the crest of a hill to see what I thought was a road that went straight on then the sudden realisation that it was in fact a sharp left hand corner with a straight entrance road to a college in front of it! So I got on the brakes and the back went light (due to being on the brow of a hill) and stepped out to the right and hit a car traveling in the opposite direction which then sent me into the grass bank at the side of the road!!
Thankfully every one was ok in both vehicles and to me it looks like the damage to the esprit isn't too bad, as it is only the bolt on bits that took heavy damage the radiator and oil cooler are fine as is the suspension but we will have to wait and see.
Glyn Rowling
If you have any information or comment on this page. Feel free to e-mail at admin@lotusespritworld.com.
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