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Alan Paterson's 1987

Alan Paterson from Hampshire, UK owns a 1987 Turbo in Calypso Red, with a gold/biscuit interior.

Model:

Turbo
Year: 1987
Colour: Calypso Red
Interior: Gold/Biscuit
Driving Style: Generally sensible, but show me a twisty bit of road.......
Miles per year: 3,000
Owned Since: July 2001
Purchase from: Derek Dean, Ruislip (now sold out to SWLC)
Serviced at: Lakeside Engineering ( for the difficult bits) & by myself
Other Cars: Vauxhall Astra & Rover Metro
Previous Lotus': None
Why an Esprit: When I saw the S1 in 'The Spy who Loved Me' at the age of 19, I thought it was the most beautiful car in the world but I figured I would never be able to afford one. 24 years later, as an IT Project Manager I visited a customer who had a red S3. Hmmmm! The cogs started going round. I went to just look at a Turbo ( just look, you understand) at Derek Dean's and put down a deposit that day. I'm the careful one in our relationship, and was egged on by Viv who sat in the passenger seat on the test drive saying 'Wow, buy it, buy it!'
Upgrades: Stainless steel braided clutch pipe, Wilwood clutch master cylinder, Ram Air, K&N Filter, Oil mist catch tank, Esprit stainless steel sill plates, alloy gearshift surround, alloy gearknob, alloy heater controls & updated heater panel.
Problems: Initial gear selection problem which was a broken pin, sticky rear brake caliper, crunchy gears fixed by fitting new slave and master cylinder. Throttle linkage fell apart one day due to sticky cable. Fixed all the above myself with advice and info from other owners.
Info:

I needed a new drivers door handle and, being Scottish, wasn't going to pay £56 a pair, so went to a scrapyard. Found one on an Allegro stacked at the top of a 3 high pile. Did my Chris Bonnington impression and was sitting inside the stripped out car when bolts of lightning started coming down around me. I sat on an old pile of rubber mats and prayed hard.

This car was Number 6 off the production line after they changed the shape from Guigiaro to Stevens. It's also featured in the book The Encyclopaedia of Dream Cars' by Chris Rees.

Encyclopaedia of Supercars

 

alan.paterson5@ntlworld.com

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