1999 Lotus Esprit V8 chrome yellow

High resolution pictures available at donferrario dot com slash toys or email for a link.
1999 Lotus Esprit V8 in gorgeous chrome yellow. This tri-coat high metallic paint was a desirable extra cost option. As shown in the pictures this car is a "wow". Everyone stops and stares at it. If you want to slip through town without notice this is not the car for you.
I have been a Lotus Esprit owner since 1985, nd am well known in the Lotus owner community. I have owned, ought and/or sold at least 30 Esprit over the years. My cars are always maintained to as new condition regardless of cost. A chrome yellow V8 was always on my bucket list.
This one came available a year ago, nd has been my project since. I knew when buying it that it needed a connecting rod bearing. That is not unheard of on the V8s due to insufficient bearing side clearance, sually on the second journal from the rear, nd sure enough thats what this one needed. We completely disassembled the engine, ortunately no other damage. The rod bearings come as a set so all were replaced. The connecting rod and piston were replaced with a known good used set just for good measure as the connecting rod side clearance machining was the source of the original failure.
Crankshaft, ams, lock, iners, ll that stuff was perfect as can be seen in some of the pictures. Head bolts were replaced the $600 head stud kit so they can be reused if necessary (the original head bolts are one time use only). While apart both heads were sent to a machine shop for testing, nd are flat within specs. The cylinder liner alignment was checked and is also in spec. The liners show no wear.
The car came to me with the beautiful Forge turbo waste gate acutators in aluminum, worthwhile upgrade. It also has the great Hi-Torque ECU. I'm not a tire burner but this car will easily break loose the rear tires in 1st, nd, r even third gear by simply standing on the throttle. No need to even touch the clutch. The previous owner apparently had a child for a passenger because a passenger side airbag cutout switch has been professionally installed, roperly wired. It works perfectly in the on or off positions.
The clutch was in good condition but given the miles I replaced the two discs with correct OEM versions. The pressure plate and flywheel were perfect, nd are shown in the pictures. I think this car had some careful owners because this is the first time I've ever opened up a V8 that the clutch was not already shot. I just could not bear to reassemble it with old discs. That is a $7k job if done on its own later.
Of course the timing belt and other belts were replaced while apart.
Refurbishing the car to become part of my collection I added a set of original Lotus V8 Saturn wheels recently professionally refurbished in the correct powder coat color (came to me with non-original wheels). While apart I replaced the oil pressure sensor switch, oolant level switch, nd had the starter overhauled (buried in the center of the engine, ou don't want to deal with that as a separate job so lets do it now). The red crinkle finish engine covers were properly refinished.
The chrome yellow paint shines like new. There are chips on the front bumper cover and a few other places around the car, ypical of these cars as they are now close to 20 years old. AutoCheck is clean, hows no prior accidents. I've been over, nder, nd through this car and can find no sign of prior accident repair. Carbon fiber front splitter has been added, ooks great!
Interior is above average for the type. They all have some wear on the driver seat, his one is less. The beautiful yellow piping on the seats is all good. Dash, arpet are all good. The light color leather on the dash shows some typical fading from sun.
Suspension is excellent. Shocks are not new but I am guessing they have been upgraded because they are good and tight. Most important all the suspension bushings are good and tight, hich is a common and expensive failure as these cars get older. Transmission is good, nd has new fluid of the correct type.
I have a stack of invoices from JAE for parts - expensive ones!
After all this work, pparently we did something wrong because we now have a cylinder head gasket leak on the left side. We did not have this problem before our work was done. It is leaking coolant into the combustion chamber, ot into the oil. The car runs strong, an be run long enough to load onto a truck but should not be driven on the road until the gasket leak is repaired. The engine has not overheated, e saw the problem and shut down long before that.
Has an expensive audio system with flip up screen, o idea if it works, never got that far.
We are more than capable of doing this repair but I am simply out of energy for this project. A nice 1999 Esprit fully sorted goes for about $35k. I'm pricing this one at $20k starting bid with no reserve. That leaves plenty of room for someone to make the repair and end up an amazing car.
You are bidding to purchase the car, ot for the right to examine it. Vehicle is sold as-is, here-is. I will make the ebay auction for the maximum allowed time so if you want to see the car before bidding you are welcome. I am available for questions by email, nd happy to answer any by phone. If you know these cars you will recognize this is a great opportunity. It saddens me to sell, just can't put more time into it.
LAST BIDDER GETS IT. Please do not ask what will buy it now. Make your best offer in the auction and you will know it will be there till the scheduled auction end.