Pics with DocL's Lotus Esprit

[dquarasr2]

Met Prime's own DocL for lunch today and got to see (and drive!) his Lotus Esprit, the replacement for his NSX. Very neat car, makes great sounds.

We drove to a café on Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. Here are some pics.






A view out the window of the café:
[BS MODE ON]Rob's is on the far left, mine is on the far right. [BS MODE OFF]:biggrin:

 

[DocL]

Met Prime's own DocL for lunch today and got to see (and drive!) his Lotus Esprit, the replacement for his NSX. Very neat car, makes great sounds.

It was great seeing you again Doug. Some of those sounds were from the beans in the Taco Salad i had for lunch. Sorry! :biggrin:

 

[stuntman]

We need to meet up sometime. I'm in wellington.

Nice car!

 

[DocL]

We need to meet up sometime. I'm in wellington.

Nice car!

Absolutely. A few years ago I missed meeting you when you were racing a Porsche at the Daytona 24hr. I bought a spot on the car for the campaign that you were raising money for at the time. I think something to do with the ASPCA.

 

[CL65 Captain]

A view out the window of the café:
[BS MODE ON]Rob's is on the far left, mine is on the far right. [BS MODE OFF]:biggrin:

[/QUOTE]

The planes on the left and right are Canadair Challengers, if you need some one to crew them I have about 8,000 hrs in type. The Challenger 850 I was flying ( aka a private CRJ200) is basically a Challenger 604 with a 20 foot stretch (count the windows to see how much bigger ) and additional 4,000 lb aux tanks.

BTW: You couldn't even afford the tires on those planes. $5,000 each. And you have to replace both when you blow one because the good one takes on the extra weight - gross Take Off weight is 52,500 lbs. I found out the hard way. And people ask me all the time.... "what's it cost to fill that thing up?" About $24k.

 

[IRVINFLA]

Next time you go, give me a call. You can pick me up in the one on the right or left, depending on your political mood of that day,or, I will take my own transportation. I need a photo op!

 

[stuntman]

Absolutely. A few years ago I missed meeting you when you were racing a Porsche at the Daytona 24hr. I bought a spot on the car for the campaign that you were raising money for at the time. I think something to do with the ASPCA.

Awesome, thank you for the support! I'm always at Daytona every January, so you'll haveto try to make it out to that or Sebring in March. In the meantime we should catch up sometime.

CL65 Captain - if you keep flat spotting tires, you might be out of a job! I'd expect more from someone who tracks their car. LOL jk.

 

[RSO 34]

Doc's car gets so much attention that when he came up to visit in Jupiter a couple of weeks ago the dude in the guardhouse tried to charge him $50 to park...........

 

[pjr300]

Lotus Esprit.... mmmmmmmm...

 

[DocL]

Doc's car gets so much attention that when he came up to visit in Jupiter a couple of weeks ago the dude in the guardhouse tried to charge him $50 to park...........

The Esprit gets a lot more attention than my NSX did, especially by women. They recognize the car from the movie Pretty Woman. Fortunately my wife thinks that cars only get the attention from other men. She witnessed that with the NSX and always laughed. She hasn't even sat in the Esprit yet.

 

[jaybird]

Wow Doc - gotta say that is a great looking Lotus. Funny - my wife has never sat in either my old 91 NSX or the current 01 NSX (not a car gal . . .) - but she does chuckle when she has been out when I'm washing it and a bunch of guys come down the street in their modded Honda and honk and give me the thumbs up - she says "I guess this is a guy's car"... The Pretty Women movie did a lot of marketing for Lotus! Cheers, Jay

 

[shawn110975]

nice how do you like it or should I say can you do a compare to the NSX? what are the differences?

nice color I want one of the older ones though like in that chick flick movie.... um..... pretty women :redface:

you can say that you don't see your car driving around much so your king of the road huh

 

[dirtbag]

Beautiful machines.. All of them!

The Espirt V8 has been in my sights for a very long time. I need a lift, badly. Although I know exactly what will happen once I install a lift. The vehicle on top will never get driven. I may settle for a Piper. Seeing this thread makes me want to get back into flying.

 

[synergy004]

Love the esprit, been looking for the 25th Anniversary in red for quite sometime.

 

[DocL]

nice how do you like it or should I say can you do a compare to the NSX? what are the differences?

nice color I want one of the older ones though like in that chick flick movie.... um..... pretty women :redface:

you can say that you don't see your car driving around much so your king of the road huh

I've only put about 1000 miles on it since I've had it, so I'm still getting adjusted to how it drives. However, it demands a much different driving style than the NSX.

First, the car has tons of torque with the V8, and when the boost kicks in the car builds up speed very quickly. The gearing is not as tall as the NSX and the redline is at 6500, so getting used to keeping it in the sweet spot is a little more challenging. I loved how I could drive around town in 2nd with the NSX and be able to hit 80mph when merging onto the highway. With the Esprit you're already in 3rd, but once again, the car has tons of torque so I don't have to downshift as much. The Esprit is obviously a little bigger in dimension to the NSX and weighs 3042lbs, but it's more nimble than it looks. The 2004's were the last year built and the only year that they put in a fully adjustable coilover suspension. The Esprit also came from the factory with AP Racing 4pot brakes in the front which feel much better than the NSX OEM brakes.

In the 17 years that I've lived here, I've never seen an Esprit on the road. I see the occasional NSX, but in Boca you see everything on a daily basis.

Love the esprit, been looking for the 25th Anniversary in red for quite sometime.

Yeah, you'll be looking for a very long time. They made so few in each color that when a good one comes up for sale it is usually gone very quickly if priced right. You gotta check eBay every day. Also, it's best to get one with a little more miles than a garage queen. They need to be driven. The service costs aren't much more than the NSX, but if you don't have a mechanic who knows these cars well then I advise you don't buy one. Luckily I have a Lotus factory trained mechanic who knows these cars very well.

 

[synergy004]

I've only put about 1000 miles on it since I've had it, so I'm still getting adjusted to how it drives. However, it demands a much different driving style than the NSX.

First, the car has tons of torque with the V8, and when the boost kicks in the car builds up speed very quickly. The gearing is not as tall as the NSX and the redline is at 6500, so getting used to keeping it in the sweet spot is a little more challenging. I loved how I could drive around town in 2nd with the NSX and be able to hit 80mph when merging onto the highway. With the Esprit you're already in 3rd, but once again, the car has tons of torque so I don't have to downshift as much. The Esprit is obviously a little bigger in dimension to the NSX and weighs 3042lbs, but it's more nimble than it looks. The 2004's were the last year built and the only year that they put in a fully adjustable coilover suspension. The Esprit also came from the factory with AP Racing 4pot brakes in the front which feel much better than the NSX OEM brakes.

In the 17 years that I've lived here, I've never seen an Esprit on the road. I see the occasional NSX, but in Boca you see everything on a daily basis.



Yeah, you'll be looking for a very long time. They made so few in each color that when a good one comes up for sale it is usually gone very quickly if priced right. You gotta check eBay every day. Also, it's best to get one with a little more miles than a garage queen. They need to be driven. The service costs aren't much more than the NSX, but if you don't have a mechanic who knows these cars well then I advise you don't buy one. Luckily I have a Lotus factory trained mechanic who knows these cars very well.

Thanks DOc, I have driven a few 25th Anniversaries and have seen silver 25th anniversaries but i'll wait. The first Lotus I've driven was a 25th Anni red on black Esprit and WOW.

 

[dquarasr2]

We need to meet up sometime. I'm in wellington.

Nice car!

Billy, maybe we can get it together this Friday at Tower Shoppes; we try (but usually fail at least during the hot summer months) to get NSXers together the fourth Friday of each month at the cruise-in there. See this thread and post there if you can make it July 25, 2014:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showt...ower-Shops-Calender-4th-Friday-Of-Every-Month

But NOTE this cruise night is coming to an end, the last Tower Shoppes event will be August 1. That site has been lost for the cruise night. Details in my post today around 2:30pm EDT in the link above.

 

[Blacknot]

Great looking car for sure.

 

[AF330i]

Both cars look beautiful ... love the pictures of the planes as well ... I've driven that Lotus model before and damn was it fun ... Enjoy DocL

 

[stuntman]

Billy, maybe we can get it together this Friday at Tower Shoppes; we try (but usually fail at least during the hot summer months) to get NSXers together the fourth Friday of each month at the cruise-in there. See this thread and post there if you can make it July 25, 2014:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showt...ower-Shops-Calender-4th-Friday-Of-Every-Month

But NOTE this cruise night is coming to an end, the last Tower Shoppes event will be August 1. That site has been lost for the cruise night. Details in my post today around 2:30pm EDT in the link above.

I'm racing in Indy tomorrow. We will haveto get together soon though! Lmk. My schedule is usually open...