Encor Series 1 is a carbon-bodied, V8-powered tribute to the original Esprit launched 50 years ago
by Chris Chilton
18 minutes ago
- A British startup is bringing the classic Lotus Esprit into the 21st Century.
- The team starts with a late 1990s V8 Esprit and adds carbon panels.
- Fifty cars will be built, each one costing $579k plus the V8 donor car.
It had to happen. Other 1970s and ’80s classics like the Audi Ur-Quattro, Lancia 037, Ferrari Testarossa, and Porsche 911 Turbo have been reimagined for the modern era, and Giugiaro’s original Lotus Esprit was crying out for the same treatment. Now it’s getting it thanks to startup Encor, which has just dropped a couple of images of its first project in time for the 50th anniversary of the S1 Esprit’s debut.
And it’s definitely the crisp, wedgy S1 – made famous by its mountain chase and underwater exploits in 1977 Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me – that is Encor’s inspiration. The UK-based company recreates the car’s famous profile using new carbon fibre bodywork and gives the pop-up headlights a modern makeover using LED technology.
Modern Bones Under Vintage Skin
But while the style is all S1, significant chunks of the hardware come from Esprits of a much later vintage. The donor for each of the 50 builds is an Esprit V8, which was introduced in 1996 and lasted until the car was axed in 2004. Encor says the donor backbone chassis, engine, and gearbox are all retained to ensure “continuity with Lotus heritage,” though it also admits that it needs to keep these parts so the car can retain its original registration and avoid expensive homologation work.
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The twin-turbo 3.5-liter V8, which was Lotus’s own engine, used a supercar-style flat-plane crank and made 350 hp (355 PS) on its 1996 debut, versus a puny 160 hp (162 PS) for the 2.2-liter S1 two decades earlier. But Encor says its V8s are fully rebuilt and updated to deliver “higher performance, improved drivability and greater everyday usability.”
Cabin Rethink
S1 Esprits looked just as space-age on the inside to a mid-1970s audience thanks to a wraparound cockpit, but this time the materials and technology get a major boost through the use of leather, Alcantara, machined aluminium, Apple CarPlay, climate control, and 360-degree cameras. Anyone who’s ever sat in an Esprit or tried to park one will know how useful that last one is.
Encor’s team of ex Lotus and Aston Martin engineers plans to build 50 remastered Esprits, each costing a thick £430,000 ($579k) plus options, taxes, and the cost of a donor car. We’ll get our first look at the completed car next month, but we’re already thinking about where this venture could go next.
The company hasn’t revealed what cars it might consider for future projects, but it’s easy to see how it could follow the Series 1 up with a reimagined Esprit Turbo. Maybe one in zingy red and gold Essex Petroleum livery like the original blown 1980 S2 (see the last pics in the gallery below; 1990s V8 is shown in yellow).
Photos Lotus, UK Sports Cars, Car & Classic
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