newbie

[lisalotus]

Hi there

I am a esprit owner (ducks for cover)who is looking at buying a gt40 in the near future. Not in any hurry, probably wait till spring when the weather is a bit better. Not driven a gt40 yet, but if its anything like my esprit I wouldn,t want to drive one in this wet weather either. Anyway any advise would be gratefully received.

[Ron Earp]

I'm a former Esprit owner and there are a few others here as well. I think you'll find the community well populated with knowledgable people. Since you are in the UK you undoubtedly have a chance to look at a lot of completed cars before you decide what to get. Good luck and enjoy the forum.

Ron

[Tony Hunt]

Hi Lisa,
Welcome to the forum.
May I recommend that you join the GT40 Enthusiasts Club before committing cash to a car?
Depending on where you live, you could be near a regional meeting, where you can meet owners, look at cars and get to sniff the wind for good cars for sale.
Failing that, we have an active Club and a first-rate magazine. We meet up early in the GT40 year (April/May) at the Stoneleigh show and organise track days, trips to Le Mans, presence at the Festival of Speed and Classic Car Show, to name but a few.
You wouldn't be our only lady member and owner! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif[/img]

[lisalotus]

Hi there
Yeh I,ve already been in touch with a guy from the midlands region, (richard guest), hes given me some good advise, and I,ll definitely go the stoneleigh gathering.
Are there any other lady owner/drivers that you know of, theres one or two of us in the esprit world but not many.
Thanks for the warm welcome

[Ron Earp]

Ah, didn't dawn on me that you are of the female variety! My apologies. There were not many females when I fooled with Loti on the Pistonheads site. Kylie down under and one or two others as I recall. Here there are a few, some women in the GTD GT40 club (you'll find it listed further down) that drive, Wendy whom I know from my UK visits and Mo, both who drive their 40s in competition events. As far as on the forum I think you are maybe the second female poster here, welcome and don't be scared off from these characters!

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Hi Lisa - welcome to the forum....

You'll not find a better place for sensible, reasoned advice, so take your time and view as many as you can.

If you're into track days or competition, contact dave.parker@gtd40club.co.uk as we have a superb line-up of events planned for 2006.

As Tony mentions, both Wendy and Mo compete in GTD40s and another lady has joined our ranks, intending to compete with us next year on circuit and hill. Should be fun as she has a Roush 427 Daytona Coupe and a 600+BHP Viper GTS to choose from.. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[lisalotus]

Thanks Paul
Nice to talk to you this morning, I think the car we talked about is going to fetch more than I have at the moment, but if you hear of anything else I,d be very gratefull

[Simon H]

Hi Lisa

Welcome to the forum!. If you are going for a GT40 rep you have found the best site to get information. I am sure any details you need will be found here. The GT40 enthusiasts club is also a good place to start. I have owned three Lotus Esprit's and still own a gleaming white S1 esprit. They are one of my fav cars (apart from the gt!!). I purchased my KVA GT40 replica earlier this year as a project and will hopefully fully finish it soon, if no more problems arise.
The Esprit driving position is not miles away from the GT40 but they are lower and a bit ungainly to get in and out of. It would be worth doing as much research as you can before you purchase one. In the UK most cars on the market will be KVA, GTD or Tornado. Are you going to have one built or buy a completed car?. If you ar going to build, MDA or Tornado are good companies that are UK based.
Which Esprit model do you own?. I still enjoy using my Esprit (as does the wife!)and think that for the money they are hard to beat!

Regards

Simon

[lisalotus]

Hi Simon

My lotus is an s4 1993, had it about 6 years. Looking for a gtd gt40, ready built and on the road would be nice, I made an offer on the gt that was for sale on ebay, but he was looking for more money than I have, shame, cos it looked nice.
I havn,t driven a gt yet, but where as I would consider the esprit is quite easy to drive, maybe more lady friendly, I,m getting the feeling that the gt is definatly a mans car, which is okay, cos the other half is going to drive it more than myself anyway, (hoorah, gets him out of my esprit [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banana.gif[/img]). If you hear of anything for sale, I,d be gratefull if you could let me know.
What year is your esprit???????????????
Where in the country are you??????, I,m in Leicestershire.
Have you discovered the esprit forum, if you havn,t you should, their a right friendy bunch, and theres loads of good tech advise.
Maybe see you at a gt meet????????
lisa

[Simon H]

Hi Lisa

The S4 Esprit's are great cars and do see to be holding their value quite well. I have never owned a Stevens shaped Esprit, all my previous ones have been the earlier Guigaro shape. I love both but had always had a soft spot for the S1 (probably came from watching too much james bond as a kid!). It took me a long time to find my S1 Esprit as they are a bit rare to find in good order now.

My Esprit was built in 1978 and was one of the last few made. I have to say that it has been completely reliable and gets used quite regularly. I live on the Isle of Wight and it is ideally suited to the twisty roads we have down here. I am a member of Lotus Esprit World (pictures in the owners section) but have not seen the Esprit forum, I will have a look see.

Sorry to hear you missed the GT on E-Bay, they do turn up on there now and then so keep an eye out. I did see a few on the Autotrader recently, but they are for quite high money. If you keep a look out on this site and with the GT40 Enthusiasts Club I am sure the right car will turn up!.

Regards

Simon