Welcome to my site.
This site is about a 1976 series1 lotus Esprit I'm restoring.
This is car has never been completed
has a body/chassis number of 106J.
It was imported to New Zealand late 1976 by Steel Bros of Christchurch.
Previous owners intended it to be a race car but it was never completed.
It has yet to be road registered! (only test drives)
When I purchased the car it had no interior/wiring/brake lines and only a windscreen. The person I purchased it off decide that rather than doing the important things like wiring /brakes etc' he would chop the back of the car out and rivet on a piece of alloy onto the rear hatch where the rear window should be as well as alloy mesh and a couple of fiat 850 tail lights, trying to make look like a Ferrari. It took over 9mths and a lot of work to undo then graft in pieces to make back to the way should look.
Modifications include:
Adjustable for camber etc' rose jointed front suspension.
Adjustable for camber etc' trailing arm rear suspension (which has been beefed up from original) and no longer uses the drive shaft as a structural part of the suspension.
have found a number stamped into the chassis,
W18 CKD FOR NEW ZEALAND
I have asked Lotus Norfolk why it has an odd chassis number and they said it was a CKD (Complete Knock Down) Esprit the only one to be sent to New Zealand. I one have a very unique Esprit.
any information regarding this car would be much appreciated email me at:
robbsimpson@yahoo.com
