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Amateur Video Footage of Two Lotus Esprit's

The first model is from the 90's, but the second one is definitely my favourite and looks more like the one Roger Moore used as James Bond.

Lotus Esprit

You may remember the white Esprit driven by Roger Moore in the 1977 James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. Not only did he drive it on the road, but he drove it underwater like a submarine, too. Of course, the actual road car couldn't drive underwater! I also remember there being a toy model version, too.

Launched in 1976, the Esprit featured Italian styling, a French gearbox and British engineering. It also boasted a 2.0 litre, 16v 1973cc engine and had a top speed of 135mph (217 km/h). In 1980 a 2.2 Esprit and Esprit Turbo were launched, with the latter capable of reaching 150 mph and up to 210bhp - standard models were 160bhp.

The sharp lines in the body design looked fantastic in the 70s, but the car was starting to look a little dated by the mid-1980s, especially when compared to a Ferrari 308 or 328. It wasn't until 1988 when these lines were softened with a re-design by Peter Stevens. Personally, though, I much prefer the original 70s models.