An S2 "for parts or restoration" ended up in a corner of my new garage.  Ever since I saw James Bond drive that neat little white wedge missile on the roads of Monaco, engine barking and with a razor sharp turn in, I've known in the back of my mind that one of these I have to have one day.  Driving one that a friend had owned some years ago didn't make the Lotus experience any less tempting.

The deal on the net sent me on a ferry to England with my wife, my daily driver and a small trailer.

Well, what I bought was not really a car as such.  It was a body, a backbone frame and an engine.  But since it came with an identity, I can spend the next 10 years building everything up and get it registered on Norwegian licence plates.

Update 09.07.2008:

Due to the dubious state of the chassis of my car I have been thinking about upgrading to an S3 version.  Those are galvanized and thus very well protected against rust, which is more than can be said about the one that came with my project.

In addition on the S3 Lotus stopped using the drive shafts as upper suspension arms, and installed real arms in stead.  They are therefore more resistant to wear than the S1 and S2.

And when an S3 chassis showed up on EBay I put in a bid, and got it at a reasonable price.  Which meant that I had to find a way of getting it home.  Some thinking and checking later, the solution was a short trip across the North sea with plane, buying a relatively cheap Volvo 940 off EBay and taking the chassis on the roof back home, through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and in to Norway in a single sweep.

For now I have to keep updated by the means of internet, and one of the absolute best pages for people interested in Lotus Esprit is this one:

Lotus Esprit World