[maxvelocity]

Roy,
I will fill you and anyone from the past in on what has been happening with. As you might recall I joined the Turbo list around maybe 1999 or 2000. I lurked for perhaps a year or so gleaning all sorts of info from there and KFM. This is also where I made initial contact with the LOON's (Lotus Owners Of da North). Talk about a mega store house of Lotus expertise. A car club with many people of overlapping areas of expertise, many of us have an engineering background so what we don't know we are able to understand and learn. My first time meeting people in the club and I'm thinking these people can disassemble an Esprit to the bare frame and put everything back together. An Esprit with a 10 y/o T belt is fairly common. My former Esprit was such a car and was originally owned by Mark Higgs the running back of the Miami Dolphins during the Marino days with really low miles and not driven much. If not for the people I met on the turbo list I would have driven it home to MN from Florida and it would have probably ended up in disaster. I had the 10 y/o T belt changed and a new set of tires in FL before the drive home. A 2K mile trip home without a mishap and many years of trouble free ownership just regular maintenance. As we watched the novices on the turbo lists grow to become the experts and the go to guys a lot of us became content with going back to where we started from just lurking. With children launching off to college and tight family finances the time had come to sell off my SE shortly after the economy tanks. I think Shadeone got his car from Fox Valley around the time I sold my car locally to Jay G. At times they used to get together as they are very similar cars in near pristine shape. While Shadeone has the same chrome wheels my former car has a smoother look to it because of the flushed in side marker lights used in the BMW cars. I have seen several photos of the cars side by side. Jay has owned my former Esprit for many trouble free years of ownership an excellent caretaker of this fine automobile. Fast forward many years later. Last kid graduating college spring 2014 and many thousands poorer but HA I'm done soon LOL. I discover that Chris Urban's former 91 Midnight Blue has broken a timing belt. I go to inspect it and it is cosmetically very pretty with all new interior but has some issues. I am working at getting it back on the road in time for next driving season. So like a phoenix I'm back once again. I understand that Shadeone is getting married soon and life's priority calls on him to sell his car. At least he got a chance to experience something very few do. If he is willing he will one day have another chance in the future as you, I and others who have faced similar situations.

Cal H

 

[Turbo R]

Truly great to see you back and on here, Cal...it has been a long time since I last saw you and your car in Minnesota. I will never forget my good friends there and the warm reception extended to me by you and the LOONs...truly a beautiful thing!

Ah, so side markers tell the tale! Over the years, I have seen pictures of Shadeone's red SE parked alongside another red SE, also with chrome wheels and had always wondered. Now I know which car was yours. I always loved your car!

Happy to hear that life is going well and that your kids are now finished with college. Fantastic that you are back with an Esprit again and that things are back to normal. Hmmmmm...not too many midnight blue '91 SEs out there. I recall a friend and local clubmember named Brian Mota having one back around '98. He moved away to NY shortly after and disappeared completely from the forums. I wonder if it is the same car. If there is orange peel on the underside of the rear wing (long story), there is a good chance it is the same car. Then again, I have seen one or two pop up from time to time over the past decade so maybe not.

Anyway, so happy that you are back and with Esprit again!

Keep in touch...my email is r n a k a m u r a 1 1 1 @ gmail . com
(one one one, not L L L)

Roy
'88 Commemorative Esprit Turbo
former princecharming808, now TURBO R

 

[maxvelocity]

Nope underside of the wing is pristine no orange peel. Old timers would know it as the car owned by Chris Urban (aka chrismsnt or chris 91 midnight blue) who lived just north of Chicago. Many would recall Chris had to sell this car part way through restoration without the interior installed. But was sold with all the bits and pieces for a complete new interior via the Lotus USA clearance sale. All the leather and carpets are in brand new shape. It also has a glass roof. except for a few flaws the paint is in good shape. The wood dash pieces are delaminating but I do have plan for that. My son is into sport bikes so I started making carbon fiber parts for his Suzuki fairings. So I have enough blue carbon fiber cloth that is so close to the body color to make the instrument panels out of it. The cloth is awesome every other weave is blue and black carbon. I might even attempt make some body parts like the canards, pillar trims and rear plinth. So that will probably be my summer project

 

[lotus4s]

Hey Calvin,

Great to see you back in the Lotus fold! Looking forward to seeing pics of your Esprit.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[shadeone]

Hey Calvin!
Good to see you here!!!

pic of the "twins" in the rain... Calvins old car on the left:

 

[Turbo R]

Calvin,
Oh yes, I remember Chris now. That was a long time ago! That blue carbon fiber looks great...definitely post some pics of your project this summer. I'm sure many of us would love to see how you do it as so many '97 and earlier Esprits are experiencing that delamination of wood now.

Thanks for posting that pic, Shadeone! A great picture to wake up to...now I can tell which car was which.

Happy Sunday, all!!!

Roy

 

[maxvelocity]

Shadeone,
I enjoyed my previous SE. You can see the difference of the BMW flush side marker lights, not as tall and longer than the stock marker lights. Rears side marker is similar but red lens. Have seen the start of the sell off of your Lotus items. A few of us have been there done that. Sometimes life does get in the way of the Lotus experience. But the way I look at it, it is better to have had the Lotus experience than none at all. I suspect your Esprit will be for sale during or at the end of the next season. When I sold my car I was not really ready to part with it but I had too. Just fortunate that I sold right before the total collapse of the economy. So here I am back with a similar Esprit. Funny that I do have history with 91 midnight blue from years ago. Rewind in History to fall of 1998. I am visiting relatives in Elgin, Ill. I drove through a nearby town and saw a car dealership called St Charles Motors (people from there went to FVMC). There it was 91 midnight blue with about 7K on the clock, car salesmen know within minutes if they are talking to serious car and he let me take it for a spin. Would not budge on the price so must have been on consignment. Car is sold and disappears to the east to the Charlotte, NC area. 2002 Chris Urban brings car back to the Chicago area. He has issues with the car and strips the complete interior and I do mean complete. He buys complete interior from the Lotus USA garage sale but never finishes the interior. 2004 Car is sold unfinished with bits and pieces as project. 2013 the Esprit's home has been just a few miles from my home since 2004 and I only saw it once during the last 9 years and it resurfaces for sale with bent valves.