Lotus Esprit is an iconic British sports car produced by Lotus Cars from 1976 to 2004. It was designed by the Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro of the Italdesign studio and first shown as a concept car at the 1972 Turin Motor Show. Series production began four years later.
The Lotus Esprit became a cult classic thanks to its futuristic, «origami» styling, all sharp lines and a wedge-shaped profile. Over its nearly thirty-year run, the model went through several major revisions, from the S1 through to the final S4, but always kept its recognizable silhouette.
The car became especially famous through its film appearances. In «The Spy Who Loved Me» (1977), part of the James Bond series, a Lotus Esprit transforms into a submarine. The association with Richard Gere mentioned in the text, however, refers to a different famous film — «Pretty Woman» (1990), in which the actor appears behind the wheel of a luxurious Lotus Esprit SE.
Interestingly, after «Pretty Woman» came out, with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, sales of the Lotus Esprit did in fact rise noticeably. By some accounts, US sales of the model grew by 30% within a year of the film’s premiere — a textbook example of successful product placement in film.
Technically, the Lotus Esprit was a genuine sports car: mid-engine layout, low weight (about 1,300 kg), and turbocharged versions producing up to 300 horsepower. Its performance was impressive for its era — 0 to 100 km/h in about 4.7 seconds and a top speed of around 270 km/h in its most powerful trims.
The Lotus Esprit embodied the British approach to building sports cars — lightweight construction, excellent handling, and a compact but powerful engine. Today, vintage Esprits, especially those tied to film history, are sought-after collector cars.