If I had roughly £30'000 to spend on a Lotus now - what would I get?

Just a bit of fun for an Easter Sunday afternoon because I like dreaming...

With my previous Evora still being for sale at £35'995 (which is perhaps a tad high), and having had a few circa £30k Lotus cars in the past. I thought I'd dream what I would get if I had circa £30k now.

The Lotus I most fancy getting now would be a Lotus Esprit, and when I look on Pistonheads and AutoTrader, well, it's a fairly easy choice for me. Check it out:

Lotus Esprit GT3 Turbo, 1999.  Chrome Orange metallic.  Stunning example and one of the last GT3 Esprits in Chrome Orange - UK Sports CarsUK Sports Cars

£34,995

Lotus Esprit GT3 Turbo, 1999.  Chrome Orange metallic.  Stunning example and one of the last GT3 Esprits in Chrome Orange as confirmed by the Lotus Archive department.  Superb condition throughout with a full and continuous service history and Owner’s Handbook with the service stamps from the supplying Lotus Main Agent:  Storm of Leicester and other Lotus specialists.  This one of the best Esprits you will ever drive, with amazing responsive power steering, fantastic brakes and pinpoint handling. Removable factory roof.  Air conditioning.  Uprated Brembo brakes.  I was fortunate to be at the Lotus factory in late 1996 and saw a bright Chrome Orange GT3 roll off the production line. Great memory.   We have sold many GT3s and they are a very refined machine and they tick all of the boxes in all departments.  Freshly MOT’d and new front tyres just fitted.   Described by Autocar as “Britain’s Best Driver’s Car”.  This one won the Club Lotus Concours in July 2013 (Class-Winner).   An outstanding example.

Absolutely gorgeous:

Palacio Purple Lotus Esprit

An honourable mention must also go to this gorgeous 'Palacio Purple' Lotus Esprit. I'm not sure if it is a little over priced at £34'999 (same as the above Esprit GT3), but it is a very unique colour, and uniqueness is always worth a little extra.

Check it out:

1994 Lotus Esprit S4 Turbo £34,999 (nmg.co.uk)

£34'999

Noya Motors are delighted to offer our Lotus Esprit 2.2 S4 Turbo 2dr in Palacio Purple, the car is verified as the only UK spec made by Lotus in this colour. Only one other exists in this colour, a federal spec car. Over the past 8 years the car has had a comprehensive plan of work carried out including: three cam belt changes, services and maintenance including items like shocks, brake pads, new exhaust manifold, new clutch, new radiator, new brake system (now servo assisted), new starter motor, new wiper assembly, new battery, new fuel tanks, new gearbox linkage, new exhaust, new catalytic convertor and a new gear shift. The last service was carried out in March along with the MOT and a new cam belt and tensioners were fitted. All of the above work has been carried out by renowned Lotus specialists GST Performance based in Newmarket.

A few select photos (I love the interior colour too):

Or a return of the Evora?

Or, if I really did have £35k to put on a Lotus, would I not just buy back my old Evora?

I think there would be many advantages to this. The Evora is a brilliant car, and it's a massive bonus having a super reliable Toyota engine. The Evora would definitely be more usable than the Esprit (having said that, there are people on Facebook groups who daily drive even older Esprits that those above.)

I always fancied repainting my old Evora in the Lamborghini colour Verde Ithaca (Ithaca Green) and changing to the Evora 400 style front bumper (I think the original Evora / Evora S had a better butt.)

One thing, having listened to a few Lotus Esprit GT3's on YouTube, I have to say that my previous Evora sounds better, and sound being so important to me, I worry if meeting my hero (the Esprit) with a less than super sounding four cylinder engine, might turn out to be a disappointment.

I had a listen to the Esprit V8 also, and that didn't sound much better (than the four cylinder in the GT3). To be fair, hearing things in person is totally different to hearing stuff on YouTube. Really I need to experience an Esprit firsthand.

Or a Porsche 911 996?

Now the conversation moves away from Lotus. And I wonder if my passion for Lotus is waning. Partly because my 986 Boxster S has turned out to be quite a revelation - what a brilliant car. So if I had the money to spend, might I just get a Porsche 911 996 to go alongside my Boxster 986?

The Porsche Flat 6 sounds so good. It would be fun to have the same generation 911 and Boxster together. And I saw an absolutely gorgeous one in what looks like Nightfall Blue (one of my favourite colours.) £15995 too (for a 2000 car with 138'000 miles.)