This is a representative of British sports that the supercar generation adores
The “RETRA JAM (Retractable Car Jamboree) Vol. 2” is increasingly being attended by foreign car users. Among the Ferrari 328GTS, F355 Berlinetta, and Chevrolet C5 Corvette, the Lotus Esprit stood out in particular. The owner is “Offboy,” who is now 67 years old. We asked him about the Esprit, which he says is the second car he has owned in his life after becoming interested in the model because of a movie.
The Esprit appeared in a popular movie as the car in the movie
Every car enthusiast has seen a car that appeared in a movie and has a crush on it. Offboy is one such person, and it was a movie that sparked his interest in the Lotus Esprit. 007″ and “Pretty Woman. The Esprit S1 driven by James Bond (played by Roger Moore) and the Esprit SE driven by Edward Lewis (played by Richard Gere) appeared in these two movies and were burned into his mind as the cars of his dreams. Then, about 15 years ago, I bought my first Esprit.
“I was over 50 years old, so I thought it was time to drive the car of my dreams. I got a 1989, 2.2L turbo SE. I think I drove it for 3-4 years, but the fuel tank rusted and cracked, the ECU broke and had to be replaced, and so on. Finally, it broke down so much that I got tired of continuing to drive it and sold it.”
But “Offboy” is now over 60 years of age, and he realizes that he is approaching the limit of what he can drive in the cars he once admired. While he was trying to imagine what he would like to drive for the last time, he happened to see this car for sale on the Internet. After contacting him, he lost contact with him for about six months, but his refusal to give up paid off, and he began negotiations.
Because the former owner lived in Hokkaido, he arranged for land transportation and himself arrived there by plane. I paid on the spot, had the land transportation company pick it up the same day, and had it transported to my home in Kyushu for about a week. It was about a year ago that he became an Esprit owner for the second time in his life.
translated by DeepL
