These days it seems like the dream of a new Lotus Esprit is getting nothing but further away, while the troubled company responsible for it applies the classic black and gold livery to everything it produces – and many things produced by others. But there was a time when the original Esprit was a mechanical wonder to behold, and the JPS livery was championed by arguably the greatest driver who ever lived.
That driver, of course, was Ayrton Senna. And to mark the 18th anniversary of his death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, a German outfit called Cam-Shaft Premium Wrapping has created this special edition in his honor. Instead of starting with the original four-cylinder Esprit, though, Cam Shaft went with the later turbo V8 and laid over its black paint a series of gold decals evocative of the iconic livery which Senna sported on his 1985 Lotus 97T, including a reproduction of his signature on the panel in front of the door.
The German firm didn’t stop there, however. They gave the Esprit new turbos, an intercooler and cats to drive output up from 354 horsepower (stock) to 492 hp, drop the 4.9-second 0-62 time down to 4.3 seconds and increase the top speed from 282 km/h to 305. They also fitted it with a new six-speed gearbox to replace the old five-gear unit, upgraded the brakes with AP Racing four-pot calipers on 330mm cross-drilled discs and fitted it with a chassis control switch similar to a Ferrari manettino.
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