by On the Turbo insert No. 41, the legendary Lotus Esprit coupe is depicted. The affordable British sports car became one of the iconic cars of the 70s. 
The history of the model began in 1969. At that time, Lotus cars dominated Formula 1, and in showrooms one of the first mass-produced mid-engine cars – Lotus Europa – was sold.
Lotus head Colin Chapman decided to release an image-boosting flagship model. The design was entrusted to the brilliant Giorgetto Giugiaro. He created the low wedge-shaped Lotus Kiwi coupe with retractable headlights. 
By 1976, the Kiwi evolved into the serial Lotus Esprit. For its time, the Lotus sports car looked no less avant-garde than the Lamborghini Countach but was several times cheaper.
To reduce the cost of the car, the gearbox was borrowed from the Citroen SM, and the lights from the Fiat X1/9. 
The technology was also advanced, as the Esprit had one of the world’s first engines with 4 valves per cylinder. The two-liter four-cylinder engine developed 160 hp and allowed acceleration to 100 km/h in 7 seconds, reaching 220 km/h. Incidentally, the car weighed only 900 kg. Perhaps the best advertisement for the Lotus Esprit was its appearance in the James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me.” There, the car turns into a submarine with torpedoes.
Incidentally, Elon Musk recently bought Bond’s Lotus. 
The insert depicts the charged 1981 Lotus Esprit Turbo. Its 2.2-liter 210 hp turbocharged engine accelerated the Lotus coupe to 240 km/h. By the way, agent 007 also used this car in the film “For Your Eyes Only.” In total, 8660 first-generation Lotus Esprits were produced by 1987.
