The Encor Series 1 Is A Stunning £430k Lotus Esprit Restomod

It’s been a couple of months now since we first heard of Encor Design, another entrant in the swelling ranks of restomodders, and its plan for a sort of ‘greatest hits’ reinterpretation of the Lotus Esprit, pairing the looks of the early Series 1 car – appropriately updated, obviously – with the V8 engine of the very late ones.

That car, the Series 1, has now been unveiled in full, and would you just look at it? As promised, it’s based around the strengthened chassis and drivetrain of a late Esprit, complete with its 3.5-litre twin-turbo V8. Said V8 has been treated to forged pistons, new injectors and turbos, an electronic throttle body, new fueling and cooling systems and a stainless steel exhaust, so that it’s now knocking out somewhere in the region of 400bhp and 350lb ft of torque.

The five-speed manual gearbox has also been reengineered and uprated with the help of Quaife, which has also fitted a twin-plate clutch and one of its limited-slip diffs. All this helps propel the Series 1 to 62mph in around 4.0 seconds and on to 175mph.

Underneath, there are AP Racing brakes and suspension built to the spec of the hardcore Esprit Sport 350, but purists will be overjoyed to hear that the power steering remains hydraulically powered.

The bodywork harks back to the jaw-dropping Giugiaro-styled Series 1 Esprit, first revealed 50 years ago in 1975, but tightens up everything to a modern standard and does away with the raised line that encircled the original car, a result of the moulds used to make its fibreglass body.

The body is, of course, no longer fibreglass. Instead, it’s carbon fibre, helping keep targeted weight down below 1200kg. Don’t worry, though – the Esprit’s best feature, its pop-up headlights, remain, now reimagined as slender LED projectors.

The interior harks back to the original car too, with its tartan seats and wood-topped gearknob, but bits have been reimagined for the modern age: there’s a digital gauge cluster in a surround milled from a single piece of aluminium, and an infotainment screen too, while the dashboard is now made from carbon fibre.

Want one? You’ll need three things: a V8 Esprit donor car, at least £430,000 plus taxes, and to be quick, as Encor plans to produce only 50 Series 1s. Better get cracking.