Good morning, Autopians! This is it, the final Shitbox Showdown of 2023. And I don’t know about you, but I could use a break from the junk. I feel like writing about something I actually want for a change, so today we’re going to look at two all-time dream cars of mine. Weird choices, I know, but hey – I’m kind of a weird guy.
Yesterday, we checked out two low-mileage American heroes, and I guess I’m not surprised that the wagon took an easy win. It’s a good deal on a really appealing car, which makes me wonder why it has been for sale for so long; that car has popped up in my searches for at least a couple of months now. I guess enthusiasts don’t want an Oldsmobile wagon, and folks just looking for a car aren’t willing to gamble on something that old.
I think the Concorde would actually be a nicer car to drive, but that rebuilt title does give me pause. I’d want to take a closer look. And that’s always the problem with these challenges, isn’t it? There’s only so much you can glean from a few photos and a bit of text. To really know a car, you have to drive it. Sights, sounds, feelings, smells – these will all tell you within short order whether or not a car is worth your time, no matter how good it looked in the ad.
All right. Yesterday’s Autopian Asks question got me thinking, not about cars I’ve driven, but cars I really want to drive and haven’t had a chance to yet. Some of them are just because of their shifter types – I want to drive any Ferrari with a gated shifter, and any Citroën 2CV-based car with that weird umbrella-handle thing – and others, like these two, are just cars I want to experience, but wouldn’t want to own. We’ll leave that headache to someone else. But I sure would love to talk my way into a test-drive of either one of these. Let’s check them out.
1977 Lotus Esprit S1 – $25,000
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, RWD
Location: Elizabeth City, NC
Odometer reading: 47,000 miles
Operational status: “Runs strong, drives excellent”
It seems strange to me that after all these years surrounded by British car nerds, I have yet to drive any sort of Lotus. (Or any decent Jaguar, for that matter; just a couple of scruffy XJ6s here and there.) I got a ride in an Elan once when I was little, but that’s as close as I have come to Colin Chapman’s marvelous machines.
My first introduction to the Lotus Esprit was a yellow Corgi car when I was four or five years old. It was one of my favorites, and I carried it around everywhere. When my dad let me stay up to watch The Spy Who Loved Me a couple years later, and I saw a car just like my Corgi car turn into a submarine, I was in love. I knew nothing about Giorgietto Giugiaro’s “folded paper” school of design, or Colin Chapman’s insistence on performance through weight reduction; I just knew that the Lotus Esprit was one cool car.
This Series 1 Esprit is not a particularly fast car by modern standards; it could probably be outrun by a Toyota Yaris. It’s powered by Lotus’s own twin-cam “907” four cylinder, sitting just in front of a Citroën-supplied five-speed transaxle. This one underwent a complete mechanical overhaul several years ago, and it runs and drives beautifully.
What isn’t quite as beautiful is the condition of the interior and exterior. It’s completely original, and the current owner has made a conscious choice to keep it that way. The red paint is chalky and worn through in places, the unassailably cool plaid upholstery is sun-faded, and the whole thing just looks a little tired. But I kind of like it; it has character, and I wouldn’t be afraid to drive it.
This car still gives me the needy wants. I know the later turbocharged ones are faster, and I know it’s a fragile, high-maintenance nightmare, but I don’t care. The heart wants what it wants, and the Series 1 is the Lotus Esprit of my dreams.
Oh, and Jason would kill me if I didn’t point out that this car uses the taillights from another mid-engine sports car that I have wanted since I was a kid: the Fiat X1/9.
1974 Lancia Fulvia 1.3S – $27,750
Engine/drivetrain: 1.3 liter overhead cam narrow-angle V4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Miami, FL
Odometer reading: 31,000 kilometers
Operational status: Runs and drives beautifully, it sounds like
Poor Lancia. The fabled Italian marque barely exists today, selling only a sad little hatchback called the Ypsilon. But back in the day, Lancia was a force to be reckoned with. Italian cars and racing go hand-in-hand, and while Lancia didn’t only build road-legal cars so it could race them like Ferrari did, it wasn’t far off. Lancia’s biggest motorsport legacy was in rallying, with mid-engined monsters like the Stratos and 037, the ferocious and deadly Delta S4, and this lovely little coupe: the Fulvia.
Unlike Lancia’s more famous rally machines, the Fulvia is front-engined and front-wheel-drive. It’s powered by a tiny, weird engine, a 1.3 liter V4 with only 12 degrees of separation between the cylinder banks. This narrow angle allows both banks of cylinders to share one cylinder head, a design later used by Volkswagen’s VR6 engine. To allow for a low hood, the Fulvia’s V4 is canted over to one side at a 45 degree angle. It sits in front of a five-speed gearbox, with the radiator off to one side, similar to ’80s Audi designs.
I always assumed, from the looks of this car, that it was a Pininfarina design, like so many of Lancia’s other cars were at the time. And it bears a resemblance to Peugeot coupes that were designed by Pininfarina. But this was an in-house Lancia design, and it’s a beauty. There isn’t a bad line on this thing. If you’ve never seen one in person, you’d be surprised at how small it really is. And if you’ve never heard one in person, you’re missing out. I don’t know how the Italians make engines sound so good, but they’re just music to a car guy’s ears.
This Fulvia is all-original as well, according to the ad, and was imported to the US from Italy in 2021. It has only 31,000 kilometers on its odometer, and just had a “complete service,” whatever that entails. It sure looks like it’s in great shape, and I like the dark blue/tan color combo.
Some people, when they say they have a thing for Italian exotics, are referring to Ferraris or Lamborghinis or something even more boutique and exclusive. Not me. Give me slender roof pillars, sleek and simple lines, and a weird snarly four-cylinder engine.
Well, that’s it for this year! I hope you all have a happy and safe New Year’s Eve, and I’ll see you back here in 2024. In the meantime, which one of these two dream machines are you going to sweet-talk your way into driving?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
The Lancia is just too pretty, I’d never be able to take care of her the way she deserves. I’d feel far more comfortable bringing home the Esprit.
Scrolled down quickly and picked the Fulvia, then read the article. Such beautiful cars especially in that color combo
I would grudgingly take the cleaner of the two, it is far less crack pipe in a terrible Italian car sort of way.. But I would really rather have the bond car in white. in fact if money were not an option, I would send it straight away to https://www.watercar.com/ and at least partially make the thing water worthy even if it were not submersible.
I doubt I’d fit in either one of them, so since we’re in full on fantasy land here anyways, it’s gotta be the Lotus.
I’ll take that beautiful Mulva, I mean Fulvia.
https://y.yarn.co/f1c33705-ff46-43f9-a460-0c909d6a0635_text.gif
It might actually be Vulva
Isn’t it actually a Folores?
Whatever it is, it’s real and it’s spectacular.
Regina?
Maybe Forhencio?
Stole my smart assed comment. Good for you.
Please accept this complimentary hood ornament as your prize.
Thank you. Wait, why is it shaped like a …. oh.
Faced with a somewhat difficult option, I defer to “which one would my wife actually want to ride in”. In this case, it’s the Lancia hands down. It’s a truly handsome machine as presented. I also have a soft spot for the Lotus, and the obvious awesomeness of the ’70s wedge/pop up headlight combo, but that Lancia is classy as hell.
While the Lotus is definitely one of the cars of all time, I just can’t resist the sexy lines of the Lancia. The Lotus is a little tired, but I don’t really mind that and I actually think the chalky paint looks great. But design-wise it doesn’t hold a candle to the Lancia. Plus: weird V4! It’s a conversation magnet in every way and would be a blast to daily and take to car shows.
I have LOVED the Esprit since seeing James Bond as a kid. The Submarine esprit from the Spy Who Loved me was cool, but I prefer the Turbo Esprit in For Your Eyes Only.
If I had 25k to blow, I would be renting a Uhaul carrier right now.
Both, dammit.
Lotus and Lancia are both perfectly cromulent choices for dream cars. Besides, you’re among friends here.
Lancia, please!
Mostly because of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1RKpdFjE4I
The Fulvia part starts about 50 seconds in. Be sure to turn your speakers on and the volume up.
That thing sounds amazing!
Love their description of it: “As pretty as the sun setting over Charlize Theron.“
The Lancia is really nice, and I probably wouldn’t fit in the Lotus, but as you said, the heart wants what the heart wants… So I went Lotus. If the comparison was to a really clean Fiat or Bertone X1-9 at $10k or a scruffy 1960s Alfa Guilia for similar money I’d probably have gone Italian on this one.
The biggest problem I have with the Lancia is that the Alfa mentioned above exists with similar looks, and had alfa’s larger engine plus RWD… As a fun project or weekend car off this type, RWD is pretty high on my list of desirable attributes
Lancia please. Huge Esprit fan, and the condition doesn’t really bother me (I’d be too scared to screw up a nicer example anyway). But that price seems awfully high, and the Lancia is just… dreamy. I can’t think of many nicer looking FWD cars, that’s for sure.
Where’s the “both” button? While the Lancia is cute, I’m a sucker for pretty much any Esprit. Glad I don’t have $20k lying around as NC isn’t very far from me.
Inner child says Lotus, mature civilized adult says Lancia. Adult wins this round.
If the Lotus was an injected non-turbo Series 3 the inner child would not be so easy to shush.
Are you kidding me??? The Lotus Espirit is the archetype, the exemplar, the ne plus ultra, of the wedge! (Other than the TR7 of course.) Nobody had a Lancia Fulvia on their wall as a teenager! Plus, I I have to guess that Lancia parts are probably the only parts harder to find the Lotus parts. Actually the Lotus is made up out of an international parts bin, no? Unfortunately it’s a Fiat and British Leyland parts bin…
https://gglotus.org/ggpart/espritxref.htm
Parts from all over England and Italy. Not the most stable parts bins!
The taillights are X1/9! S2 got Rover lights
Nobody had an Isabella Rossellini poster either, but we hope to get older and wiser.
November 7, 1986
You’re watching Miami Vice.
You think it’s just going to be a usual episode.
Then things take a turn.
A silver 1983 Lotus Turbo Esprit appears on screen.
Who is driving this beautiful car?
Mother. Fucking. Willie. Nelson.
Remaking that car is the reason I chose the Esprit. I know it’s the wrong year and I know it’s going to cost so much more in dollars and labor to get it there than it will be worth. I don’t caaaaaaaaare.
Holy shit Steve Buscemi was in the same episode.
wedge car Wedge Car WeDgE cAr WEDGE CAR
GIMME
That’s not to say that Lancia isn’t an absolutely beautiful machine. But I’ll be danged if the best shape isn’t “high-speed doorstop”.
Lancia, only because V4.
It’s so odd to say…. V4. It’s not normal, and I like it!
Come to my house, little Fulvia. You can come join your sister, another Lancia with thin pillars and clean lines, my Scorpion.
The Lancia is a gem — It’s irresistible. It’s also the car that really proved that front-wheel drive could deliver sharp handling, if you just let the engineers loose on it. (I’m anything but a rear-wheel drive purist; I love good FWD designs just as much.)
Lancia because a) I love weird cars, b) I really dig Lancias, and c) I jones for Italian cars. The latter is usually confined to Italian cars with twice or three times the Fulvia’s cylinder count, but I’m all about exceptions….
The Lotus would be fun, but I’ve seen scruffy Esprits before and was not impressed. New ones weren’t screwed together all that well, so this should probably be treated as a kit car. I wouldn’t kick it out of my driveway, but would definitely make sure my tool kit was complete and I had parts suppliers on Speed Dial.
Doesn’t matter. The Fulvia is just so sweet.
During my overly extended late adolescence, I had two posters on my dorm room walls. One was of the Lotus Esprit S1 and the other was Farrah Fawcett, the twin fantasy lights of my boy-to-man era. Alas, I never got to ride in either one.
Was waiting for this…
Pop up headlights always excited me.
Speaking of hi beams, FF is always the right choice.
If you think about it, they had a lot in common. One had The Hair, the other could be hair raising. One was a Lotus, the other looked good in the Lotus position. One turned into a sub you could pilot to the Bikini Atoll, the other looked great in no bikini at all …
Well said. Every time I saw her on Charlie’s Angels, time would be spent on considering a move to LA and becoming a TV criminal.
Or a bikini waxer in Beverly Hills.
I had the same!!! Me neither.
I’m going Lotus for no logical reason whatsoever. The Lancia is in way better shape and will probably be much less of a headache…but I can’t resist an Esprit. They’re just one of those cars that’s fascinated me since I was little. This seems rather pricey for the condition, though. I’d try to talk the seller down as close to 20 as they’d go.
I may eventually wind up buying something like this as a curiosity/weekend toy, but I’m not sure that I’d want to make the leap of faith into a full blown British exotic. I’m not super mechanically inclined (yet, hoping to add a garage and start cutting my teeth next move) and I feel like if you can’t handle a lot of stuff yourself they’re absolute money pits.
The Esprit is a little overpriced. A running, driving 78 S1 with nice paint and a nice interior sold on BAT for $31.5k this month. $19k would be a decent price.
I’d still take it, because I have some spare parts for it and I’m a sucker.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1978-lotus-esprit-s1-14/
Lancia 10,000%. As noted, gorgeous lines and a unique piece here in the states. The Lotus needs a lot for the price asked, and while I like the Esprit, I’m not putting that money and effort into an S1.