Lotus Esprit restomod teased – can it be worth over £500k?

The latest in a long, long line of new restomods (or, more accurately, new renderings of restomods that'll be made if there’s enough interest and funding) is this, the Encor Series 1, a remastered Lotus Esprit. The full reveal is set for November but even though this is a teaser, we do know quite a bit about the project, from its technical constitution to its price and availability, and the people behind it.

It can go either way with these. A lot of the time you wonder what’s the point but sometimes, as is the case with this Encor, there’s clearly potential. Firstly because from what we can see of it so far, it does look tastefully done but secondly, because there’s real opportunity at the moment to build the Lotus cars Lotus itself refuses to. That’s what Analogue does with the Elise and now Encor wants to do similar with this modernised Esprit. The question is, even though only 50 are to be built, will it be worth the £430,000 (plus donor car, options and taxes!) price of entry?

So what is it? Well, it is a genuine Esprit underneath albeit an Esprit V8 rather than an S1. That’s then clothed in a bespoke, aesthetically massaged carbon skin, that from what we can see in these teasers looks more Esprit S1 than V8. So yes, this is sort-of the equivalent of Singer taking an ‘80s 964 and clothing it in bodywork inspired by 911s of the ‘60s. 

There’s a bit of modernised aero going on, with a generous carbon air dam visible even in these dark and dingey teasers. The Esprit’s proportions look faithfully preserved, however, both overhead and in profile. It's all very much in keeping with co-founder Simon Lane’s claims that ‘we act as conservators of Chapmans ideals’ and that the aim is ‘to elevate the Esprit for a new era without sacrificing its soul’.

Retained too are the transmission and 3.5-litre twin-turbo DOHC V8 engine, with the latter fully rebuilt and revised for improved usability and reliability. There’s no word yet on power and performance but the original produced 350bhp, albeit in a state of tune limited by the gearbox and not the engine’s own capabilities.

So what is Encor? Well, it’s a new company comprised of people with impressive CVs – talent with experience gained everywhere from Pagani and Koenigsegg to Porsche, Aston Martin and, yes, Lotus itself. Daniel Durrant was lead designer on the Emira, while co-founder Simon Lane worked on Aston Martin’s Q programme, as well as at Lotus Advanced Performance.

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We’ll learn more when the car is revealed next month, by which time the circa £550k price (once taxes and a donor are accounted for) will hopefully have sunk in. It will at least be limited, with just 50 set to be made.