Piles of miles

I’ve been driving.

It’s silly to people who are used to terrestrial cars to think like that, but to those who have had their eggs scrambled by an Esprit it’s saying something, and it’s thrilling. The car is behaving except an Ac fuse that keeps popping, a suspicious puddle that has formed under a coolant line, and a minor vacuum leak I have yet to suss out. My friendly Field Engineer Dave isn’t kidding when he says Esprits need a little “looking after” from time to time…

I have developed rhythm with the car, but I don’t suppose I will ever get “used” to it. The switchgear was familiar to me almost immediately, but it took some time to develop synchronicity with the machine. I am coming to know it very well. Ultimately, I don’t think I will have as complete an understanding of it as I have with my other Lotus cars. I am not tracking it, and only through driving a car at your limit do you ever really “get” it. Having said that, it’s devotion to business class travel, and the occasional spirited drive are really thrilling. I’m glad I have it in my stable.

We have a VW SUV. It’s a great auto. In many ways much more complete a vehicle than the Esprit. I am “used” to it, and what I mean by that Is it can be piloted without much thought. You get in, synch your phone, select the sat nav destination, your xm radio station, climate, and before you know it, you are at your destination. It’s almost like it was designed to make travel comfortably forgettable.

With a sporting car, it isn’t the destination that matters, it’s the travel. After driving many more sports cars than I have a right to, and quite a few exotics, I can honestly say that only a few make the act of travel from point a to point b as entertaining and memorable as an Esprit.

I think that was the point of the exercise for Colin Chapman.

I am looking forward to the final service call of the year. It will feature tires, a radiator (bigger because I am paranoid, not because its necessary) a cat back exhaust, timing belts, and a couple of minor issues I have been living with. You never want to curse yourself by declaring a car like this “sorted” but at that point, I will be as close an a human can get with an Esprit.

I plan on running it this fall until the roads are too cold to support the horsepower.

There will be no “lack of use abuse” on my watch.