03x06 - Lotus Esprit: Unfinished Business

[bunniefuu]

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

ANT: I'm Ant Anstead.

Restoring cars has been my life.

Come on!

I'm fixing up and flipping...

You got a deal.

...more pulse-racing,
must-have classic motors...

Now that's an '80s hot hatch!

...which I need to sell
for maximum profit...

That's it! Yes!

...because the house I bought
for my parents to retire in

is still a building site...

Oh, my goodness.

...and still haemorrhaging cash.

[HORN HONKING]

But to turn old motors
into big money...

Hello, sir.

...and finally get Mum and Dad
moved in...

It looks magnificent.

...I'll need my family...

Oh, straight into my mouth.

...and my petrolhead pal, Duncan...

[LAUGHING]
...back on board.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

[HORN HONKING]
And to make this
mission accomplished...

She's magnificent!
Incoming!

...I'll have to go...

Whoa!

...full throttle.
Yeah!

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

I'm driving to Leicestershire
with a bit of a spring in my step.

Not only is the house
making good progress,

but I'm gonna go see a Lotus.

And it's a Lotus
that I've never owned before.

As a British car boy, I have a duty

to fall in love with
certain British car brands,

and one of those brands
has to be Lotus.

I mean, it's everything that I love
in car manufacturing -

lightweight, alternative materials,
sports car feel.

The point of owning a Lotus
is owning a race car

that works on the road.

The Lotus Esprit was one of the most
iconic British sports cars
of its generation.

Launched in 1975,
it gained legendary status

after starring in James Bond's
The Spy Who Loved Me.

It combined a dramatic
Italian-inspired design

with Lotus's obsession with weight,
handling, and clever engineering.

Over 10,000 cars were produced
during a 28-year period,

making this a highly rare
and collectible car.

Now, the problem with Esprits is
no two are exactly the same.

Getting parts
is very, very difficult,

and they have a bit of a reputation
for not being that reliable.

My love affair with Lotus
is a little bit on the rocks
at the moment

because the last time
Dad and I were in a Lotus,
in fact, he was towing me

'cause the engine went bang,

and basically I lost a ton of cash.

But I'm trying to work out
the psychology behind this.

Am I driving to Leicestershire

to buy a Lotus Esprit because
I've got unfinished business,

or because I really want an Esprit

because it's one of the Lotus
that I've never owned?

Or maybe both.

Oh, I'm praying it's a good one.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

I'm hoping you're Jim.
I am. Hi, Ant, good to see you.

Nice to meet you, man.
Follow me.
It's just around the corner.

Hopefully, you'll like it.
Oh, man!

All right,
tell me everything about the car.

Okay, I bought it at auction
about six months ago.

Since then,
we've just had it stored.

It failed its MOT.

[LAUGHING] Of course it did.

So does she run?
She does run, yes.

So you've owned it six months.
You bought it at auction.
Yeah.

And already she's for sale?

It's just a.. a change of plan.

Another vehicle's come up, an Alvis.

It's a... a small tank.

You're selling an Esprit
to buy a tank?

It's a small tank, yes.

I think some of the tank people
wouldn't like you to call it a tank

'cause it's classed
as a combat vehicle

reconnaissance tractor.

If there's a demographic of people
I don't want to upset,

it's those people.
[LAUGHS] Yeah.

Since you've owned her,
what else have you done?

The only thing we've done
is found that wasn't
the original roof.

So you did nothing?
Found one of the problems.

If it's all right with you,
do you mind if I get 15 minutes
to look on my own?

Yep, that's fine.
Cheers, Jim.

Thank you.
Okay.

Well, she's an Esprit,

and I would love to get
my hands on one.

And although it's tatty

and the roof is an obvious issue,

I think the first thing to do
is probably go online
and look at the MOT.

Okay, well, the list
is slightly longer than Jim let on.

Exhaust emission,
carbon monoxide content excessive.

Hydrocarbon content excessive,
which means that it's not burning
all the fuel, excess fuel.

Front upper suspension arm,
ball joint dust cover missing,

offside front lower suspension,
ball joint dust cover perished.

Horn not working.

The cool thing about these cars
is they're classic Lotus.

Lightweight. Fibreglass body.

Engine in the middle,
which is exactly where it should be
for a supercar.

The thing about these cars

is they were built to rival
brands like Ferrari,

and just like Ferrari,
the engines can be
a little bit delicate.

[STRAINING]

[ENGINE SPUTTERING]

I mean, Jim said she started.

[SPUTTERING CONTINUES]

But this car ain't starting.

Come on!

There's a starting issue,

and the MOT has some flags
on fuelling,

so I'm just gonna park it
emotionally for now.

Now, pop-up headlights are normally
a cool thing to have,

but only if they work.

I mean, they work.
I mean, the left side's droopy.

[GRUNTS]

Right, this is a problem.
This is basically a hand-cut piece
of Perspex.

Someone's put some tape
around the edges

and stuck it in the hole.

In good nick, an Esprit can make
£20,000 upwards.

But this one's got
a long list of problems,

so Jim needs to budge on the £16,250
that he's looking for.

All right, Jim, [LAUGHS]
this is gonna be a tricky one

because you know, on one hand,

the car guy in me,
it's a Lotus, it's an Esprit,

it's a Bond car.
Although, on the other hand,

the practical side of me,
the mechanic,

I'm scared because there is
a lengthy list of things

that need to be done.
I can't get to £16,250.

Financially, it just doesn't add up.
I'd be happy with £14,500.

I can't go that low, you know?

I don't think you'll see an Esprit
for £14,500.

And £16,250
is too high for me. £15,000?

[SIGHS] Can we just go
a little bit higher than that?

£15,500?

[PLAYFUL MUSIC PLAYING]

£15,500, sold. [LAUGHS]

Okay. [LAUGHS]

I'm sure you'll love it.

Oh, my gosh, I did it.

It's too late. I paid the man.

I am now the owner of one Lotus
that I haven't owned before,

a 1980s Lotus Esprit.

This is basically
supercar territory.

Oh, man, Dad's gonna see this car

and he's gonna love it
if we make a profit.

And he's gonna hold it over me
for the next ten years if we don't.

Which means we have to make a profit

'cause I can't put up with
a decade of Dad moaning.

As long as I don't get caught out
by a load of issues that pop up

and everything else
that exists on that MOT test,

I think I could be in
for a couple of grand profit here.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

This is the fastest
this car has been in months,

probably years.

She's no lightweight, is she?

Oh, there we go!

She's in.
She is in.

Right, go easy on her.

Yeah, but you know
my Achilles' heel, racing and Lotus.

Lotus is everyone's Achilles' heel.

I've just turned up to a farm
and bought a car that doesn't run.

Shall I tell you why I bought it?
Look at the front.
Yeah.

I bought the car
because it's a Lotus,
and you know what?

It's a bit of
unfinished business for me.

Right, do you wanna see
the business end? How cool is that?

Come and check it out.

Ideally, when you get hold
of a classic car, you wanna have
some service history, right?

We have nothing with this car.

So we've got no service history,
but what do we actually
know about it?

The seller told me
that the car was running.

So it does crank over.

So if I turn the key...

[TURNS KEY]

[LAUGHS] The battery's gone.
[CHUCKLES]

All right,
so you're gonna have to trust me.

Welcome to the Lotus ownership.

We'll put the battery on charge,
but ultimately it does crank over.

It's gotta be something simple.

Might be sticky floats
in the carb or fuel pump.

It could be a number of issues,
but I have got a bit of information,
'cause there is an MOT failure list.

Failure?
So on the failure list, it says
there's an emissions problem.

So that must mean it was running.

Exactly! Because how can you do
an MOT emission failure
if the car's not running?

Okay, so on that was just emissions?
No.

And there's a ton of
suspension issues.

Great.
So if we wanna get
something right on the Lotus,

we wanna get the suspension right.

'Cause if we get this car
handling like a supercar,
it'll make big money.

So...
Yeah, I'm quite looking forward
to it.

I don't know why.

You've bought a Lotus?

Hang on a minute.

We bought a Lotus before,
and what did it cost us?

A fortune.

We need to buy cars

we know we can make
a profit on, surely.

I think we'll make a few grand.
Did you mention it didn't run?

Now you're just stirring things up.
You're just stirring things up
with Dad.

It does run,
it just doesn't run today.

Let's reset
while she's trickle charging.

Cup of tea?
Cup of tea. And we'll...

And it'll fix it, abracadabra.

Abracadabra, right.
Let's push it in.
Let's get her charging.

Convince me.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

There you go.
Right, let's hope...

This is gonna be fine,
I'm sure of it.
It's a Lotus.

[OWL HOOTING]

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

Fully charged?
We are charged.

Fingers crossed.
[BOTH LAUGH]

No, we're gonna be fine.

Right.

[ENGINE WHIRRING]

She fired.

[ENGINE WHIRRING]
Oh!

Well, the battery's good.
Okay, give it another go.

Mind your fingers.
Yeah.

[ENGINE WHIRRING]

Do it again.
[ENGINE WHIRRING]

It should be starting.

[WHIRRING CONTINUES]

Ah, hang on, mate, she's not firing.
Just give it a bit of accelerator.

Hands free?

[ENGINE SPUTTERING]

Yeah, that doesn't make sense.

There's enough power
from the battery.

We've got fuel in it.

Yeah. I'm surprised
you went here again.

Yeah, I've got
the worst-case scenario
of a new engine.

That last engine cost, like,
almost ten grand.

Well, let's hope not.

[ENGINE SPUTTERING]

We've charged the battery

and checked the spark
in this Esprit,

but it's still not firing.

Battery, fuel, spark.
That isn't a complicated engine.

What can it be?

Has it got an electric pump
or a mechanical one?

Dunno.
This must be an electric pump.
It's too new.

When the ignition comes on,
you normally expect the pump

to prime.

All right,
I'll turn the ignition on.

I mean, I didn't hear one before.
[TURNS KEY]

Can you hear anything?
No.

Let's hope it's not ticking
like a time b*mb.

Well, I suppose
the first port of call

is check the fuses.

Yeah, right, back to basics.
Simple steps.

Where's the fuse box?

There is not a single label
on there.

But we've got another box here.

The Esprit has multiple fuse boxes

grouping different
electrical systems together.

It's supposed to make
things simpler.

Have you ever heard of that saying,
"Needle in a haystack"?

Well, just check the fuses
and see if any of them
are burnt out.

That's good.

That's good.

I mean, all these here,
whatever they do,

look fine.

So we could go through the process
of individually removing each fuse,

testing it... Hey, Dad.
How are you getting on?

Got it going yet?

No, we're a little way off
getting it going.

I was always worried about this car.

I know. So, well,
we're going back to basics.

So we located the fuse boxes.

There's over 30 fuses,
and not a single one of them
is identified.

No labels, nothing.

Why don't you look in the handbook?
There's no handbook
'cause there's no service history.

There'll be something online.

The problem is,
is Lotus were handmade.

So, you know, my experience
with Lotus is that

the fuses are in different places.

What's that?

I didn't look in the glove box.

Get on with it, boys.

Right, here we go.

So this is a completely
different fuse box.

[PLAYFUL MUSIC PLAYING]

It goes into there.
Hang on, let me get a screwdriver.

Hang on.
Oh, my gosh,
there's another fuse box.

Hang on. How does this come up?

Let's have a look.

Well, it looks like a b*mb.

Right, let's have a look
in the bible.

Right, which one is it?

Right, Q.

So this is the fuel pump.

And what did you say the ampage was?
Ten amp.

Yeah, this is a seven and a half.

And it's blown, look.

But if it's a seven and a half,
of course it's blown.

Bingo, bango, bongo.

Do you know what?
I've got a ten-amp fuse.

Replacing a fuse like this
can cost as little as 25 pence.

Okay.

Right, let's turn the ignition on
and see if that clicks.

[ENGINE SPUTTERING]
Hey.

That is the sound of a fuel pump.

Well, that pipe
has filled up straightaway,

so we've definitely got fuel now
to the carbs.

I can hear a fuel pump.
Right, this should start then.

Right, go on. Give her a go.

[ENGINE STARTS]

Come on!

[LAUGHING]

Oh!
[ENGINE STOPS]

Do you know,
I was worried for a second.

Where's the old man now?

I know, we should go tell him
with our smug face
that our Lotus runs.

[LAUGHS]

Getting the Lotus running
will keep Dad happy,

but he'll be over the moon
when I've finally finished
the dining room.

AMELIE: Oh, my goodness.

It's changed.

I know, right?
Roof looks good.

Of course, he goes to the roof.
I did it, pulled it down,
got stuff all over me.

So that's another room done?

This is why I've asked you
to come, 'cause I've got everything
to furnish this room.

But what I haven't got
is a bit of brawn.

Let's do it.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

Can you walk in a straight line,
Archie? It's heavy.

You know where it's going?
The floor?

Please don't scrape it
on anything, Archie.

Watch it.
Boom!

I managed to secure
this antique table.

I measured it,
so it should go in the door. Got it?
Yep.

Watch this door.

We're in.
Okay.

I mean, furniture
just changes the room.
It looks amazing.

Decor done,
I need to turn my attention

back to the Lotus.

Now it's firing,

I need to make a start
on that long MOT list.

Right.

We need to do the next big job
because I am worried about this.

Would it have had a glass panel
or was it colour-coded?

I'm not sure if it was
a fibreglass panel or a glass panel.

What is that? A bracket?
Yeah.

It's been glued in with silicone.

So somebody has obviously made that.

[CHUCKLES]
It's a wobble board.

Yeah, you can see
what they've done. Look.

They basically just siliconed it in
with bathroom sealer.

So the front clip's here, look.

Yeah, and these are obviously...
Factory.

...a clip for the rear.
I wonder if it's just a tilt roof

that clips in here.

Yeah.
Yeah, it must be a glass roof,

because you wouldn't have
this opening.
Plus, how would it seal?

You might have just opened
a can of worms up here, Bert.

No worms, no cans,
but we do need to find a sunroof.

Good luck.

[INTRIGUING MUSIC PLAYING]

I'm trying to find sunroof parts
for an '89 Esprit.

Oh, you have a glass roof?
MAN: [ON PHONE] Yes.

I'll take the whole lot,
the screws, the bolts, the fixings.

Okay.
And at the rear,

there's the kind of
pull-down hinged handles.

Have you got those?

Absolutely not. If you had some,
I'd bite your hand off.

They are unobtainable.

So the handles are a no-go.

Okay. All right, well,
I'll take the glass roof
and the front tongues for now.

All right, appreciate it. Thank you.

[INTRIGUING MUSIC CONTINUES]

How'd we do?

Right, [LAUGHS] I've been down
the sunroof rabbit hole,

and it turns out
that some of these bits

are basically impossible to find.

But good news is, there's four parts
we need to fix this,

and I've found three of the four.
Do I guess which ones?

So we've got the glass,
the rubber trim, the front clips...

and these rear clips, apparently,
are one of the hardest parts
to find.

In fact, there aren't any.

But I do have the glass,
the trim, and the front clips.

When you say we've got 'em,
we already paid for all of this?
Yeah, that was 650 quid.

But we can't get the clips.
So without the clips,
it's all useless.

Not useless. We just need a solution
with the clips.

But these are apparently
impossible to find.

Right.

The guy I bought the screen off
said, "You'll never get 'em."

So what are you working on,
car or house?

This is car parts.

I mean, these catch handles
are a real problem. I mean,
I've looked everywhere.

I've made countless phone calls,
spoken to owners groups,

Lotus owners,
and they just don't exist.

Could you reproduce them yourself?
I mean, at this stage,
we might have to.

The only thing is that,
while you're bogged down with this,

how's the house getting on?

We're not nearer.
[BOTH LAUGHING]

But when we get the handles,
which, we have to get the handles,

we will get nearer.
Okay.

With no sunroof,
this Lotus is unsellable.

It's basically a skip.

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

[INTRIGUING MUSIC PLAYING]

But I'm gonna crack on...
because the suspension is shot

and I need her
handling like a Lotus.

Right, now we know, last year,
somebody put it through the MOT

where we have this failure list,
and it said... Yeah, look,
upper ball joint.

Yeah.
That gate has gone.

Track rod end, that one's in bits.

Now, knowing that we had
that list to tackle,

that little box over there
on the workbench,
I already got the parts.

So let's whip these off.

Oh! Right. Let's do
the upper ball joint first.
All right, let's get some spanners.

The upper ball joint
is the wheel's pivot point...

Right, here we go.

...allowing the wheel
to steer smoothly

while soaking up
the road beneath it.

You know, think about
the handling characteristics

of every Lotus.

It's absolutely essential
that it has double wishbone
and disc brakes.

The trouble is, once you get
a little bit of play in one bit
and another bit,

that just exaggerates
through the steering wheel
and gives you...

wandering down the road and...

Yeah, especially on a car like this,
it's gonna be so responsive.

Lotus founder Colin Chapman

was obsessive about
double wishbone suspension.

It gives much more control
over how the wheel moves,

keeping the tyre flat on the road
during cornering, braking,
and acceleration,

without adding unnecessary weight.

We might need a ball joint splitter.

Might...
Oh.

[LAUGHS]

It's like the only Lotus
that doesn't fight back.

Cor, look at the state of it.

When you go to tackle a curve,
on a race track...

Down a gear.
...this is wobbling
all over the place.

It's gonna feel like a...
basically, a supermarket trolley.

Plus, worst-case scenario,
if that thing fails,

you leave the track
and you land in a hedge.

Right, that is toast.

[EXCLAIMS]
Look at that.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

Oh, yeah, that is...
Nice and tight.

Night and day.

Look at that,
that little shim at the front

changes the ball joint
point backwards

just enough
to increase the caster angle.

Clever!

[UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES]

You know what? For 22 quid a side...

that is gonna make
a dramatic difference.

Whoever wants to buy this car,

they're gonna have an expectation
of Lotus handling.

Let's do that track rod end.

The track rod end
connects to the steering rack
and keeps the front wheels aligned.

'Cause before we take this one off,
we wanna measure...

Yeah, look, it's longer.
Yeah.

That obviously came from
a different manufacturer.

To accommodate
for the new part being longer,

I'm relocating the locking nut,
so that when I fit it,

the wheels stay in parallel.

So let's move that bolt back.
Back that off,

and that'll get us in the ballpark.

Couple of turns.

All right, one more turn
and I reckon you're there.

Yeah, look.
What's that, about three, four mil?

That's probably a bit more,
five or six.

But with this nut
in the right position,

this should thread on

and put it back
at the same tracking.

Right, lock nut back done.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

[CLAPS] That is it.

Now it's gonna handle like a Lotus.

See? We're like an F1 pit crew.

Silky smooth.

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

Ant, can you come up here, mate?

What?

I need you to come and have a look
at this crack.

The back end of the house
was condemned

not long after I'd bought it,

and I've been monitoring it
ever since.

Remember? We put these up last year.

I know. It's definitely moving.

'Cause these were all touching.

I mean, the roof's coming down
and the walls are going out.

So we need to stabilise it.
Mm.

I mean, very minimum, we need to put
some Acrows under the kitchen,

because that one down there
has definitely opened up.
I don't even wanna go down there.

I'm not walking down
the back of there.

So...
You can feel the house wobble.

We've gotta do something.

Yeah, one big wind
and this whole house falls down.

I mean, you've probably got


Yeah, let's get out of here.

Renovating a 500-year-old farmhouse
was always gonna be a challenge

and since the back end of it
was condemned three years ago,

I've been constantly battling
to keep it standing.

I'm just hoping these Acrow stands
will help support the main beam

and stop the walls from collapsing.

That's it.
Stick that one on top there,

and we'll just take the weight.

We're plum.

That's it.

Right.

That's it. Now, that's got that
nice and solid, because...

we've gotta really try
and stop it spreading now.

I haven't got the bandwidth
or budget to even think about
this rear end yet.

No, but it might dictate
what happens. If this keeps moving,

we've got to do something.

All right.

But temporarily, this is gonna help.

At least you'll be able to
sleep tonight.
Yeah, just not in here.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

The Lotus failed her MOT
on emissions,

meaning the exhaust gases
are dirtier than they should be.

So something's not right
with the way the engine's running.

Know what? It really suits you.
You wanna pop the rear clam?

Yeah, it definitely sounds
a little lumpy.

[GRUNTS]

You can just hear it
as it goes to pick up.

Now, the MOT failure says
it's high emissions,

which means
it's likely running rich.

I mean, that smells rich.

Why don't you k*ll it?
Let's whip a plug out
and look at it.

An engine that's running rich
is getting too much fuel
and not enough air

through the carburettors,
meaning the combustion process
isn't clean.

Oh, my gosh, look at that.
It is completely black.

Now, that is the soot left over
from unburned fuel,

so she's definitely
running too rich.

Too much fuel, not enough oxygen
turns the spark plugs black.

You want really, like,
a nice creamy colour on that.

We need to reduce the flow of fuel

because it's currently
not being efficiently burnt.

Yes.
That'll probably account for
why it's failing emissions.

Let's assume they're all the same.

Let's lose the air box
and start with the mixture.

Each of the carburettors
needs to be mixing the same

and correct ratio of fuel and air.

All right, do you wanna grab
a screwdriver?
Yeah.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

Screwdriver and our vacuum gauge
as well.

This nifty tool measures
the amount of work
each carburettor is doing.

We'll see where all these
mixture screws are first.

Go on, then. Count them down.
Count them down.

Chances of them being the same
are gonna be slim to none.

One.

Turning the screw
adjusts the mixture of air and fuel
in each carburettor.

I'm holding my breath.

But before we can make sure
they're all doing the same,

we need to set a baseline
to work from.

Three and a half.
This is exciting to watch.

Can you be quiet while I'm counting?

Half.

Did you get stuck
at counting to two?

I didn't even get past two,
I don't think.

All right.

Right, they're all set
at 2.5 turns, right?
Two and a half.

Right, so that is all baseline.

Now the carbs are set
at the same baseline,

we can check how much work
each one is doing

and then balance them up.

This is a twin Weber 45 carburettor.

So, although
it's a single carburettor,

there's two carburettors
running off one float chamber.

So these two should be the same.
That's about three.

[ENGINE RUNNING]

That's about three.

Whoa, it's a five!

And I bet you, that's at five.

It is. So we wanna bring
this three up to a four,

that five down to a four,
then they'll be the same. So...

Right, let's pull...
Reduce that down...

By adjusting up the idle screws,
we'll balance up the carbs.

Now, this way,
we want both carburettors
doing the same amount of work.

Bring that up
literally a quarter turn.

It's a delicate process.

Keep going. Right,
we're at about four and a half.

Four and a half. Okay, go on then.
Give that a rev.

[ENGINE REVS]

No stutter there at all now.

That's what a Lotus
should sound like!

[ENGINE REVVING]

Right, double check.
Just under five.

Just under five.

Just under five.

That is bang on.

With the engine warmed up,
I can check all the spark plugs

to see if the mixture is cleaner
and correct on all carbs.

Let's have a look.

Do you know what? It's cleared
a lot of that soot off it.

Bear in mind,
we've only run it a short while.

Cleared up big.
It got rid of the soot.

It's still not running, I see.
No, no, it's running!

Hit it.
[ENGINE STARTS]

Go on, give it some beans.

[ENGINE REVS]
Very good.

Sounds like a sports car.
Sounds like a race car.

That's how an Esprit should sound.

[ENGINE REVS]

Do you know what the best thing is?
You know what that fix cost us?

It cost us nothing.

Looks really good.

Good job, guys. Well done.

It feels like I'm turning a corner
with the Lotus,

and I've also had a breakthrough
with the elusive roof clips.

We're having terrible problems
getting this Lotus car part
for the roof. None seem to exist.

But Ant's found a friend
who's got the same car,

and we've borrowed the bit
off of him,

and this chap I'm meeting today
is going to 3D print it,

so we can fix the Lotus roof.

I'm Nigel. Hi.
Hello. Nice to meet you.

Yes, he said you wanted me
to print something for you.

How do you do that? Show me.
This is all news to me.

Should be a piece of cake,
to be honest.
So how are we going to do it?

First thing we do is scan it.

Right.
What I'll have then is a 3D image
I can trace.

Sort of like tracing paper
when you're at school.

Cameron uses a specialised camera

that takes thousands of photos
to pick out all the detailed edges.

So that's all done now?
Yeah.

So...
Oh, wow.

That's all the little dots,
and it sort of takes shape.

Then, once we fuse it
and let it do its thing,

there we have a generated image,

which...
Really sharp.

...looks good for the most part.
But there's a few bits you can see,

little wobbly lines and stuff,
so I need to clean it up.

But that's enough for me
to carry on with the next step.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

Now one of the issues
when I bought the car at the farm
were the headlights.

I hit the button
and they struggled to go up.

That must be the battery.
When we charged the battery up,

it's now got enough voltage.

Well, the battery is now working
to put them up simultaneously,

but see that one when it goes down?

The panel gap is terrible.
Yeah.

So it looks like a badly built car.
But what's even worse

is when they're up,

some have-a-go hero has decided to

swap out the nice,
authentic headlights

and put these in.
LEDs.

Now, I hated these
the moment I saw them,

so getting ahead of it,
I bought some authentic headlights.

Nice original. All right,
if you pop the bonnet up...

The Esprit kept
its pop-up headlights for the entire


thought to be the longest
of any production car.

Lovely.

These were an investment
worth making.

Yeah. What sort of money?

The whole set was £350.
Yow!

I know, but it adds
more than £350 value.

Right.

Now to get the lights level.

Right, let's adjust that light.

Yeah, three or four mil?

Yeah, that's a big gap, isn't it?

Yeah, this is flush, look.
That's lovely.

So what we've gotta do
is take that adjuster off

and give it three or four turns.
That will push the front
of the headlamp up.

Adjusting this push rod will change
the height of the light.

So if I wind it out
three or four turns...

Right. How's that?

I reckon we're there. Look at that.

Rolls-Royce finish.

Right.
Lovely.

Open and close 'em,
make sure that panel gap holds.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

Is it flush?
That is beautiful, Bernard.

That is it. Our headlights are done.

This is accurate to about 0.2,


That's pretty close.
It is pretty close.

But still, that 0.2, 0.3
can take you off.

These margins may sound small,
but it's these details

that will allow me to get
the most profit for my Lotus.

Our Lotus Esprit
is edging closer to the finish line.

[HORN HONKS]

But to make top money on it,
I need to bring it back

to its former '80s glory.

I mean, that is
borderline unforgivable.

Looks like somebody's wrapped it
in a black vinyl.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

Wait.

No wonder it doesn't fit.

This is a plastic container.

Somebody has taken
a plastic container, looks like
a portion of an oil can,

chopped it up,
and hand-made a steering cowling.

That is possibly one of
the best bodges I've ever seen.

Knowing how bad it looked,
I preordered
a fibreglass replacement,

which has cost just under 80 quid.

Right, now, hopefully
this is gonna be in the ballpark.

I mean, it's transformed,

and a million times better than
what was in there.

You in there? Still?

What is going on?

Had this come through.

Oh, man, I've been waiting for that!
[LAUGHS]

Yeah, look. Jump in.

Jump in! I'll show you
what I'm doing on the interior.

This is exactly what I've been
waiting for, because I got
a little bit carried away,

a bit extravagant,
'cause I didn't like
the steering wheel on the car.

I've spent a bit of cash.

But this was 250 quid.
How much?

It was 250 quid,
and it should have been more,

but I got it off a mate
who did me a bit of a deal.

Oh, but look at it!
Oh, I do like that.

Yeah, you have to remember,
this is ultimately a driver's car,

and the bit your hands touch
is possibly the most important bit.

That does look nice.
Let's get some screws on it.

Oh, look at that!

Oh, yeah. Centre boss.

Ready? The victorious badge.
Yeah.

I see you got the sunroof.

Well, yeah. We are ready
to fit the glass.

You take that,
'cause we've got everything we need
to fit the front portion,

which are the clips.
The tongue, so you'll need that.

Allen key?
Of course.

Thank you.

And I've also got the rubber,
so we can get this in.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

That's the front clips done.

Right, let's put the rubber in.

You mind my pinkies, yeah?

Rubber seal on,
we can attach the sunroof,

starting with the front clips.

Right, I'm gonna pass you...

one side of this.

Got it?
Yeah.

At a cost of 650 quid,
the sunroof hasn't come cheap,

but if those rear clips
Dad's getting made don't fit,

it's all money down the drain.

Right, that is done.

See, when the catches are on,
it'll suck it down into the rubber

and make it watertight.
Mm.

But we need the catches.
Lotus.

I'm back!

I can't believe
how clever this is. Right.

Um, that one is heavier.

That's the original.
But just look at that.

Oh, mate.
It is just unbelievable.

Yeah, that is an exact replica,
and it is lighter.

This'll make Colin Chapman proud,
'cause the point of Lotus
is to add lightness.

These are the final bits.
Let's get 'em on the car.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

Oh. That was it.

That was it?

Ten-second fix after all that drama.

That is so much better
than that piece of Perspex.

The car now looks finished.
In fact, the car is now finished.

How much
have you actually spent, Ant?

Oh, you wanna talk about
the finances? Fine.

Ah.
Just as a refresher,

we paid 15.5 grand,

which I think is a great buy
for this type of car.

Now, mechanically,
we spent £63.16 for this.

Is that all?
Yeah. For a Lotus, that's crazy.

Wow.
But brace yourself.

This got really expensive.

The sunroof alone, just the sunroof,

£1,349.

You are joking.
No.

I mean, we paid £650
for the glass, £399 for the parts,

and the 3D printed handles
you just bought were 300 quid.

Ouch.
So where we saved on the mechanics,

we basically paid for it
in the roof.

That's off the profit.
Yeah.

£350 on the lights,
but I think it's great value.
It transforms the face of our car.

My mate did me a deal
on the steering wheel.
That totally finishes the interior.

And then, I've put in £100
to wash up any miscellaneous stuff.

Grand total expenditure
on this car, £1,973.84.

Two grand for a Lotus fix,
that's quite cheap.

So right here,
as we stand here today,

this car owes us £17,473.

Right, it's now for the best bit,
because ultimately I have to drive
this car, and I've gotta drive.

Them's the rules.

But before I put this car
up for sale,

I've got something
I wanna show Mum and Dad.

Oh, my goodness, what a change!

Transformation, Ant.

Incredible.

[LAUGHS]
Yeah, it's like
a totally different room.

I think it was
worth the extra effort
of dropping the ceiling.

And it just feels great in here.

Painting the panels
was a big deal,

but ultimately, I think
it's the right decision.

If my memory is right,
I think the last time you guys

actually had a dining room,
I would have been 18.

Yep. The last time we sat family
down in our own dining room.

You've not had a Christmas dinner
in your own dining room

in my adulthood.

Family parties.
We can get two families
around the table.

I'm really pleased with it.
Everything in this room
feels really wonderful.

It feels like a place
that you can entertain.
Hello!

Dinner's here!

Hello!
Timing!

Good timing, guys.

Who chose pizza?
ARCHIE: It wasn't me.

Can't go wrong with pizza.

Guys, do you love the room?

We do. What do you think?

I mean, I love it, and I'm glad
our first, you know, meal here
is a nice takeaway pizza.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

[WHOOPING]

Whoa, she's fast!

It's so smooth as well.

Oh, my life!

This is what Lotus is all about.

This is it. Look at that.
It pins round that corner.

And the alignment
and the handling is just superb.

Look, the steering, turn in,
car is beautifully balanced.

There is no body roll at all, look.

I mean,
I'm doing this corner spirited,

and it is sticking.

Oh, man, this car
is set up properly.

This is a proper little fun car.

Those carburettors,
perfectly set up.

There's no stuttering at all,
even through the corners.

I feel like I've finally put
my Lotus bogeyman to bed.

And I've got one up on my dad,

'cause he said
this wasn't gonna be a good build.

Let's get her sold.

Let's get her sold.

I've put the Esprit
up for sale online

for just under 19 grand,

and I'm hoping Rob and his mate,
Kev, will fall for her charms.

Well, there she is.

Yeah, come and have
a little closer look.
ROB: Yeah.

Wow.

She's sparkling.

What puts you
in the Esprit market then?

Um, yeah, obviously,
iconic car from Pretty Woman.

Then you've got the James Bond film.

The submarine Esprit.
The submarine, yeah.

Let me open up the bonnet.
She sounds great.

We might just have to turn her on.

Go on, get yourself in there.

Yeah, please, go for it.

[ENGINE REVS]

KEV: Let her idle.

That's kind of all right, isn't it?
Yeah, leave her be a minute.

But well done. Love the roof.

So the roof was the
hardest thing on the car.

All right, well,
cut that engine, Rob.
Okay.

I tell you what,
I think this is a fantastic car,
fantastic buy.

It's lovely.
And where in the country right now
can you get an '89 Esprit...

Mm.
...of this quality at this level?

Yeah, completely.
She looks fantastic, I've gotta say.

Looks great. Fantastic colour.

So which one of you
is the negotiator
for a Lotus Esprit?

Or is it a tag team effort?
That'll probably be me.

Well, we'll see. But fire away.

She's advertised online for £18,950.

Yeah.

I challenge you, you won't find
another one at that price. Hit me.

She is very reasonably priced,

but I was kind of thinking
around the 17-ish.

I mean, can... can we stay at an 18?

Can we stay at 18?

It is literally the cheapest
Lotus Esprit on the market.
It is.

I think it's great value
at that money.


I think if we can do it
for 18 flat, I'm in.
I want £18,950.

You're in at £18,000.
Yeah.

We'll go halfway. Pick it.

Yeah.
It's either...

You'll either get the car
for 18 or 18.5.

Yeah.
Fair?

Yep.
Heads or tails?

I'm gonna go for heads.

Heads. £18,000, it's yours.

[LAUGHS]
Congratulations.

Good man. Good man.
[SCREAMS]

Stupid coin's broken! [LAUGHS]

Congratulations, man.
Cheers, mate. Thank you very much.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

I feel like I've put
the blue Lotus bogeyman to bed.

Our Lotus is sold.

Did we make any money?
Yeah, we made profit. Yes.

I mean, it wasn't massive.
It was a whopping £526.

It could have been £1,026, but...

I tossed a coin and lost.

Right, so that's ticked Lotuses.
No more Lotuses now.

Deal.

I don't trust him.