(sorry to leave the exotic-cars list off this reply, but until the severe
mailbounce problems are cleaned up there, I'm not that much a masochist! :-)
>From Brian H. Wertz" <brian@hpbs5274.boi.hp.com
>>>>>>>>>>>
The reasons you mentioned above were mostly what led me to
purchase my '93 Turbo Esprit. I have been thoroughly enthralled
by this Lotus since I was about 17 ( 10 years ago.) For the
past 5 years I actually believed I could own my dream car and I
began planning my finances for this purchase. My dream came true
this past July...
>>>>>>>>>>>
Well, I guess I shared the same dream as Brian, but finances and reality
dictated that my Esprit would be used. In '87 I bought a really nice '79
S2 Esprit with only 17k miles on it. I suppose if I won a lottery I'd buy a
new one, but in my financial situation I couldn't justify the severe
depreciation that a new Esprit owner suffers, not to mention just not having
that kind of money.
By buying used , I haven't suffered much further depreciation but If I only
could of waited a few years I could have bought a turbo for what I paid for
my S2. (just to let people know who don't eat/breathe Esprits - you can now
get used turbos starting in the high teens and ending up in the mid 20's for
pre '86.. into the thirties for later models).
On the other hand I've really enjoyed the time I've had with the S2, it's just
not the "killer car" the turbo is. (the handling is still great and I don't
really think I could ever find a road around here capable of 150 mph, let alone
get by the paranoia of being stopped by a roadblock for doing so! :-) This
brings up one bad thing about driving an exotic: Some of the attention is a
real ego trip, but lots of it is bad. Besides the cops (I successfully fought
my last ticket that I felt was for just "looking fast", you also attract lots
of "Klingons". I don't mean the Star Trek type, but people who will hang out
in your bind spot for hours. At times I really wish my car was "Lotus" from the
inside, but "pickup truck" appearing on the outside! You could then enjoy the
car while fading into the mainstream of other cars.
I also commented to Brian a few months back that I found him extremely patient
in breaking in the car. At 553 miles, he isn't even past the "kissing stage"
if you were to make a sexual comparison in the relationship to his car.
(Hint: Brian, true love is realized at 7,000 rpm). If I were he, I think I
would have taken the car on a long, long "honeymoon" by now!
Luckily my insurance is quite lower and I don't have a 2500 mile limit like
Brian. For a while I averaged 4,000 mi/yr, but I haven't put on as many miles
since moving (my work location kinda deters me from this, whereas I used to
drive it most sunny days to work in the summer -at my old job). I'm somewhere
around 39K now (not too bad for a '79).
As Brian said, there is a passion driving such a purchase, but in my case I
had to stop far short of buying a virgin. For me, being owner #3 isn't so bad.
(I'm sure Brian can argue somewhat that there's nothing like being #1)
-Bob T. (same dream, years apart)
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