1979 | Lotus Esprit S2

The Lotus Esprit JPS Commemorative Edition is a striking and rare limited-edition variant of the Lotus Esprit Series 2, created to mark Team Lotus's Formula 1 World Championship success in 1978. Unique features include a distinctive black and gold 'JPS' livery, inspired by the colours of Lotus's F1 cars sponsored by John Player Special. Also included are enhanced special edition details with gold-accented alloy wheels, gold windscreen surrounds, 'World Champion' side-stripes, and bespoke interior touches like black leather with gold corduroy inserts and a commemorative numbered dash plaque. Mechanically, it shares the 1,973cc Lotus 907 DOHC engine with the standard S2 Esprit, meaning the performance remains similar, but the collectible value is significantly elevated.

Our vendor is hugely enthusiastic about Lotus, with an impressive collection of memorabilia, various single seater race cars and a wonderful selection of Lotus road cars. This special Esprit has been in his tenure for around 15 years, in which time it has won awards at shows, features in various magazines and been thoroughly enjoyed, but is starting to see less use. One of the attractions of this example is just how original it appears to be; so many of these cars have now been overly restored, but this one just looks 'right', and whilst it has some small bits of micro-blistering and crazing in places, that just goes towards further verifying its originality— it is 46 years old after all! The interior is in remarkably good order, with very few signs of use or ageing, and the numbered plaque and correct Mario Andretti signed steering wheel are still in place. Thankfully, the original Hitachi digital stereo with 'JPS' knobs is still in place too, a part which would surely be almost impossible to replace if it were missing. A cambelt service along with a new exhaust and some work on the cooling system were carried out by Paul Matty Sports Cars in 2019 at a cost of over £2,800, with only around 1,000 miles covered since. This Esprit has been quite well documented, with a feature in CAR magazine's 50th anniversary issue in 2016, a six-page article in Classic Car magazine in 2013 and was used to help promote the 'Heritage Racing Special' limited edition Omologato watch. This example is ready to be enjoyed once more by another enthusiastic owner, supplied to auction with an impressive history file and a V5 registration document. Consigned by Fraser Smith

Lot details
Year: 1979
Make: Lotus
Model: Esprit S2 JPS Commemorative Edition
Registration: FBC 199T
Chassis No: 7902/0641G
Odometer: 26,286


* 61 of just 100 examples built

* Largely original condition

* From a 15-year ownership, forming part of a mostly Lotus-centred collection