Lotus turned to Giugiaro to design them a flagship that gained instant pin-up status, and an appearance as a Bond car/submarine in The Spy Who Loved Me. Still using the established Elan system of a glassfibre body over a backbone chassis, the Esprit had its two-litre twin-cam engine mid-mounted. The S2’s minor mods included ‘ears’ behind the rear side windows to improve engine airflow, Speedline alloys and upturned Rover SD1 taillights. For the last year of production it was fitted with the 2.2-litre engine, these models being commonly referred to as the S2.2.
Information from Octane Magazine.
read more »