Used Car Of The Day: 1988 Lotus Esprit Turbo

by Tim Healey

Published: August 13th, 2025

used car of the day 1988 lotus esprit turbo

I believe I've written something similar before, but the Lotus Esprit was a bedroom-poster car for folks my age. I am not sure if I ever one on my walls -- I probably did -- but I bet many fellow elder Millennial car guys and gals did. Anyway, this 1988 Lotus Esprit Turbo brings back some memories of discovering European exotics as a youngster.

The seller says it "functions" well but while it looks good from afar, there are cosmetic blemishes that can be seen up close.

That appears to be the case with the interior, as well. It does have a Blaupunkt stereo -- even if you need a curveball instead of a quadrophonic Blaupunkt (movie reference!). The stereo has Bluetooth and an Alpine amp.

The gauges don't work and the HVAC needs work, but the lights and horn are functional.

Oh, and the engine stumbles and leaks a bit of oil. British cars!

At least it seems to handle and shift well.

If this kind of thing tickles your fancy and you have the patience (and stiffer upper lip) needed to deal with British unreliability, you can find it in Newtown, Connecticut for $25,000. Click here for more.

[Images: Seller]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#Lotus #1988LotusEsprit #UCOTD #UsedCaroftheDay #UsedCars

Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 15 comments

Andarris on Aug 14, 2025

OK, but can you go out and find one of the handfull of Auto Caerier AC3000 that were actually delivered?

Like Reply
Msa65720275 on Aug 15, 2025

LOTUS
Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Lou_BC The author asks "What Kind of Cheap Car Do We Need?" then blabbers on about affordability. "Need" is much different than "want". Auto companies through advertising have convinced the masses that they "need" McMansions and 20 foot long crew cab pickups for their 1.6 children and labradoodle named Daisy.If people bought just what they needed, much of the affordability question would self-correct.
Lou_BC Musk's companies are worth trillions on stock value alone. That's okay as long as you can keep people buying stock. When it comes to actual products and profits from sales, the numbers are less flattering.
The Oracle Many are largely parked due to their collectibility.
The Oracle Musk knows what he’s doing. He is pioneering so many technologies in terms of product and manufacturing that he will achieve incredible economy of scale.
Forward Observer Tesla cash on hand is $45 billion. That is a large mattress.Ford Motor Company market cap is $46 billion. Wait, forget I said that.