Original subtitles

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!

...'cause the house I bought for my parents to retire in

is still a building site...

Oh, my goodness.

...and still hemorrhaging cash.

But to turn old motors into big money...

Hello, sir.

...and finally get Mom and Dad moved in...

It looks magnificent.

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

Oh, straight into my mouth.

...and my petrol-head pal, Duncan...

...back on board.

And to make this mission accomplished...

She's magnificent.

Incoming.

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

...full throttle.

Yeah!

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 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 I love in car manufacturing.

Lightweight, alternative materials, sports-car feel.

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' 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.

The problem with Esprit is no two are exactly the same.

Getting parts is very difficult.

And they have a bit of a reputation for not being reliable.

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

The last time Dan and I were in a Lotus,

he was towing me.

'Cause the engine went bang, and 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 a Lotus I've not owned. Or maybe both.

I'm praying it's a good one.

- I'm hoping you're Jim. - I am. Good to see you.

- Nice to meet you. - It's around the corner.

Hope you 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.

Of course it did.

Oh, yeah. So does she run?

She does run, yes.

You've only owned it for six months.

- Yeah. - And already she's for sale.

It's just a change of plan.

Another vehicle's come up, an Alvis.

It's 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,

because it's classed as a combat vehicle reconnaissance track.

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

- it's those people. - Yeah.

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

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

- So you've done nothing? - We found a problem.

If it's all right,

mind if I get 15 minutes to look on my own?

- Yeah, that's fine. - 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, the first thing to do

is go online and look at the MOT.

Okay.

The list is slightly longer than Jim let on.

Exhaust emission carbon monoxide content excessive.

Hydrocarbon content excessive, which means 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, fiberglass body.

Engine in the middle,

which is where it should be for a supercar.

The thing about these cars is

they were built to rival brands like Ferrari,

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

I mean, Jim said she started...

...but this car ain't starting.

Come on.

There's a starting issue,

and the MOT has some flags on fueling, so...

I'm just gonna park it emotionally for 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.

But this is a problem.

This is basically a hand-cut piece of Perspex.

Someone's put tape on 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. This is gonna be a tricky one

because, on one hand,

the car guy in me, it's a Lotus, 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 doesn't add up.

I'd be happy with 14.5.

I can't go that low.

I don't think you'll see an Esprit for 14.5.

And 16,250 is too high for me.

Fifteen?

Can we go a little bit higher than that?

15.5?

15.5, sold.

Okay.

I'm sure you'll love it.

Oh, my gosh. I did it. It's too late. I paid the man.

I'm 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'll love it if we make a profit,

and he'll 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 lots 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.

This is the fastest it's 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?

Look at the front.

Mate, I bought it because it's a Lotus. And you know what?

This is a bit of unfinished business.

Wanna see the business end?

How cool is that? Come and check it out.

Ideally, when you get hold of a classic car,

you want service history, right?

We have nothing with this car.

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

The seller told me that the car was running.

So it does crank over, so if I turn the key...

The battery's gone.

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

Welcome to Lotus ownership.

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

It's got to be something simple.

Might be sticky floats in the carb or fuel pump.

Could be a number of issues.

But I've got a bit of information, because there is an MOT failure list.

Failure.

On the failure list it says there's an emissions problem.

So that must mean it was running.

Exactly, how are you gonna do an MOT if the car's not running?

Okay. So on that was just emissions?

- No, a ton of suspension issues. - Great.

If we're to get it right on a Lotus, we wanna get the suspension right.

Because if it handles like a supercar,

it'll make big money.

So...

I'm quite looking forward to it. 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.

We can make a few grand.

Did he mention it didn't run?

Now you're just stirring things up. You're just stirring 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 we'll fix it. Abracadabra.

Abracadabra. Let's push it in. Let's go charge it.

Convince me.

- There you go. - All right, let's hope.

This is gonna be fine, I'm sure.

It's a Lotus.

Fully charged?

We are charged.

Fingers crossed.

No, we're gonna be fine.

Right.

She fired.

Well, the battery's good.

Okay. Give it another go.

- Mind your fingers. - Yeah.

It should be starting.

No, hang on, mate. She's not firing.

Just give it a bit of accelerator. Hands free.

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 almost ten grand.

Well, let's hope not.

We've charged the battery and checked the spark in this Esprit,

but it's still not firing.

Battery, fuel, spark.

It's not a complicated engine.

What can it be?

Has it got an electric pump

- or a mechanical one? - Don't know.

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

With the ignition comes on,

you'd normally expect the pump to prime.

All right. I'll turn the ignition on.

I mean, I didn't hear one before.

- Can you hear anything? - No.

Let's hope it's not ticking like a time bomb.

Well, I suppose first port of call

is check the fuses.

Yeah, right. Back to basics. Simple steps.

Where's the fusebox?

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.

You ever heard 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're 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 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.

Look in the handbook?

There is no handbook, there's no service history.

There'll be something online.

The problem is Lotus were handmade, so,

my experience with Lotus is that

- 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.

This is a completely different fuse box.

It goes into there.

Let me get the screwdriver.

- Hang on. - Oh, my gosh, another fuse box.

How's this come up? Let's have a look.

It looks like a bomb.

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

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 7.5, of course it's blown.

Bingo, bango, bongo.

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.

Hey.

That is the sound of a fuel pump.

Well, that pipe was filled up straight away,

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

I can hear a fuel pump. This should start then.

Right, go on, give her a go.

Come on!

Do you know what, 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.

Getting the Lotus running will keep Dad happy,

but he'll be over the moon when I finish the dining room.

Oh, my goodness.

- It's changed. - I know, right?

Roof looks good.

- Straight to the roof. - I did it.

Pulled it down, got stuff all over me.

So that's another room done.

That's why you're here,

because I've got everything to furnish this room.

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

Let's do it.

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

- Do you know where it's going? - On the floor.

Please don't scrape it on anything, Archie.

Boom.

I managed to secure this antique table. I've measured it.

Should go through the door.

- You got it? - Yeah.

Watch this door.

We're in.

Okay.

I mean, furniture just changes a 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,

'cause I'm worried about this.

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

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

What is that, a bracket?

Yeah.

It's been glued in with silicone.

So somebody has obviously made that.

It's a wobble board.

You can see what they've done. Look.

They've basically just siliconed it in with bathroom sealer.

So the front clips here. Look.

Yeah, and these are a...

- 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 opened a can of worms, Bert.

No worms, no cans,

- but we need to find a sunroof. - Good luck.

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

- Oh, you have a glass roof? - 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. I'll take the glass roof and front tongues for now.

All right. Appreciate you. Thank you.

How'd we do?

Right.

I've been down the sunroof rabbit hole,

and it turns out some of these bits are basically impossible to find.

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

and I found three of the four.

Do I guess which ones?

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

And these rear clips are one of the hardest parts to find.

In fact, there aren't any.

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

When you say "we've got," have we paid for it?

Yeah, that was 650 quid.

But we can't get clips. Without the clips, it's useless.

It's not useless, we have to come up with a solution.

But these are apparently impossible to find.

Right.

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

What are you working on, car or house?

This is car parts. These catch handles are a real problem.

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?

We might have to.

The only thing is,

while you're really bogged down with this,

how's the house getting on?

We're not nearer.

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

- we will get nearer. - Okay.

With no sunroof, this Lotus is unsellable.

It's basically a skip.

But I'm gonna crack on...

...because the suspension is shot

and I need her handling like a Lotus.

Right. Last year somebody put it through the MOT,

where we have this failure list that said...

Look. Upper ball joint.

- Yeah. - That gate is 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.

Let's whip these off.

- Let's do the upper ball joint first. - Let's get 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.

You know, think about the handling characteristics

of every Lotus.

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

Trouble is, once you get a little play in one bit and another bit,

that exaggerates through the steering wheel

and gives you all 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 tire flat on the road during cornering,

braking, and acceleration, without adding unnecessary weight.

We might need a ball joint splitter.

Might...

The only Lotus that doesn't fight back.

Look at the state of it.

When you go to tackle a curve on a racetrack...

- Down a gear. - ...this is wobbling all over.

It's gonna feel like, 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.

Look at that.

- Oh, yeah, that is-- Night and day. - Nice and tight.

Look at that. That little shim at the front

changes the ball joint point backwards

just enough to increase the caster angle.

Clever.

You know what? For 22 quid a side,

that is gonna make a dramatic difference.

Whoever wants to buy this car,

they'll have an expectation of Lotus handling.

Right, track rod end.

The track rod end connects to the steering rack

and keeps the wheels aligned.

Before we take this one off, we wanna measure.

- Yeah, look, it's longer. - Yeah.

That came from a different manufacturer.

To accommodate the new part being longer,

I'm relocating the locking nut,

so when I fit it, the wheels stay in parallel.

So let's move that bolt back.

Back that nut off, and that'll get us in the ballpark.

Couple of turns.

One more turn and we're there.

Yeah, look.

What's that, three, four mil?

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 track end.

All right, lock nut back, done.

That is it!

Now it'll handle like a Lotus.

See? We're like an F1 pit crew.

Silky smooth.

Ant, can you come up here, mate?

What?

I need you to 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.

We put these up last year.

I know. It's definitely moving.

Because these were all touching.

The roof's coming down and the walls are going out.

So we need to stabilize it.

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 wanna go down there. - I'm not walking down there.

- So... - You can feel the house wobble.

We've got to do something.

Yeah, one big wind and this house falls down.

I mean, you probably got 15, 20 ton of tiles on this roof.

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 plum.

That's it.

Right.

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

because we've got to really try and stop it spreading now.

I haven't got the bandwidth,

I haven't got budget to fix this rear end yet.

No, but it might dictate what happens.

If this keeps moving, we've got to do something.

All right.

Temporarily, this is gonna help.

At least you can sleep tonight.

Yeah, just not in here.

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.

You know what? It suits you. Wanna pop that rear clam?

Yeah, it definitely sounds a little lumpy.

You 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.

That smells rich.

All right. Kill it and let's whip a plug out and look.

An engine that's running rich is getting too much fuel

and not enough air through the carburetors,

meaning the combustion process isn't clean.

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

That is the soot left over from unburnt fuel,

so she's running too rich.

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

'Cause you want a nice creamy color on that.

We need to reduce the flow of fuel

because it's currently not being efficiently burnt.

And that'll probably account for why it's failing emissions.

Let's assume they're the same,

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

Each of the carburetors needs to be mixing

the same and correct ratio of fuel and air.

- Wanna grab a screwdriver? - Yeah.

Screwdriver and our vacuum gauge as well.

This nifty tool measures the amount of work

each carburetor is doing.

We'll see where 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 carburetor.

I'm holding my breath.

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

we need to set a baseline to work from.

3.5.

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.

They're all set at 2.5 turns, right?

- 2.5. - 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 carburetor. So although it's a single carburetor,

there's two carburetors running off one float chamber.

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

That's about three.

It's a five.

And I bet you that's a five.

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

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

- So-- - All right, let's pull...

Reduce that down.

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

This way, we want both carburetors 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 4.5.

4.5. Okay, go on then, give that a rev.

No stutter there at all.

That's what a Lotus should sound like.

Right, double-check.

Just under five, just under five.

Just under five.

That is bang on.

With the engine warmed up, I can check 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 the soot off it.

Bear in mind, we've only run it for a bit.

- Cleared up massively. - All the soot.

Still not running, I see?

- No, no, it's running. - Hit it.

Go on, give it some beans.

- Very good. - Sounds like a sports car.

Sounds like a race car. That's how an Esprit should sound.

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

It cost us nothing.

That's really good.

Good job, guys. Well done.

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

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

We're having 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. - Hello. Nice to meet you.

Yes, 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. - How're we gonna do it?

- First, we'll scan it. - Right.

Then I'll have a 3D image to trace, like tracing paper when at school.

Cameron uses a specialized camera

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

- So that's all done now? - Yeah. So--

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

And then once we fuse it and let it do its thing,

there we have a generated image, which--

- It's really sharp. - Looks good for the most part,

but you can see a few bits,

wobbly lines, so I need to clean it up,

but that's enough to carry on with the next step.

One of the issues when I bought the car were the headlights.

I hit the button and they struggle to go up.

Must be the battery.

When we charged the battery, it now has enough voltage.

The battery's working to put them up simultaneously,

but you see that one when it goes down?

The panel gap is terrible.

So it looks badly built.

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.

I hated these the moment I saw them.

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

Nice, original.

Right. If you pop the bonnet up...

The Esprit kept its pop-up headlights

for the entire 28-year production run,

thought to be the longest for any production car.

Lovely.

These are an investment worth making.

Yeah. What sort of money?

The whole set was £350.

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.

We've got to take that adjuster off

and give it a few turns,

that'll push the front 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 them.

Make sure that panel gap holds.

Is it flush?

That is beautiful, Bernard.

That is it. Our headlights are done.

This is accurate to about ...2, .3 of a mil.

That's pretty close.

It is pretty close, but still, that .2, .3 can take you off.

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

to get the most profit for my Lotus.

Our Lotus Esprit is edging closer to the finish line.

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.

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 handmade a steering cowling.

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

Knowing how bad it looked,

I pre-ordered a fiberglass replacement,

which has cost just under 80 quid.

Right. 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.

I've been waiting for that.

Yeah, look, jump in. Jump in, man.

I'll show you what I did on the interior.

This is exactly what I've been waiting for,

because I got a little bit carried away,

a little bit extravagant. Because I didn't like the steering wheel

that was on the car, I've spent a bit of cash.

- But this was 250 quid, and-- - How much?

It was 250 quid, should've been more, but I got a deal from a mate.

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.

Look at that.

Oh, yeah.

Center boss. Ready.

- The victorious badge. - Yeah.

- I see you've got the sunroof? - Well, yeah.

We're ready to fit the glass. You take that,

'cause we've got everything to fit the front portion,

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

Allen key?

- Of course. - Thank you.

I've got the rubber, so let's get this in.

That's the front clips done.

Let's put the rubber in.

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.

When the catches are on,

it'll suck it down into the rubber and make it watertight.

- But we need the catches. - Lotus.

I'm back. I can't believe...

how clever this is. Right.

That one is heavier. That's the original.

But look at that.

- Oh, man. - It's 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 them on the car.

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?

You wanna talk about the finances?

Fine.

Just a refresher,

we paid 15.5 grand, which I think's 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.

But brace yourself, this got really expensive.

The sunroof alone, just the sunroof,

- 1,349. - You're joking.

No. We paid 650 for the glass, 399 for the parts,

and your 3D printed handles were 300 quid.

Ouch.

Where we saved on mechanics, we basically paid for it in the roof.

That's off the profit.

Yeah, 350 on the lights, but that's great value,

'cause it transforms the face of our car.

My mate did me a deal on the 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, now for the best bit,

because I have to drive this car, and I've got to drive.

Them's the rules.

But before I put this car up for sale,

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

Oh, my goodness, what a change.

Transformation, Ant. Incredible!

It's like a different room.

I think it was worth the extra effort for the ceiling,

and it just feels great in here. Painting the panels was a big deal,

but ultimately it was the right decision.

If my memory's right,

I think the last time you guys actually had a dining room,

I would've been 18.

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 round the table.

I'm really pleased.

Everything in this room feels wonderful.

- A place you could entertain. - Hello!

- Dinner's here! - Hello.

- Timing. - Hello, guys.

Good timing, guys.

Who chose pizza?

- 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 meal here is a nice takeaway pizza.

Whoa, she's fast.

So smooth as well.

Oh, my life.

This is what Lotus is all about.

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

And the alignment and the handling is just superb.

Look, 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 carburetors,

perfectly set up.

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

I feel like I have finally put my Lotus boogeyman 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 have a closer look.

Yeah.

She's sparkling.

What puts you in the Esprit market?

Yeah, obviously iconic car from Pretty Woman,

and 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 have to turn her on.

Go on, get in there.

Yeah, please go for it.

Let her idle.

- That's alright, isn't it? - Yeah, leave her be a bit.

But well done. Love the roof.

So the roof was the hardest thing on the car.

- Right, cut that engine, Rob. - Okay.

Well, I tell you what, this is a fantastic car,

- fantastic buy. - Lovely.

Where in the country can you get an '89 Esprit

- of this quality? - Yeah, completely.

- Looks fantastic, I've gotta say. - She looks great. Fantastic color.

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

Or a is it a tag team effort?

That's probably me.

But we'll see. But fire away.

- She's listed online for 18,950. - Yeah.

I challenge you won't find another at that price.

Hit me.

She is very reasonably priced,

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

I mean, can we stay at an 18?

Can we stay at 18?

It is the cheapest Lotus Esprit on the market.

It is, and it's incredible value.

- 18 something. - If we can do it for 18 flat, I'm in.

- I want 18,950, you're in at 18. - Yeah.

- We'll go halfway, pick it. - Yeah.

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

- Yeah. - Fair?

- Yeah. - Heads or tails?

I'm going for heads.

- Heads. 18,000, it's yours. - Heads.

- Congratulations, mate. - Good man. Good man.

Stupid coin's broken.

- Congratulations, man. - Cheers, mate. Thanks.

I feel like I've put the blue Lotus boogeyman 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 pounds.

It could have been 1,026 pounds, but...

...I tossed coin and lost.

Right. So that's ticked Lotuses. No more Lotuses now.

Deal.

Don't trust him.

Subtitling by Iyuno