Thursday, June 26, 2008

Jan Frank Party Time.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Lotus Turbo Esprit is Back!

She’s back. The Ghost of Groupe, that white-hot heartthrob of a vehicle, our Lotus Turbo Esprit has come home for the summer to bask in familial adoration and get some much needed R&R. She looks better than ever even after a fellowship in the Berkshires, and we’re thrilled to have her back among us. And just in time for our first big party of the year. Come by to welcome her home and to find out more.





About The Lotus:

The Turbo Esprit is the third and final evolution of the Giorgetto Giugiaro Esprit design concept that debuted in 1975 with the original Esprit S1.

While the Esprit’s pioneering “wedge” silhouette had always given the car fast looks, the normally aspirated powerplants on earlier models were somewhat underpowered. Endowed with a Garrett turbocharger, and in the North American versions, Bosch fuel injection, the 2.2 liter engine in the Turbo Esprit pumps out 215 horsepower —enough power to propel the car from rest to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds, on the way to a Vmax of 150 mph.

Underneath the angular fiberglass exterior, the Esprit continues the Lotus “backbone” chassis design also featured on the original Elan. This construction allows for structural rigidity and also dictates the wide center console of the interior.

Living up to its reputation as England’s reigning supercar of the decade, the Esprit was chosen by the producers of the James Bond films as a fitting replacement for 007’s aging Aston DB5. The original “submarine” vehicle in “The Spy Who Loved Me” was actually a white S1 normally aspirated car, but the shape proved so popular that it made a second appearance in the later “For Your Eyes Only,” in the form of not one but two Turbo Esprits.

The first vehicle, also a white car, self-destructs early in the film when a henchman tries to break in. The second vehicle is a cinnamon metallic Turbo Esprit, driven by Bond in the Cortina ski resort sequences.

Our car was specially ordered by the original owner as an homage to the “submarine” car. It should be noted that the unique full leather white interior differs from the movie car, which featured plaid cloth seats. Additionally, US-spec cars did not generally come with the side script and double racing stripe as shown on “The Spy Who Loved Me” cars. To our knowledge, there is only one other LHD Giugiaro Turbo Esprit in this color combination, located in Switzerland.

For more information about purchasing this vehicle, please contact us directly.

Friday, June 6, 2008

New Online Store Launch

Exciting news from our camp!

Introducing GROUPE Seize sur Vingt Online. Now your favorite sartorialists can be accessed on the world wide web, at our new and improved online store: shop.16sur20.com. Check back often for updates and, soon, custom shirtings!