Giorgetto Giugiaro’s Lotus Espirit design went under Julian Thompson’s pen in 1993 to undergo subtle changes to become the Espirit S4. The S4 was then tuned to 300hp and became the S4s with the stunning rear wing from the Sport 300. In 1996, Lotus had a compact V8 with no car to plonk it in, the V8 was detuned to 354 hp to ensure the Renault transmission held together.
Cam Shaft – Premium Wrapping has paid tribute to Ayrton Senna with a John Player Special liveried Lotus Espirit V8. If the black and gold stunning livery hasn’t dropped you to the floor how about the upgrades on the Lotus? A Red Race control device with optimized characteristics has been fitted. Adjustable cases by Forge inside the turbo compressor pumps and a self designed compressor cooling system (on the basis of Lotus-Omega) as well as two 100-cell structure catalysts give the Espirit V8 with 492 hp (362 kW), 4.3 seconds to hit 100 km/h from standstill and a top speed of 305 km/h. Compare this to the stock specs of 354 hp that propelled the Espirit to 100 kph in about 4.9 seconds.
Since the Renault transmission was the reason why the V8 was detuned in the original Espirit, Cam-Shaft swapped the 5 speed unit for a 6-speed Dog-Engagement gearbox equipped with a longer total ratio. The braking has been worked on with AP racing 4-piston callipers and perforated brake discs with the diameter of 330 mm.
In addition to the gold livery, there’s also a signature in gold of the legendary racing driver on the car and the number 12, the number on the John Players Special Lotus 97T in which Senna won his first Grand Prix at Estoril in 1985. A wet wet wet race that was.
Senna at Estoril 1985 in the #12 John Players SpecialLotus 97T
Photos by: Jordi Miranda
