It's hard to believe it was designed in the first half of the 1970s. The fact that it was produced until 2004 confirms that this car model was truly ahead of its time. We owe the Esprit's design to the guru Giorgetto Giugiaro – the same man who designed classics like the first Golf and the "timeless" DeLorean DMC-12.

For some, the Esprit might be best known as Roger Moore's Bond car. Moore drove a Lotus Esprit in two films – a red one in "The Spy Who Loved Me," and a white one in "For Your Eyes Only." The white Esprit in "For Your Eyes Only" was actually the car the seller of Bidders Highway's item dreamt about as a child.

- "I had seen the James Bond movies, and one was completely captivated when seeing one of these in real life," he recalls. "When I was a teenager, someone in my little community had bought one of these cars, and I've always thought they are incredibly beautiful."

The car is in an incredibly fine unaltered and rust-free original condition.


It was a few years later that the hunt for one's own Esprit began. The seller got in touch with an enthusiast, or one could call him a Lotus expert.
- "He had a full handle on all sensible Lotuses available in Sweden, it felt like. He knew that there was a guy who had several Lotuses who might be willing to sell one. I wanted one that was in really good condition, and this one was exceptional."

It didn't turn out to be a white car, which was the original idea. It ended up being silver, possibly making it even more rare from that perspective.
- "You can't be too picky as there aren't that many around, but the glass roof was a big plus," the seller continues. "It gives a sense of space in the car even though it's quite small."

A very fine original interior in black leather.

Additionally, the current item also has a connection to the world of movies. However, not through the secret agent James Bond, but rather Police Commissioner Martin Beck, played by actor Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt in the 1976 film "Man on the Roof." He is, in fact, the car's first owner. So not a Bond car per se, but rather a Beck car. "That's well worth a nod, isn't it?"

Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt