billwill wrote:I checked with my brother & the car is an Esprit S2 1979 with 2 litre engine.
Dis they all have 2 litre engines?
The S1 & S2 did; I think it was for the S3 & Turbo that the displacement went to 2.2.
But in any case, the 9xx engines are great, with really robust bottom-ends- never have to worry about breaking them.
When I had my Esprit I found that TLF was a great source of knowledge. Sounds from Tim's post like it may have gone downhill, which would be sad. But there are a good several outposts of various types of Esprit-knowledge scattered about teh interwebz if your brother has the time to apply his backside to the chair and surf them out.
Regarding electrical complexity, my experience is more with the Turbo but even then I would argue that while there's more stuff in the electrical system than there is in an Elan's system, it's not really any more difficult to understand and in many ways is a higher-quality system- especially since by the '80s (and maybe earlier Esprits?) Lotus had banished the bullets in favour of good reliable multi-pin connectors.
The suspension is easy to deal with, certain jobs on the engine can be a real pig given the longitudinal-mid-orientation, and the admonition to seek a complete interior is valid- though some of the bits are based on ABS plastic which can warp over time especially if the car has been in the sun. Same for some of the outside bits too.
But he should definitely dive in and have fun with it!