The ‘World Championship Commemorative Model’ Esprit was launched at the UK Motor Show in October 1978 and only 185 were built, 99 of which were for the UK market. Its black and gold livery was inspired by that of Lotus’s revolutionary 1978 F1 cars which had finally mastered ground effect aerodynamics; something with which others, notably Jim Hall at Chaparral, had long experimented. As a result Lotus took eight victories from sixteen races during 1978 with team leader Mario Andretti taking six wins and the Drivers’ World Championship. His gifted and popular team mate Ronnie Peterson also took two wins and helped Lotus beat rivals Ferrari to the Constructors’ Championship by a convincing 28 points.
DID YOU KNOW: The car modelled, UK '033', carries that number on each flank and, like all WCCM Esprits, has a gold plaque in front of the gear lever carrying Chapman's signature. It was originally purchased in 1979 by Topsy Professional Services of Birmingham from Lotus dealer Cathedral Garage in Bristol. In 2002 well known Lotus enthusiast and author, Graham Capel, bought the car in a dismantled state, bringing it home in three sections. He then set about a full high quality restoration which used as many of the original parts as possible to retain the authenticity of this 'matching numbers' car, which included rebuilding the original chassis and engine. It returned to the road in 2005 and has since been featured in EVO magazine.