[Music] [Music] You're watching Throttle House. I'm Thomas. [Music] And I'm James. [Music] And that's the Lotus' spree V8. There are many cars that we haven't driven on Throttle House, but one that has always been wedged at the back of our mind has been this one, the Aspree. Lotus badge, mid-enineed, manual, iconic Hollywood approved shape. And even with the big engine option, weighs about as much as a new fourpot Civic. Huge thank you to the folks at Gentry Lane here in Ontario for letting us feature it because like the other cars in their shop, this car is now an absolute classic. And to this day, the Aspree still undercuts its Italian rivals in price. Different specs can be had for less, but this one is mint and highly coveted and therefore has held on to basically its 1998 price. So, worth it? Let's find out. If you're new to Throttle House, we do car reviews, track tests, and quite a lot of messing around. So, subscribe and enjoy the show. All right. Finally, in a spree, Thomas and I have driven many Lotuses. Lotai. Actually, I read an official document that says the plural of Lotus will be Lotus. So, Thomas and I have driven many Lotus. No, that doesn't sound right. But never in a Spree. And this is the S4. This is the final generation of the Sri, which means even though you could get a four-cylinder, this one has the twinturbocharged 3.5 L V8. 350 horsepower behind me. Not quite as much as the Ferrari F355 of the time, but this is a bit lighter. So, I think the power to weight ratio is about the same, and it means it achieves a 0 to 60 time of less than 5 seconds as well. This is quite quick. And like the rest of this car, that engine is all Lotus, baby. Yeah. So, the engine is from Lotus, but the rest of the car, well, you know, like a car in need is a Lotus indeed. And this one has borrowed a lot. One look at its library card will tell you that the steering wheel, the stalks, and the airbag are from a GM Saturn. The door handles are from an Opal Calibbra. The tail lights Toyota A86. Headlight lift motors from a Pontiac Fiero. The aerial, well, that's a Vauxaltra. Side mirrors from a Citroen CX, Peugeot 106 interior buttons, fan motors from a Ford Fiesta, Jag window motors. I mean, look, there is more, but come on. This was James Bond's car 007. That makes it automatically cool. That and the air conditioning compressor from GM. Okay, I would love to say that James Bond was my first experience of an Aspree, but it wasn't because it was actually the VHS that was in the cover that I was never allowed to watch because it was a 15. And that was Julia Roberts's Pretty Woman. It's actually a great film. And in that film, for some reason, Richard Gear can't handle this car. So, Julia Roberts has to take the keys. And by the way, if you haven't seen it, I don't know if I can say it on YouTube. Julia Roberts is one of those people that works on a particular corner procuring business. But in that film, she procures Richard Gear's love. It's romantic and it's wonderful. But it's also wonderful because this car is in it. Wait a minute. That's a Lotus Breeze. And the reason this car is in it and not something more exotic is apparently because Porsche and Ferrari rejected the film and wouldn't supply a car because of its subject matter to do withstitution. Anyway, yes, it's a part car, but look at it. Everyone loves it. I've been driving this through the city. I've been driving it on the highway. It's well-mannered. We've established it's quick enough. The shifter is fine. You have to be quite delicate with it. It feels a lot like an Elise. That's sort of a weak point here. The clutch is lighter than I expected. It's not got a particularly high red line, but even though it's twin turbocharged, the power's all at the top. So, it invites you to rev it out. This is a fun car to drive. It would be more fun if it sounded a bit better. It sounds pure. It sounds quite good. It doesn't sound It's not close to the Ferrari. And yes, it doesn't have an identity in the interior the same way a Honda NSX does or the Ferrari or a Viper. And that's because it has the feel of an intimidating, you know, minus four cylinders Lamborghini, but it's not scary to drive, which means this doesn't feel entirely like any other Lotus I've driven. It there's It almost feels Italian. It says SP Mario. Don't put that in. Don't put that in. You kind of get the impression that Lotus did everything they could with what they had and what they had is always less than everyone else. But as a result, you really get the feeling that this has been made by a team of people for whom compromise wasn't a word in their dictionary. Apart from one big compromise, one there's one giant one. Yeah, Lotus messed up. Yeah. Apparently, that twin turbo V8 was capable of 500 horsepower. Lotus actually spent millions of pounds developing that engine. They spent more money on that engine than they did on the entire Lotus Elise, but they didn't have any money left over. So, they had to use a transmission from a Renault, which wasn't capable of handling 500 horsepower. So, they d-tuned the engine to 350. So, right off the bat, the car was neutered. But it is a Lotus, which means that it should be a delight in the corners. [Music] After spending a lot of time in an Elise, uh, this isn't at the same level of tactility and lightness and connection that the Elise is, but compared to its contemporary, the F355, I think this is right up there. You feel that you feel that there isn't a lot of mass when you lean it into it. Oh, like that. That's nice. So much torque coming out of the corner. Seriously, that's that's good. Oh, yes. It's a car that looks like a Countach, but a Countach is cumbersome. It's heavy. It's difficult to drive. This isn't. It's so much. This is so Lotus. They really did just care about making the car feel delicate in the corners. And it does. Always wanted to drive one of these. I was always so curious. The suspension is good. Not too stiff. They allow the body to move around a little bit. Steering isn't that fast. There's lots of feedback. And since it's mid engine, there's no weight over the front. The steering is actually quite light until you add some grip to those front tires. Then it loads up exactly how you want it to. And a road like this is kind of like an English B-roll. Is exactly what this car was meant to do. Feels completely at home. Completely at home. really nice sense that it's mid-enineed. You push it into a corner, you get a little bit of that front end under steer and then eventually the engine overtakes you, which is exactly what you want. Predictability and adjustability. That is the Lotus way. God, that transmission's crap. It's holding this thing back. Interesting takeaway, though. This is a very good car. It's a very nice car. It's a very easy car to drive fast, but it's not particularly riveting to drive. It's not that exciting, especially at road speeds like this. And for a car that shared a year with the Elise, the Elise is on another level of fun and connection. This one's a lot quicker, though. Okay. So, I really like it, right? However, I felt that. Yeah. Yeah. What is that? It's just It's just fine. No, it's just good. No, it's not just fine. It's better than fine. It's good. But at the same time, there isn't a single aspect of it that like I'm going to lie in bed tonight and go like the noise that it made or m the shifter or m the steering or you know what I mean? Like I think it's this. I think it's this. You're right. It is. It looks phenomenal. It's just like a It's like a whole package. It's like the power band. It's just here and then like strong all the way because this is one of the coolest looking cars of this era. Yes. And it has pop-up headlights. Yes, it does. And it's well loved and it's wedgie. I mean, originally it was Jajaro. Yeah. And then this is the S4. So, it's the same guy that fiddled with the Elise fiddled with the design of this. But it got curvy. There was a Steven somewhere in there. There was He's the one that did the McLaren F1, right? and he made it curvy and then his generation wasn't even called the S3. It was called like Stevens Aspree. Or X180 was the code name. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Either way. Yeah. This is the last version of the car effectively, right? Yes. Visually. Yes. Fundamentally unchanged for how so many years, right? But like it ended up with these like cool kind of little like right there on the edges and then wing and everything. The Oz wheels. I think it's it's definitely one of the most iconic wedges in car history, right? But is that enough? Because if you consider its contemporaries, yeah, and I've looked at them, they all sit around similar prices. The NSX, the Viper, the 996 Turbo. Serious cars. 996 Turbo I wouldn't even consider. Why not? Just because it's I'm not I'm not a fan. It's just a bit dull. This is way more exciting. Okay, this engine could blow up at any time, right? The interference engine with a with a timing belt. Okay, so the timing belt does need a service every 6 years or whatever. But apparently they are reasonably reliable when you look after them as said by owners. Yes. Who are trying to protect their investment. It's the classic thing you see on the forum and they have a reputation for not being reliable. But then the form's like once you've done like all of the major things that you have to do, they're actually quite reliable. That's true of every car ever. There you go. See, once you fixed all the problems, there's no problems anymore. Not even an exception in that respect either. You can also get 10 year newer Gallardo. Ferrari 360 prices are quite around this. We're talking about for this price, right? You know what else I would get for this price is a an Aston Martin V12 Vantage. Well, Aston Martin comes up all the time. I'm sorry. I just It's so cool. Or a DBS is a bit more. So, I've I've been on the car auctions sometimes. Okay. So, I This is a bit of an intervention at this moment. You have a problem. Not required. You have a problem. This is on TV. Every single time I talk to him or I'm on the phone with him, he is at least 10% distracted with the auction. He he'll be he'll be talking deep conversation. He'll be like this. Uh-huh. I feel like I get to choose when to out myself as an auction obsessed person. No, it's too late. I've done it. On the auctions, they sometimes include the comparison from when this car came out. So if one were to frequent Ford GT auctions, you'd see all the comparisons about how the Ford GT was brilliant. Yeah, they do this for this except this is last in every single comparison. So it's like here's an auction mint a spree go down to the thing articles fifth. Not quite as good as the other one. Not good enough. Like why would you put that on the auction? Yeah, I think Okay, so for this money in this exact era, just by the way that they drive, not even considering the badges of the styling, I would take a F355, a Ferrari. But then you factor in the fact that it is a Ferrari, right? Yes. And it just immediately is. Listen, I really, really like this car. I genuinely do. It's one of the cars that you look at and go, no one hates this thing. You can't hate the Aspree. And here's the thing we're forgetting. This is a mint twin turbo V8 version. Yes. If you go slightly older or you go for a four-cylinder, then you get the best thing about this car, which is the shape for way less. Way less. And then suddenly you're if you go back to the right era, you actually get a Bond car. One of the most famous Bond cars. Yeah, but Julia Roberts. Yeah, but Julia Roberts though. No, no, I know it's got no P, does it? He hasn't stopped talking about Julie Roberts. It came up more than I expected to be honest. Have you noticed how the door, you know, and it's very squeaky in here. It's quite low to see. Um, but don't worry, you can't hear it when the car stop cuz the idle is so vibrating and loud. I know. Um, so you know how in an Aston Martin the doors kind of go up a little bit? Yes. They're not like full uh like scissor doors, but they go up a bit. Yes. These go down a bit. And I'm not sure if that's just slack in the hinges or it's the design feature. It's about being different. Yeah, exactly. They kind of just go they go. Everything's leather wrapped. Everything's really nice. I compare this to an Elise cabin. It's a different brand. Well, yeah. It's also a different brand everywhere else cuz they've used different brands. Yes. This is filled with, you know, parts been parts as we know. I like these though. No, you don't know the best button in this car and any car I've been in in a long time. Big claim. It is the fuel filler door release button. It's right here. Falls to hand. All right. Listen as I click it and release. It's with the with So I can hold it longer then release or do it quick and it releases the fuel filler. We're really looking for things that make this car unique. No, no, no. That's it's very unique. Um, so this is very l like 80s Lamborghini vibes in here. Yes, it is. Yeah. Yeah. Your head is extremely close to the to the roof and the pillars, but this roof can be changed out for a glass roof and just popped off as well. Yeah. Which is nice. If this had more power, it would be England's Corvette because it would be the supercar killer. Yeah, it would be the target overpowered. It does technically have more power. It's just a stupid transmission. Squeak of that chair to every time you say something. Is it is it's accenting. Um, listen. I I actually really like this. I'm sorry. You got me laughing about the thing. That's so dumb. I actually really like this interior. I love how everything is leather wrapped. I'm a sucker for when Oh, that is really cracky. I'm going to leave that one alone. Um, yours is also kind of Okay. I like it when sun visors are wrapped in leather. That to me is the mark of they didn't want to cut any corners when they were trimming the interior. If you do that, that's a good sign. The steering wheel lets it down a bit. However, in Europe, there was a Momo steering wheel, which looks a lot better. It cleans out the whole cabin cuz there's just less I I actually have a phobia of like late '9s, early 2000s airbags. Just go. Well, I just I just assume that when the airbag was first invented, someone was like, "Potato sack, shotgun shell. Let's put those in a steering wheel and it will hopefully make a pillow." You know what I mean? Like, I just I don't trust them. I really really don't. There's not much storage in here. There's no door bins. There's no glove compartment. Like where do you put where do you put the files? The files go right here. Oh, okay. We found the files. We found the files. Um, so we have an outdated radio system, the Alpine. Yes. We have very simple controls, but wonderfully just buttons. Yeah. No piano black everywhere. No. This is a good era in many ways. Yes, it is. Also, I love the the the dials. So analog, so like almost aircrafty. But why didn't they show a red light? I I don't know. That's a good question. Rev it till it blows up. Yeah. No idea. Um, we got we got some stuff to talk about with this car. Okay. Because this car is a legend. No question. Like unequivocally it's a legend. Yes. I've always really liked them. It just looks amazing. I don't want to say that it disappointed me because it didn't disappoint me, but it absolutely met my expectations. Yeah. I think it drives it met them so hard. It drives exactly how it looks. Yes. Exactly. Right. And no more. It doesn't even though it's quite light. Doesn't It's a bit quicker than I thought it was going to be. Bit quicker. It's a bit I'll give you that. Bit quick. And the grip is good. The engine's over the rear. Like you can hustle this thing. I want to say that this is a sixth the price countach and half of the experience. A sixth the price price. Nope. Sixth the price. Countach and half the experience. I'll take it. $120,000 sold. Wait, what? [Music] Look, at this price, it's new Emir level, and we would take an Amir every single time. But the Aspree holds legendary status in a way that the Amir doesn't yet or may not ever. It charitably showcases parts from other cars. And yet still, it's charming in its own way. The places where it could improve would only be achievable at a much higher price point or with modern tech because the fundamentals are all there. And it's undeniably beautiful. Really, it's the perfect car to be the next victim of the restood craze that's happening right now because, oh, look at that. Since we filmed it, one has popped up. There we go. But here's the good news. If you already loved the Aspree as is, it delivers on all the right notes. Thanks for watching. Ah, hill. Oh, this bike is just not in a rush. He's just standing up. Oh, that's a good stretch. Oh, look at that bum shake. Do I have to go meet him in a car park somewhere now?