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Jay Meilstrup's 1978

Jay Meilstrup from Reno, USA owns a 1978 S2 in Yellow, with a brown interior.

Model:

S2
Year: 1978
Colour: Yellow
Interior: Brown
Driving Style: I'm on the track
Miles per year: 0 - 1,000
Owned Since: 2010
Purchase from: Private Sale
Serviced at: SJ Sportscars
Why an Esprit?

Loti have a way of finding me and I can never say no to a Lotus.

Other Cars: 1958 Lotus Seven S1, 1968 Triumph GT6+, 1959 Austin Healey Sprite, 1989 Jeep Wra
Previous Lotus': S1 Elan, (3) Eurpoas, 51 and a 61
Upgrades:

908 motor, cage, fire system and harness, wink morror, BBS modular wheels, multiple fuel cells, dry sump tank, Marchal driving lights, uprated radiator, oil and gearbox coolers.'

Problems: 908 motor had wear on the back side of the cam lobes, car was poorly stored for the past 30 years so the entire car has been disassembled and all leather and rubber parts are being replaced. the synchro ring on 2nd gear was badly owrn for a car with about 3 hours on it.'
Info: This car went straight from the dealer to the race track. It is a 1978 model but was built for the 1981 24 hour Pepsi Challenge at Daytona. The car qualified but because of a driver dispute, the car was withdrawn and stuffed in a garage to sit until I bought it in 2010. The car ownership and history has been fully documented as has the 908 engine that was supplied by Lotus for the race.

My car has never been on the street and started its life at Daytona. Unfortunately, the guy who underwrote the adventure was not fast enough to qualify for the race but the other two drivers were. Anyway, tha car was withdrawn from the race and the primary owner took his car home with hi and stuffed it in a garage where it sat rotting away for 30 years until I rescued it. I currently have the car in the reassembly stage after tearing it completely apart for a total rebulid. Before disassembly, I took about 200 pictures, so if anyone is curious how the car was built I can probably provide at least a picture or two for review.

The attached pictures of the car are from Daytona in 1981 and at the shop where we photographed the car before disassembly.

          

The car was entered and partially owned by the founder of a national real estate brokerage here in the states called Century 21. The car's number was 21 and can be found in the Daytona program. The Real Estate guy was Bud Cashen and one of the other drivers were Bill Shaw and experienced endurance racer in the US. They also had a third driver who was not listed in the program but was supposedly the fastest guy in the car in qualifying.

 

 

JayMeilstrup@yahoo.com

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