Page 1 of 1 The second series of the Esprit was launched in 1978, a new version was added to the line-up in 1980, the Esprit Turbo. The Turbo was launched on the Geneva Motorshow of that year. The 16 valve engine was originally designed for the Lotus Sunbeam and with an added Turbocharger it proved a very powerful engine. A normally aspirated version of the engine was also available but proved not very popular and production was stopped only a year after its introduction. The Turbo version however proved very popular hindered only by its relatively high price and Lotus' bad reputation for reliability. Page 1 of 1