Unveiled in 1987, the Peter Stevens redesign of the venerable Lotus Esprit saw the mid-engined rocketship's sharp edges softened, the interior revamped and the mechanical specification improved.

Indeed, the Esprit was now a genuine supercar contender, with over 160 mph available from the Special Equipment model of 1989, largely thanks to the adoption of a water to air intercooler on the 2.2-litre four.

In 1993, Lotus further updated the Esprit with exterior styling by Julian Thompson.

Relatively minor changes to the front and rear bumpers, side skirts and a new wheel design were nicely resolved and the Esprit's dramatic styling was suitably updated for a new decade.

It wasn't until 1995 that the mechanical specification came in for change, when the S4 was replaced by the S4S; power jumped to 300 bhp, with 290 lbs/ft of torque on tap.

To achieve these figures, Lotus made changes to the cylinder head, enlarged the inlet ports and fitted updated an updated ECM and Garret AiResearch T...