Bangers & Cash makes £1000s transforming dust-ridden James Bond classic Lotus Esprit with 44k miles on the clock
CAR specialists at Bangers & Cash made a killing when they transformed a James Bond classic car with 44,000 miles on the clock.
The team were delighted with their profit of above £20,000 after the vintage car was brought to them looking a tad worse for wear.
Fortunately the "highly strung" Lotus Esprit was in safe hands as the expert restoration team set about breathing some life back into it.
Despite being a seasoned auctioneer Derek Mathewson knew flipping this classic would be a mammoth task for the Banngers & Cash crew.
In a YouTube video posted by Yesterday his initial reaction to the motor can be heard as he says: "I don't want to appear critical but the interior looks awful.
"It doesn't look like it's done 44,000 miles it looks like it's done 144,000 miles."
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He added: "I do hope the Bangers and Cash haven't bitten of more than they can chew with this one."
It doesn't look like it's done 44,000 miles it looks like it's done 144,000 miles
Derek Mathewson
The dusty motor is taken for a "rejuvenating" trip to Devon where Lotus specialist Phil Webb and his sons can work their magic.
After hours of hard graft hoovering, hammering and sandblasting as well as a complete electrical inspection the car began to regain its wow factor.
The famous shiny red gloss paint had emerged from the thick layer of dust and the "heart" of the 80s classic had been reassembled.
Surprisingly the engine was in pretty good nick and, to the mechanics relief, it didn't have to be rebuilt.
It was then time to take the supercar to the auction and see if all the hard work would pay off.
When Dave from Bangers & Cash test drove the car he was pleasantly surprised saying: "It's steering straight, the brakes are nice, the gear change is nice, it's responsive, it's doing everything that we want it to do.
"You're not going to get any better. "It drives like a Lotus."
After a tense auction the price rocketed and exceeded what any of experts could have imagined.
The motor was bagged for a whopping £45,000 - meaning a profit of 15,051.
The motor was purchased for £24,715, extra parts were priced at £6,824 and the labour cost was £8,568.
