Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Cars

A car he can't give away, happily

A man bought a Lotus for his son. But when the young man wanted a more practical car, it didn't exactly break his heart.

By MARTY CLEAR
Published July 29, 2005

SEFFNER - What 24-year-old guy wouldn't want one of the fastest, coolest-looking, most exotic sports cars in the whole country?

Especially if he could get it absolutely free. Who wouldn't want a car like that?

Gary Spivey's son Ian, that's who.

About five months ago, Gary Spivey bought a yellow 1983 Lotus Esprit Turbo. He was planning to give it to Ian, who was in the Air Force, when Ian returned from Iraq.

It wasn't just a run-of-the-mill Lotus Esprit Turbo (as if such a car could ever be considered run-of-the-mill). This car - not one just like it, but this actual car - had been featured on the cover of Road & Track magazine alongside a red Corvette and a white Lamborghini. It was touted as one of the fastest cars in America. Inside, the article said Road & Track had tested the Lotus at 151 mph.

Last month, Ian Spivey came home after a particularly harrowing eight months of duty in Iraq. He went over in the initial attack on Fallujah and did special operations work, including serving alongside bomb-sniffing dogs.

Gary Spivey couldn't wait to see his son's reaction to the bright yellow Lotus. But the reaction wasn't quite what he had expected. It was, essentially: Thanks, Dad, but no, thanks.

"I was going to surprise him," Spivey said. "But he surprised me instead. He said he had a family now, a wife and a kid, and he needed something more practical."

Spivey had to admit that his son had a point. Besides, now that Ian Spivey is stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, he can visit his father and drive the Lotus any time he wants.

"This way he doesn't have to pay the insurance on it, and the insurance is a whole lot cheaper for me than it would be for him," Spivey said.

Besides, the Lotus is a car for people who love to tinker. Gary Spivey fits into that category; Ian doesn't.

And Gary Spivey knows his Lotuses. Now that he's keeping the '83 Esprit, he's one of the few people in the Tampa Bay area who owns two Lotuses.

When he was a young man, in the Air Force himself, Spivey's sister and her husband bought a brand-new 1971 Lotus Europa. They needed to get rid of it, coincidentally, for exactly the same reason that Ian Spivey declined the '83 Esprit.

"Their family expanded from two to three," Gary Spivey said, "and the Lotus is definitely a two-seater."

Spivey took over the payments on the Europa and has owned it ever since. In recent years, it has been sitting in a shed in the back of his Seffner home.

"My kids, when they were growing up, decided they were going to help me restore it," he said. "So it's all pulled apart."

When he got the idea to give his son a car as a welcome-home present, his original idea was to get the '71 in shape.

But then one day when Spivey was out on a job - he services garage door openers for a living - he spotted the Esprit for sale in someone's driveway in Brandon.

"He gave me a great price on it, so I decided to get that one for Ian instead of the '71," Spivey said.

The Esprit was more than 20 years old but had less than 90,000 miles on it. Spivey was only the third owner.

The previous owner mentioned almost in passing that this was a famous Lotus. He gave Spivey a copy of the Road & Track issue with the car on the cover, along with documentation to prove it was indeed the same car.

The Esprit runs beautifully. But Spivey is taking the magazine's word that it will hit 151 mph; he has only had it up to about 75.

It looks great if you don't inspect it too closely. The previous owner got a ding on a fender, and the paint job on that part of the car doesn't match the quality of the famous Lotus finish, with 15 meticulously applied coats.

But the original owner lived in Ohio, and so did the second owner until he moved down here. Snow and salt have taken their toll on some engine parts. (The galvanized frame and carbon-fiberglass body are rustproof, but some engine parts aren't.)

So it needs a little work before it's perfect, but because of the way the Lotus is manufactured - six weeks, by hand - it's a remarkably easy car to work on.

"It's all hand-built, so everything's accessible," Spivey said. "A lot of cars, one part's encased in other parts and you can't get to it."

Meanwhile, Spivey's enjoying owning a Lotus that he can actually drive.

"It's fun to drive, and you never lose it in a parking lot," he said. "There's not too many cars like it."

He's especially enjoying the looks from passing drivers and even the dumb questions.

"They'll ask what kind of car it is and I tell 'em it's a new Mustang," he said. "They just say, "Oh.' I mean, come on, it says Lotus right on it."

[Last modified July 28, 2005, 08:19:13]