Lotus Esprit Clone? The Story of the Heron MJ1

[@warp65]

I was an 18 year old apprentice builder living in NZ in 1983, watching with great interest the development of the MJ1 , of course owning a Fiat 125 T lookalike at the time helped (another interesting NZ developed car ). Nice vid, enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

[@mdandcd23]

Very good and informative video I subbed after finding and watching a lot of your material (btw the Lotus Esprit is my favorite car) and hope to see much more!

[@CubeofCars]

Thanks, Michael! More videos will surely come :)

[@patrickharlow153]

This is a very good review of a unique rare New Zealand production sports car. It was inspired by the Lotus Esprit in a similar way that Toyota MR2 shown in this video clip was inspired by the Fiat X19. In no way is it Lotus copy which is clear from the measurements, performance, body styling, motive power and price bracket. While the Lotus utilised a steel backbone chassis, the Heron had something seldom heard of at the time, a complete fibreglass monocoque. For the record, the 0-100 Kmh time for the Heron was exactly the same as for the Lotus Esprit at 6.7 seconds. Despite that, the Heron was almost a second faster than the Esprit over the quarter-mile. In 1985 the Heron cost $27,500(NZ) and the Esprit cost about $70,000(NZ) . I enjoyed the way the Heron is compared to the Lotus Esprit despite being more than half the price of the Lotus it compares quite favourably. The model that followed the Heron MJ1 was the Heron MJ2+2. Sadly only one of these cars was ever completed.

[@CubeofCars]

Thanks, Patrick, for sharing these details. This 0-100 time is really impressive! The Heron deserves to get more attention, also outside its home market.

[@loti54]

Huh? a complete fiberglass monocoque was done by Lotus on the Type 14 Elite back in 1957.

[@buzzcrushtrendkill]

Great video!! I never knew this car existed. Thanks for sharing all of your research.

[@CubeofCars]

My pleasure! :)

[@esbennielsen5444]

Great video indeed! I thought I was pretty good at exotic cars, but I can't recall having heard of the Heron!

[@tomwichman7308]

Hey good video in terms of information on these cars. In my opinion a lot of info on these cars are still massively unknown unless your an original owner or one of sometime. I could say im in the group who know this particular car inside and out i know a lot more then Google on these lol. This stunning car is in a CATEGORY of its own literally like taking a machine gun to a knife fight. It's performance and handling is like no other this super aero dynamic car has potential greater then one can imagine. It's no kit car and surely no snail on a road it's sleak body cuts through the wind like a hot knife through butter turning 50k corners like a RAIL TRAIN cutting past you on the way home from Auckland. I LIVE LOVE AND BREATH THESE CARS AND THERE'S NEVER A DULL MOMENT IN LIFE I JUST TAKE MY HERON OUT ON THE BACK ROADS AND TIME IS LONG FORGOTTEN THIS CAR JUST TAKES OVER.

[@CubeofCars]

Thanks for your comment from an owner's perspective! :)

[@tomwichman7308]

I have so far only had this experience all while the HERONS are in STOCK FORM from factory all steering suspension and ENGINE components original. This being said and the car still is AHEAD OF ITS TIME TODAY punishing and putting cars that are highly modified through intense stress only to be passed by a stock from factory HERON MJ1. I could talk all day of these GREAT cars but at the end of the day it's LOOKS may be close to a LOTUS but in any other term of comparison to performance sorry but it's in no class of a HERON unless it's a race moto g.p bike or a stock race/road bike with a GOOD rider

[@lamberko]

"This super aerodynamic car ..." Dream on. 😂

[@Jorge-Tamacas]

I didn't know this car. Well I guess you never stop learning about cars. Thanks for making this video

[@CubeofCars]

I always thought that I know all cars, but this one was also new for me. So it was fun to dig into its history and make the video :)

[@monzarace]

Funny car project, and maybe typical for the time period, when costs could be kept down because not many countries were very restrictive with regards to safety, pollution and crash tests. I don't see it as a copy of the Esprit, but a derivative of the folded paperbox design that some other cars also came up with during the 1970'ies. There are of course also some design quirks to the Heron, such as those you point out yourself, but I personally think the angle between the front screen/a-pilars and the roof is too much. And while I actually like the head lamp design and placement, I find the ultra high front spoiler a bit odd to say the least. The low slung line of the body itself looks good and just makes the way too high front spoiler look out of place. I don't think that people should laugh of a Fiat engine and skoda parts, as they have through time done some nice things. But of course the 2L engine is more performance and more interesting. Theres also something designwise in relation to the front wheel and the height of the wheel cut out and height up to the upper edge of the front fender (bodyshell). These two designs makes the car look a bit like it's going to flip backwards. What also looks a bit odd is the distance from the momo steering wheel to the dashboard, which is quite elongated, although some Lamborghini et al also displays this to a certain extent. Seats surely look better than the early type Lotus Esprit seats. If I may coem with a tiny bit of critique of the info you give in this film, it's the mix of a later type 3 Turbo Esprit's weight compared to the Heron, while you use the early Type 1 Esprit's low 160 Hp to compare to the Heron. If you use the weight of the Esprit Type 3 Turbo Esprit, it's 210 Hp, which is far more than the 160Hp. Or if you use the earlytype 1 Esprit with 160Hp it weighed 898 kilo, which is far less than the weight of the later type # Turbo Esprit with lot's of more equipment and therefore scaled at 1170 kilo. All in all an interesting car and far more interesting than a boring Mr2 or similar. in fact I find the Fiat X1/9 better designed than the Mr2. And being more original. It would be interesting to see a real world drive in the Heron, with brakes, turning and grip. Well done and bravo for making something rare and non-Porsche/ non-Ferrari related. Kind regards, Redfox.

[@CubeofCars]

Thanks a lot for your detailed comment! As the Heron was sold between 1983 and 1985, I wanted to compare it with the non-turbo Esprit S3 of that time. That's why I took 160 hp and 1067kg (which I hope it correct for this car). But I have to admit that it was misleading to use the photo of a turbo :)

[@martinda7446]

The Esprit, concept particularly, is perfection, and no disrespect to the Heron, but for me doesn't come close. It is often the little things, except these were not so little.. Fantastic video. The blue one looked nicest.

[@bobolulu7615]

There is one of these in Whangarei and one sitting 'rotting' (well for want of a better non-steel word) in a paddock here in Whangarei as well. I have a 1982 Esprit S3 - excellent car (and a '89SE turbo). I looked at the Heron in the 80s, but found it under-developed. This is no attack on the original builders/designers, it just needed more time put into development - something that Lotus could do with hundreds of people and cash. Still, seeing one on the road is an event!

[@CubeofCars]

Seeing of of them here in Europe would be a sensation! :)

[@autoepocanordest-edycipola2802]

very very many THANKS. It's very important video.

[@CubeofCars]

Thanks! :-)

[@jareknowak8712]

Great car, the structural construction of the body was quite unique, unheard of in the kit-car world. I did not heard about this car earlier. Skoda also had 5 speed boxes, i know bc my Dad had one in His 120L. I think that a 700kg car with 2.0 Lampredi must have 8 sec or less to 100kmh.

[@CubeofCars]

Yes, that's also what I would expect...

[@1183newman]

Body is quite novel although lotus did it first in the 50s with the lotus elite which had a glassfibre monocoque chassis and won its class at lemans 6 years in a row.

[@jareknowak8712]

@@1183newman Thank You, i did not know that Elite was fiberglass-monocoque, but im not considering Lotus as a kit-car.

[@1183newman]

@@jareknowak8712 well the car was also sold in kit form. Albiet only the engine and wheels missing.

[@MarkGelderland]

Very interesting

[@strat0871]

Well, could have been interesting, nice all fiberglass concept, good and low cost engine, but I believe there was no LHD made Heron...

[@CubeofCars]

I don't think there was an LHD version. I doubt that any Heron has ever come to Europe or America...

[@strat0871]

@@CubeofCars Yes, I believe too.

[@GSimpsonOAM]

I parked my Esprit next to prototype Heron. It dwarfed it. The yellow car looks way over tyred. Tyres on the car I saw were in much better proportion. When the review says the MR2 and other Japanese cars killed it off. That is true but they were low mileage used imports brought in from Japan. Lowering of import restrictions in the early '90s killed off the New Zealand car industry in general including all the big players such as Toyota and Honda.

[@CubeofCars]

Thanks for these infos! Did you take a photo of your Esprit next to the Heron? I would love to see it, if you want to share it.

[@isaacsrandomvideos667]

I actually kinda love the look of it

[@jacquesraymond6892]

It is clear that the HÉRON was nothing else than a pathétic caricature of the LOTUS ESPRIT. But that doesn't mean they are not making any good cars in NEW ZEALAND. Rod Tempero is doing the best Ferrari 250 GTO récréation in the world among many other models wich are all masterpieces (see videos).

[@Piotrek4500]

Can You make a video about 1978 Opel Monza 3.0e ?

[@CubeofCars]

I like the Monza. Maybe someone can borrow me one for a day to make a review? :)

[@jamiesmith6838]

Why would anyone knowingly purchase a fake Lotus Espirt?? Make matters worse..a Fiat engine!!!! What's with the big tires and high front about? Terrible. If a copy is a desire? I can't overstand why? Simply go to China. The Chinese make a number of good copies of popular cars? Smh

[@CubeofCars]

Maybe because it's not just fake Esprit, but a sports car with own interesting history... and I personally have both a real Esprit Turbo and a real Fiat in my collection as you may know from my other videos :)

[@jamiesmith6838]

@@CubeofCars Everyone is entitled to their opinion. My take is if it has its own history? Why have it look just like someone else's history?? That's corny. Imho In the TV series Miami Vice. One of The Ferraris was actually a corvette. I'm sure that was done to keep production cost down. But, a fake Espirt with a Fiat engine sounds to me like a low budget Hollywood prop. However, I appreciate the history lesson here. It was still a well done docu-video that I was moved enough to comment on.

[@CubeofCars]

Comments are always appreciated. Thanks you for getting a discussion about this car started. I am looking forward to receiving more comments from other viewers now :)

[@BradyWedding.]

Ironically most of the parts used were better quality than what lotus made, it took them years to ditch the steel chassis.. We have a lotus Europa in the shed, what a death trap! (I would still buy a turbo Espirt if I could find down here...)

[@loti54]

@@BradyWedding. you have a Europa in the shed? yeah I am sure you do (LMFAO) I own a Europa S2 Type 54 and its not a death trap (had it 20years now) you are probably too fat to get into it. :-) (if it was in your shed) The Esprit Turbo that you want also has a development of the Europa chassis. Indeed the very first prototype Esprit was fitted onto a Europa chassis.