The 1989 Lotus Esprit driven by Richard Gere is for sale for $54,998. The Lotus only has 23,000 miles on it. Though most of us can't justify spending this much on a sports car, we still thought it was worth putting up on our site since it is a fine example of 1980's luxury and performance. The vehicle was kept in a car museum and is in pristine condition. Originally the creators of 'Pretty Woman' wanted a Porsche or Ferrari to match Gere's lavish character, but both declined and the Lotus was used instead. Though listed and titled as an 1989 model the Lotus is actually a 1990 model with a top speed of 165 mph, and one of the first Esprit SE models. Only 324 of these vehicles were sold.

TheCD's take: I guess Jay Leno will have to take this one.

UPDATE: We have just recieved some information that suggests that this car either may NOT be the actual car from "Pretty Woman" or is listed as the wrong model on Hemmings Motor News. We are currently investigating this claim and will report back on it shortly.

UPDATE 2: We had a phone conference with Jay Grams of Volo Museum, the company that selling the Lotus, and he has assured us that everything in this article is correct and has produced a certificate of authenticity from Lotus, clearly sating this is the Lotus from 'Pretty Woman'

Source: LA Times and Hemmings Motor News