Is it possible to increase the voltage on 3.3v output to 5v on an ESP board to power a DC motor?
You should not power a motor from a micro-controller, period, regardless if that is an ATmega or an ESP32.

Instead, you need to use a motor driver circuit - this isn't really so much about voltage amplification, as it is about current amplification. The actual I/O output voltage of your ESP32 is likely very close to 3.3v. If you are measuring 1.8v, that is only because you motor is loading the pin so heavily (and improperly) that the voltage sags.

Without the specs of your motor, it's not really possible to provide any specific advice. But you should seek an FET-based solution, not one based on bipolar transistors.  The old bipolar L293D, L298, etc parts are horribly lossy and extremely unsuited to low voltages motors. In some low-voltage, low-current cases, the FET-based TB6612FNG can be a good solution - but again, this depends entirely on the unstated requirements of your motor. Typically only very lightweight or weak "RC cars" could use such drive, for more serious ones you should look at hobby-grade Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) modules, or their equivalent circuitry.

These motor driver chips will have two supply inputs. One supplies the logic and would typically share the microcontroller's supply voltage. The other supplies the motors - it might in light duty cases be whatever is supply the microcontroller's regulator, but in more power-hungry cases would often be a unique supply. Both grounds should be connected together and connected to the microcontroller's ground, but in such a way that the ground current for the motors flows directly from the power supply, and never through the microcontroller board.