I'm back in the run !!!!

[BRAD61]

Morning all (UK residents !), I joined this forum back in the summer as i was offered a 'sleeper' S4 Sprint. At the time it turned out it was 'sold' to someone else prior to me saying I would purchase it.
Guess what ?
It didn't get sold to the said other person (deposit paid, but balance was not forthcoming), and now I'm in the driving seat - excuse the pun !
I'm off to have another look with a more powerful torch - is there anything (apart from the obvious) that I should be looking for in a 35 year barn/container stored vehicle??
I do have the registration, but want to keep cards close to my chest for now.
Brad.

[Pastapesto]

Morning Brad & welcome (again!)

Give us all a quick "catch up" of the car again, please.......

To be honest, probably everything will need doing, obviously everything with rubber in it has got to be replaced after that long and everything mechanical will need overhauling, again, "obviously!"

I think if it were me, the most important thing when buying an Elan that has sat that long is to check that EVERYTING is there with the car. There are a few items that are very hard to find if they are missing such as window frames & seats etc but also some trim bits & bobs are getting hard to find also.

It might be a good idea to post up the registration here or perhaps the chassis number so that you can find out more info about exactly what it is you are looking at and also you may find that someone on here may have either previously owned it or knows something about the car.

Perhaps take lots of pictures and if you can, post them on here so that we can all give an opinion of what is and is not there or "original" - although not super important, originality has in the last few years made a big difference to values when you sell and also to the price you pay for the car......you are probably stuck with paying the price previously agreed with the owner but I think if you really want it, you should act fast, Elans tend not to stay "for sale" too long once the owner decides to sell!

Good luck and please let us know how you get on..

All the best

Adam

[BRAD61]

Adam,
Thanks for your replay, from my last viewing I'm pretty sure everything is in place and original. The current owner purchased the car from the original owner in 1995 and has stored it ever since, so, technically it's a one owner car as the current owner has not re-registered it !!!!
A spare galvanised chassis also comes with it (I think it was a just in case purchase from Vince Hayden), bearing in mind the current owner knows the vehicle has a decent value, what do you (and all the other 'Elaners') thinks is a fair price to pay ????!
Brad.

[Pastapesto]

Hi again Brad

I'm not really a good one for values, I'm sure there are many more accurate and knowledgeable posters on here that can help you with that....,if I were buying, I would expect to have to pay somewhere between 5-10k for the car - any less would be a bargain, any more I would not be too happy to pay but that's just my opinion and some here may think it's worth more. That is as you say, if everything is with the car! The additional chassis as I'm sure you know is worth £1500-£2k if you were to buy it new today and having a galvanised one is something some like & some don't! If you can keep the original chassis then even better because you could sell the galvanised one to get some money back .....most chassis after nearly 50 years are knackered though but you could be lucky, fingers crossed!

As many will tell you here, the bodywork and the engine are the two biggest potential costs if you are doing a restoration yourself. I seem to remember (but I may be wrong?) that you were going to do the restoration yourself?
If not then ask around to find the right company/individuals to do the work.

Good luck & make sure you take a BIG torch...

A

[661]

I think you have to love it and really want it and not worry about the cost too much.
I say that because you will spend more on a full restoration than the car will be worth. But , what value the journey?
Sadly, I think you may have to pay up to £15k, which is madness given a full nut and bolt restoration including paint may cost you £40k to do it yourself, and the finished car may only be worth £40-45k.
If you just did the perishables for , say, £5k, enough to get it 'road worthy' of a sort then it may arguably be worth £20k
Personally, I wouldn't give out details of where it can be found until you've made your mind up.

[BRAD61]

Hmmmm,
The seller is asking a lot more than you guys are suggesting, I would love to purchase the Sprint at those suggested prices.
It is apparently one of the last Sprints made, would this carry a premium on value ??
Brad.

[Pastapesto]

Brad
I think Graeme is perfectly correct with his summary of how much it will cost....,forget making money out of restoring an Elan, very few full proper restorations make a profit for the restorer/owner. Your profit will be in the joy of driving it and seeing it comeback to life.....the journey not the end destination will be your reward for the effort, money & faith in your abilities you put into the project. Hunting down the elusive hard to find parts is also a rather enjoyable challenge.

Many cars are advertised as "one of the very last sprints" etc etc.....it would not bother me that much, if at all, if a car was or wasn't, I personally would be more interested in if it was complete and all original/matching numbers etc.

Perhaps the original purchaser dropped out after properly researching how much he would have to spend and maybe seeing cheaper, more useable cars for a little more money advertised?

A

[Andy8421]

Brad,

I am afraid I agree with the others on this thread, restoring an Elan for profit is a mug's game. Even if you were given the car for free, a 'chequebook' restoration would cost more than the car would sell for.

It is an interesting question why Elan prices have not kept pace with the likes of the E-Type, when arguably the Elan is certainly rarer, and more of a thoroughbred racer for the road and drivers car than the E-Type ever was. Perhaps it is just because the Elan is more of an enthusiast's car, or the E-Type has more cachet. It is noticeable that many on this forum have technical or engineering backgrounds, the Elan seems to appeal to those who appreciate it for its technical achievements.

As for 'one of the last', there is a gentleman on eBay at the moment who seems to think he has one of the 'last 30' Sprints made. The car looks alright, but I could point out a laundry list of things needing doing to it to bring it up to show standard - and who knows what is lurking inside. He has had it listed for just under £40K, and it hasn't sold for quite some time.

The following is a link to a buyer's guide. It isn't perfect, but might give you some ideas of what to look for that haven't already been covered in this thread.

https://www.classicandsportscar.com/features/buyers-guide-lotus-elan-1963-74

Good luck.

[gjz30075]

Post pictures here please.

[NTG999]

Hi, you haven't mentioned if you are planning to carry out none, some or all of the work?

[elansprint71]

Hi Brad,
Got to agree with Greg Z; a picture is worth a thousand words. Those of us who have been around the block a couple of times on this forum have had a string of folks in your position, over the years; most of whom sink without trace.
If you want us to give expert advice you will need to provide photos. Whilst you might not want to show a registration or VIN, without those it is difficult for us to tell you if the car is genuine, or fake. By all means keep the location secret.

Good luck.

[BRAD61]

Gents,
thank you all for your reply's, your opinions are invaluable. I do however have to point out I'm not out to make a fast buck, I have limited funds and want to make sure I have plenty in reserve for the ensuing commissioning!
Also, my wife has her 'why' head on at the moment, it's going to be a bit of a battle to win her over - any suggestions ??!!!
I'm hoping to view the car later today, I'll see if I'm allowed any snapshots and will post accordingly. I will also take note of VIN numbers for cross referencing.
I have a bit of a 'vibe' about this little gem, so, be prepared for me to pop up from time to time !!!
Cheers,Brad.

[trw99]

Brad, no premium for being one of the last Sprints.

Only some 1,429 Sprints were made, so any Sprint is rare! And only some 14,820 Elans and +2s of all types were ever produced. Compare that to the total number of E Types made, some 72,500.

So why isn’t the Elan more valuable? Because far fewer people were aware of them during the production run compared to the E Type, which became many boys dream car in the 1960s. Now they’ve grown up and have disposable income, the laws of supply and demand push their values up.

Other marques correlate this too, with the obvious exception of the super car marques.

Brad, your old post covered a lot of what is being said here, again: viewtopic.php?t=46779

Tim

[BRAD61]

Morning Gents (ladies?),
thought I'd 'tease' you all a bit with a cheeky photo of the sleeper Sprint - tax disc was dated 1993, it even has the lead mallet in the boot !!!! The only non-standard thing I spotted was some sh1te living room carpet in the footwells !!
It's ALL there chaps.
Brad
PS
Not sure if you can rotate the photo - I'm not 'up to speed' on some of this tekky stuff !

[gjz30075]

Does it have the tool set with pouch, jack and jack handle? Possibly a 5 speed?