Nice looking Sprint for sale

[Elanintheforest]

Frank, I still think that the difference in perception is down to the different market places. There are usually 30 or so 2 seater Elans for sale at any time in the UK, and quite a few more that owners could be persuaded to sell via clubs etc. All that is in an area not much bigger than one US state. That means that folks have a good choice at any one time, and over a few months can usually pick up the model they want in the condition they're after, and even in their preferred colour.

Also with relatively so many for sale you really can see pricing trends over time, and folks like Paul Matty price their stock consistently according to model and condition.

Now here's one that Tim would love....resplendent in its 1990s coat of Norfolk Mustard by the looks of it....

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C139927/

Mark

[denicholls2]

Wanted: Elan FHC or DHC. Medium Driver or better condition. LHD sourced in U.S. preferred.

Willing to pay half as much as unmodified value for coupe conversion, valued original components replaced with Spyder or TT bits, or 5-or 6-speed conversion with or without Japanese engine in the bargain.

Any takers?

Didn't think so.

[trw99]

Now here's one that Tim would love....resplendent in its 1990s coat of Norfolk Mustard by the looks of it....

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C139927/

Mark

Whilst it's always good to come across another Sprint (I did not know of this one), I am not sure about the wisdom of applying either a modern day Lotus colour to the car or an over-sized modern wing mirror. It's almost as bad as - oh, I don't know .... replacing the Twin Cam with a Honda engine or chopping the roof off a FHC!

Tim

[Elanintheforest]

Perhaps we're just old fussy sods Tim but the combination of the wrong colour, the body colour bumpers, the mirror, the woodrim and the wheels add up to it looking like a rat with a gold tooth....Nasty!

I'm sure it's a fine car though, and someone will buy it and have a lot of fun with it.......

Mark

[Spyder fan]

This thread started off pointing towards a nice looking Sprint for sale by auction on Ebay, and it is indeed a nice looking Sprint, and I'm watching it on 'My Ebay' to see what it goes for, I expect somewhere around ?16k if the reserve is below that amount, but it will struggle to get higher. It's nice but not top condition and that seems to be all that matters regarding the price of a useable but not pristine or totally correct Elan.

Why is there such prejudice against converted convertibles? I'm with Frank Howard on this subject, and I also just happen to be starting work on an S4 FHC to make it DHC, this is a special order from Mrs Thomas and you really don't want to argue with her about it! Other work to the car will not please purists either, I like the old stuff and I also like making the old stuff the way I like it. read my thread here elan-photos-f18/fhc-soon-dhc-t19981.html this is a complete car, if anyone wants to take it off my hands and straight swap it with a similar condition original DHC you have about 3 months before it goes off to the body shop.

Thanks Barefoot for starting the thread, I bet you weren't expecting this debate.....

[Frank Howard]

Hey Alan,

This could be an interesting test. For years I've been hearing that at least on your side of the pond, FHCs are more valuable than DHCs. If this is true, than someone should jump at your invitation to swap their similar condition DHC for your FHC. As a bonus, he/she would be rescuing a FHC from the chopping block. I suspect that the vast majority of owners who frown on beheading a FHC are FHC owners themselves. That's why it will be interesting to see if there are any DHC owners who are ready to give up open air driving and trade their car for yours. Let us know what you're driving 3 months from now.

P.S. I just broke through the ice dam on the side of my driveway and the water is beginning to recede from my garage.

[Elanintheforest]

As I said above, Frank, Coupes have always historically been worth less than dhcs in the UK, except when they were new. Back in the 80s, you could buy a Coupe, get the top chopped, get the car painted all for less than the price of a dhc in the same condition.

S4s are the Cinderella currently, but I'm sure that won't last, and the gap between the S4 36 and S4 45 has closed considerably in the past few years. I've never seen anyone claim that a Coupe is worth more than a DHC in any country though!

The early S3 pre-airflows have been building a big following over the last few years, and the S3 airflows aren't far behind. I would guess that they are now on a par with the S3 dhc, and I doubt you'd now find a S3 Coupe owner who'd want to swap. One day the S4 will catch up, but there's still enough left that it makes no difference if another load get the chop.

Mark

[barefoot]

Yes it is interesting to hear different peoples views on this. In the early 80's I went out and bought a rebuilt S4 DHC that was in Sprint spec from Vegantune. It was a full rebuild but same chassis as it was fine. The engine was a 150 BHP twin 45 Dellortos Vegantune built and it went like stink! The car was like a new Sprint but in some ways better. It was red over white with the side decals painted and the finish was superb. I went to swap it for a then new Eclat at the Lotus dealer in Cardiff and once he realised it was an S4 not an original Sprint he didn't want to know. But I am in the Spyder camp I believe if you can improve the cars with more modern technology yet they look original body wise why not? Not a purist as you can tell. I am just finishing having a lovely 1960 jag Mark 2 3.8 restored in fact after nearly 2 years I got it MOT's yesterday. It has electric seats heated front/rear window all electric windows remote central locking electronic speedo cruise control reversing sensors interior light delay sat nav ipod carrier in the ash tray battery moved to the boot etc etc but no cup holders!

[msd1107]

The instruments just do not do it for me.

If you are patient enough, you can eventually get equivalent Smith's instruments for that period look and feel.

David
1968 36/7988

[Spyder fan]

David,
It's what our USA cousins call a Retro-Mod, thats what the bonnet louvres, interior and instrumentation are all about. It's not meant to look original and classic, we used to call this sort of car Customised as in thats what the customer wants.

Modern cars have a lot to do with this modification of classics in that I own a new BMW Mini Clubman that is probably totally unique, I ticked about 30 options boxes and added other stuff like a retractable tow bar. The interior is light tan leather with piano black trim, multi LED interior ambient lighting, cruise control, parking sensors front and rear (Mrs Thomas proofing), climate control, Xenon lights, body coloured wheel spats, Black over Nightfire Red paint, twin sun roof, heated front screen..... the list goes on.. my point is that I made it the way I wanted it because I could and that sort of thing has moved over into the restoration market.

I like looking at the original cars and a trip to the Lotus show is always a treat, the cars that have been nicely restored to original in top condition are quite safe from me as I wouldn't dream of fixing something that isn't already broken, but show me a barn find S4 FHC like the one I have and it's going to get the option boxes ticked prior to it's rebuild.

[Elanintheforest]

I do like the Coombes louvers though! And that?s the thing about personalisation / enhancement to an old car?it is usually a personal thing, and not many others share the same ?vision? as the owner. A good classic like the Elan, Mk II or E Type has, in its totally original form, a shared vision, or at least, a finished standard that most of the enthusiasts buy into, otherwise they wouldn?t be enthusiastic about the car in the first place.

I guess I am a purist when a car is meant to be original, or with period modifications, but I do like well-engineered modern upgrades as well. By that I mean a complete re-vamp with modern engine, box, suspension and brakes, by which time it ceases to be the car it was based on, but a one-off special that happens to look like the original. Tinkering around the edges with electric pumps, electronic ignition and electric headlamp lifters seems to me to be a complete waste of time, as the originals when working properly do just as good a job, or if they don?t, just add to the character of the old car. I?ve always liked the way my S3 lifts one headlamp before the other decides to join in!

I do think that the Jaguar stylists of the 60s were amongst the best in the world, and I can?t think of anything that would improve the interior of my totally bog standard E Type. When I first got the car from Los Angeles, the previous owner thought differently, and he?d had the seats recovered in a plush, button down blue velour material, with matching button down headlining. The dash was also covered in some furry stuff. It took 30 minutes to get that crap out and down the tip! Most would agree nowadays that his approach to ?modernising? the interior was pretty revolting, but at the time, in the early 70s, I guess that a lot of guys thought it looked pretty cool. I wonder what folks will think of the upgrades to classics being done now in 10 or 20 years time?



Mark

[barefoot]

David

These are Smiths instruments some like the speedo and oil temp are new the rest are mine recaliberated and renewed I could have had them looking original but hey as I say not me!

[msd1107]

Good to see that there are a variety of aims and reasons for the dashboard instruments. It looks like everybody who did an extensive modification had rational and cohesive reasons for proceeding as they did. And the final results look good.

In my case, I wanted specific speedometer and tachometer, ammeter and voltmeter, 270 deg readout water temp, oil pressure, oil temp, and fuel level, all in the period Smith's look than encompassed the years of our Elans production. The Elan owner will notice the non-stock dashboard and layout immediately, a casual observer will think it looks period. It will not be concours capable!

It took at least two years of haunting Ebay and other sites, plus refurbishing some of the gauges. It is interesting to see the subtle changes in gauges, even in the same car model during the years. And I am sure that some will think I am stupid and irrational for pursuing this particular path.

But unless the owner demands complete originality and/or plans to show the car, it is pretty much up to the owner to do that what they want. Remember, our cars were the result of many compromises.

David
1968 36/7988

[alexblack13]

I see it the 'nice looking Elan', got to ?12600 but didn't make reserve. So not sold.

Someone trying for a bargain?

Thank god that it didn't sell at that money.

Alex B....

[ivor badger]

The car made almost exactly the price you would expect on Ebay.