Considering an Elan

[DJW]

Hi

Serial Lotus owner, and after selling one of my toys this morning, im now considering a +2 . Not interested in doing a restoration, so starting to check the market out for clean restored examples.

Trying to get my head around Spyder conversions, vs standard, but must admit to having little time to enjoy my cars, so they need to work when I do

Look forward to joining in on the forum

Dave
Evesham, Worc

[Elanintheforest]

Hi Dave
I've had very early cars and very late cars, and one in-between!

I'm toying with the idea of selling my Plus 2 (with BDA engine) but after entertaining a couple of tyre kickers who only want the engine, I'm going off the idea! But if you want to pop down to talk about Plus 2 cars, and look over one which is substantially restored and original....apart from the engine...just let me know. Don't worry, I don't expect you to buy it!!! I'm near Gloucester, about half an hour away.

It would be worthwhile knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the cars before you take the plunge. There are some really good cars out there, but sadly some pretty poor ones as well. The cars have suffered in the past with fairly low prices, so not too many have been restored to a high standard.

Read about my old bus here, and get in touch through the PM or email or my website.

lotuselan-for-sale-f2/elan-plus-with-bda-needs-recomissioning-t37135.html

Cheers...Mark Kempson

[DJW]

Very kind Mark , I will take you up on that

Cheers Dave

[DJW]

Great to meet you Mark and loved your collection of cars !

[Elanintheforest]

And you Dave. So what's it going to be, a Plus 2 or a 2 seater? I'll bet you go for the go-kart option!
Mark

[DJW]

You talked me into the 2 seater

Better get the Exige V6 sold quick.

[DJW]

So what are people's view on budget I need for a "clean" Convertible Elan , with bodywork intact (eg. No cracks or microblisters).

I use my cars (4K miles in Exige in 2 months, albeit 2k of that in Swiss Alps ) so don't want a garage queen, but at same time want something that is presentable and relable.

Alternative car is a caterham (had 2 before and love them) , which I can get a decent fun car for ?20-25k. What does that buy me in reality in the Elan world ?

Thanks in advance for any advice

Dave

[jimj]

Dave, ?25K should buy a decent Elan, looking good from 10 yards away. It`s the paintwork that costs. We`ll be in the Swiss alps, and the French and the Italian, in September in our red S3. It`s probably worth up to ?30K but not for sale, ever ! Actually it looks quite good close up.
Jim

[Elanintheforest]

Might be worth having a look at this one Dave....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-Elan-Sp ... SwOVpXVZPH

Looks gorgeous, but it's sticking, maybe because it's a conversion from Coupe to drop head. Done by one of the best in the business, but it does seem to drop the price by a fair bit now.

There has been some discussion about it on the forum.....

for-sale-f34/sprint-dhc-bay-t37353.html

Mark

[DJW]

Thanks Mark , will have a read this evening

[DJW]

Might be worth having a look at this one Dave....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-Elan-Sp ... SwOVpXVZPH

Looks gorgeous, but it's sticking, maybe because it's a conversion from Coupe to drop head. Done by one of the best in the business, but it does seem to drop the price by a fair bit now.

There has been some discussion about it on the forum.....

for-sale-f34/sprint-dhc-bay-t37353.html

Mark

So the car didn't sell at bids of ?21,100. So what is this car worth in reality ?? Some could say an open EBay auction shows market value ...don't know.

Anyway Exige has now sold, so money will be in the bank in next week, so time to look more seriously.

[UAB807F]

Hi Dave,

If you're in the market for a dhc and can live with the colour, then I think I'd go and look at it. ?20k or even ?25k isn't unreasonable these days regardless of the history of the car. Do you want to drive it or show it ?

My car is also a conversion, done in the early 80s by Chris Foulds in Huddersfield and without looking at the chassis number you just can't tell. A conversion on an Elan isn't the same deal as converting a Morris 1000 or E-Type coupe, it is literally cut off the roof and make good just the same as the factory did on the line.

As someone posted earlier, there's a tale that all cars started off in the fhc mold although I've always found that an odd one given Colin's famous thrifty nature (why lay up that extra glass just to cut it away ?) More important to me would be to make sure it's a genuine Sprint and not an S4 dressed up to look like one.

Looking closely at the photos the rear lamps look a bit pitted and small things like number plate lamps look rough. Small details but not acceptable on a higher priced cars so it might be just looking a bit "tired" around the edges and that's why it's not selling.

I suspect another reason for a slow sale is what's not told in the advert, for instance there's no mention of mileage or an engine/gearbox rebuild which isn't necessarily bad, but might mean the engine is on a high mileage ? These are expensive engines to rebuild so the seller isn't going to get ?40k without some big receipts and ?4k is easily lost these days !

Also it strikes me that if the centre console and switchgear are really original then they are in amazing shape for 45 years old ! Hence there might have been some additional restoration with Mick Miller, maybe a new dashboard, etc ? Again, all to be expected but the market these days seems to be want either totally original cars or perfect restorations.

This clearly isn't 1971 original (look at the mechanical changes) and neither is it perfection. But it does look a usable car which you could enjoy and improve should you wish to.

Brian

[DJW]

Wise words Brian. Thanks.

Are there any Lotus specialist garages near Wigan for an inspection of the car ?

[theelanman]

there are quite a few Elans and a +2 that meet in Knutsford......
1st Sunday of the month......(next one is Aug 7th...1:30pm at The Whipping Stocks Pub)

[DJW]

Search is on hold for a while, as couldn't find right car and being an impatient bugger I've just bought a caterham to use for remainder of summer, Joins my 6th Lotus , an Evora 400 , so definitely a Lotus addict !

I'll keep an eye on classifieds here, as I'm sure I'll be changing cars again before end of the year,

Thanks again for those that have helped and enjoy rest of the summer in your wonderful cars

Dave.