LPW120E - Chassis no 1

[yandy]

Appears to have reappeared! http://www.octane-magazine.com/carsfors ... 219&page=1

Anyone feeling brave enough?

[john.p.clegg]

POA I wonder how much he wants for that old rust bucket?

John

[Elanintheforest]

I'm feeling brave enough, maybe just not rich enough...he wants ?15k ish for it It would be a nice car to do though....

What sort of Plus 2 are you after Yandy?

Mark

[Jason1]

WOW

number one would be great to own, anyone know who the first owner was? I'm guessing it was someone at Lotus?

?15k is a lot and it looks like a lot of the parts are missing.
Was this the one on all the adverts? I thought that was silver or white??

Has anyone put together a proper detailed list of what this condition car would take to get back to A1?

[types26/36]

number one would be great to own, anyone know who the first owner was? I'm guessing it was someone at Lotus

Wasn't the factory demonstrators registered with "120" ? .....supposed to refer to 120 mph
That registration alone is worth money......more then the that T4 9LAN that was in the for sales.

[ppnelan]

Was this the one on all the adverts? I thought that was silver or white??

Caveat emptor - don't forget Lotus were proficient at swapping registration & chassis plates when the need arose. The car may not exactly match the number plate...

Matthew

[Elanintheforest]

From chatting with the guy, the car needs everything. The engine is siezed, the chassis rusty and the paint flaking...you can imagine what the rest is like. And the bumpers and lights are missing.

It's really hard to work out what something like that is worth. The first registered owner was......some bloke called Colin Chapman. If it was just an early Plus 2, it would be maybe ?2000. With CABC as the first owner, and being the first press car, does that add ?10k or ?12k to the value? Maybe to some folks, but by the time it's restored, there will be very little left of the original car. And some ?20k to ?30k would have to be spent.

I reckon it's the car in the first brochure, and all they did was to put a bit of black tape on the bottom of the 'E' to make it an 'F', and make it look current....what d'ya think?

Mark

[robcall]

Thats the sort of job the Lotus factory should get/restore/keep.
They sold off a lot of their heritage-time they got some back!

[bill308]

If it's truely the first one, I would think that would qualify it as historically significant and should increase its value significantly. I'd sure try to get a letter from Lotus confirming that it is indeed the first +2.

Bill

[tower of strength]

LPW120F was seen at donnington a few years ago, restored, it carried chassis number 14, is it still about?

From a historic point of view it would be nice to see number 1 restored, however how much of the original fittings exist? as to its value, I rekon in that condition its worth a couple of grand more than any other plus 2 and properly restored by "recognised" tradesmen it could carry a ?5K premium over an equivalent later car.

As for ownership of such a thing, I believe it would be as much a liability as an asset, you'd be loathe to drive it for fear of damage, daren't park it any where, wouldn't want it to get wet,etc.....

As for ?15K in need of a total restoration....... that would make that a ?45K+ plus 2..... surely not viable, especially in todays uncertain economic climate. As a Lotus Heritage item it would make sense.

[Elanintheforest]

There's no record of LPW 120 F on DVLA, but LPW 120 E is there...and it hasn't been on the road since 1982. Perhaps 'F' was exported?

Looking at the chassis numbers on the Sports Car World site, chassis number 1 has no details recorded against it. All others were manufactured in or later that August 1967, which would make them 'F' registration. EXCEPT chassis number 11, which was made in Jan 1967.

Mark

[richardcox_lotus]

Also, bear in mind the fate of the original Elan Coupe. Now sold & off to HongKong, but it languished @ Nutleys for between 2-3 years,, trying to fina buyer @ ?30K if memory serves me correctly.

More details here:

http://www.nutleysports.co.uk/PHOTOGALLERY.htm

[Elanintheforest]

I hadn't realised that it had sold. Nutleys bought the car at H&H auction in Cheltenham a couple of years ago for ?22k, and had it on their site, as you say Richard, for ages at about ?29k.

Using this car as the benchmark has to be the best way to value this Plus 2. LNK 120 C was used extensively for magazine tests, and was also owned by Chapman. So, more famous and I guess as a 2 seater, more valuable.

On this basis, the fully restored LPW 120 E maybe worth ?18k - ?20k at auction, and ?23k - ?25k retail through a dealer? It would cost at least ?25k to restore, making it worth as-is, from the simple sums, nothing! LNK cost over ?35k to restore, and of course, something to buy in the first place.

LPW has a parts value of somewhere around ?3k. Add something for the provenance and it sounds like ?5k - ?6k to me, and that's not commercially viable...you'd have to do it for the fun of it.

Mark

[ppnelan]

...you'd have to do it for the fun of it.

Isn't that what owning a Lotus is all about - the only way to avoid disappointment...

Matthew

[Elanintheforest]

Matthew, of course you're right from the standpont of an Elan nut, like most of us on here. I was just trying to work out what would be a reasonable price for the car as it is, and pretty obviously, it's not viable for someone to buy to make a quck buck even it it was free!

I'd be interested if it was the right money, but we're not on the same planet currently!

Mark