Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Here's one to get the opinion juices flowing!!!!

If you, like I do, look at Ebay and the like, you see a whole range of selling prices..........Yes a non- runner on Ebay for ?4750 ( IMO should be no more than ?3000) and prices go up from there..... I have seen sold cars in the ?20k+ area.........

Now here is the question......
I have seen what seems to be identical cars selling for ?19k and ?12k...... why?
What drives the prices?
Early ones seem to sell very quickly? why?
What is it that makes the differences that means that they sell for such a wildly variable ?price?

Just thought this may be interesting to a lot of us, opinions are important not just to us but for people looking to buy one too!!

I guess that the difference between a ?4k and a ?20k car, or ?19k and ?12k car, is condition and provenance.

I think it's the same for all cars, and given roughly the same condition............

An original specification car is worth more than a modified car.

A one owner car is worth more than a car that's had many owners.

A matching numbers car is worth more than one with a replacement engine.

A full documented car is worth more than one with no history.

An un-restored car is worth more than a restored car (remember I did say given roughly the same condition!!)

A car in an appealing colour is worth more than some of the '70s experimental colours!

And then there's condition. I've seen many restored cars, both amateur and professional, that are described as 'mint' or 'perfect' condition, where mush of the work needs doing again. They can have rippling panels, poor clearances, faults in the paint, sagging headlining, poorly re-covered seats and side trims, rattles, creaks, smokey engines, ill-fitting parts generally, and have just not been put back together properly, or shaken down after the restoration.

And then there are restorations completed by folks like Peter Day that make the car look like it's just rolled out of the factory. There are also restorations, sadly becoming quite popular now, which add a level of bling to the car that makes it look completely out of period.

Lots and lots of variables, which a few photos on eBay really don't show up.

Not all cars are equal !!!

Mark Kempson

Another factor
A car that is eligible for historic racing versus one that is not.

This is what drives in part the higher value of the older cars, especially those is poor condition as you just really want the ID to rebuild as a replica racer.

cheers
Rohan