Esprit Market Watch

[Vanya]

you can ask whatever you want for a car, but it doesn't mean its worth it or will sell...my S4s has been advertised for a month at under 19K and i have only had 1 enquirer!

I could put it up for +20K but whats the point if no one is interested.

There seem to be a few advertised in dealers for 25-30K at the mo but surely thats a dream??  ....maybe I should hang on till next spring, if I can sell a body organ in the mean time, and re advertise it at 25K.

Definitely a dream buddy - your one seems to be quite the catch right now considering the work that's been done.

But it is autumn/winter and kind of a low point for the market. If it's still around by next summer I might give you a shout - promised myself a second Esprit if things work out at my new job. Mostly hunting for V8's but S4s is definitely on my radar....

Ramjet - prices outside the UK have typically been higher to begin with so I think it's the UK experiencing hikes... bad for cheapskates like myself who like to import them to save money

[rizla603104]

I think you could do a whole lot worse! 

I think past August the market sales drop off. Mainly because people start off-loading sports/prestige cars before they endure the cost of  storage - but more importantly the costs associated post storage.

I wouldn't lose heart on your sale.

[Jacques]

I think that it is with Lotus like many other exotic things like for example watches, that really many people would like to have one, and many people take a peek at one, and noone wants to pay for it. And I haven't even mentioned the cost to keep running it.

In time Lotus will be recognised for not only Building supreme sportscars, and prices will keep rising. More will be show cars and collectors irems, and fewer will be on the road.

Unfortunately.

This will also affect the spare part situation as there will be lesser need for spares and therefore lesser will to produce them.

This have happened to many great cars and motorcycles in time.

I say: keep them running and on the road, please.

Kind regards,

Jacques.

[The Pits]

Has anyone seen the values of other iconic 80's cars lately?

BMW M3 - over £40k

Sierra Cosworth - RS500s are over £40k too.

Integrale Evo 2 (ok that's a 90's car but the first Integrale was late 80's) - over £40k for the best ones.

Nice Porsche 928s are on the march too.

A good Giugaro Turbo Esprit is looking very cheap for less than £20k and is the coolest looking and most exotic of the lot.

[OwenGT3]

Talking 80's cars, even the lower end market is rising in price. This Escort Mexico, talking to the owner said it's value is around £16,000. RS 2000 are even more and when you think of the spec level of these cars, which by today's standards are very basic along with the performance compared to a modern car.

I would still love to own it though!    

[The Pits]

Definitely looks like its wearing a bib!

[Bibs]

[Vanya]

Hahahahah that's so awesome. Did you get any headaches from "The Law"? I've been thinking of de-catting mine for this very purpose..... That and more noise.

[Bibs]

Nope! It was handy for getting tailgaters to back off too

[Jacques]

He he, exactly.

Plus you'll some good ponies.

I'd like a sportscat withan extension to avois the ebpv. Stainless preferred.

Ther have been some good deals on 911's during the economical crisis for example. But here in Denmark, people want serious Money for 7's.

Kind regards,

Jacques.

[wohlmeyer]

Just my 2 cents.  It's all supply and demand.  There were roughly 10K Esprits built over 28 years. So very limited supply.   I ended up paying 22K US $ for an 1995 S4S with many owners.  I have since put 22K into the car rebuilding the engine and replacing many other warn components.  Now that I have the car as I like it.  I won't take any less than 45K for the car.  I know that the car is not currently worth that by a long shot but I don't need to sell so I don't care I will just sit on it forever if need be.  You see, I can hold on to my Esprit for the next 40 years and could care less about the current market.  This is what drives the price of the Esprit up.  People willing to hold on to their cars and refusing to take anything but top dollar for the car.  If someone wants the car bad enough, they will pay the high price thus helping to move the market up up and away. That is what you are seeing recently.  An upsurge of people wanting to drive these old classics and willing to pay whatever in order to have one.  Remember, what is out there is out there so people don't have a lot of options here.  It's a sellers market right now. 

Bill

[UPAUTO]

I do love to see Esprit prices soaring  , even I don't even intend to sell my at all. But that make my 1996 7000mile ish S4 worth a bit more now and hopefully more in the future Tony 

[Vanya]

The thing is I doubt a lot of us UK-car owners will see such price rises in the long term - most of us are rocking 60,000 miles and up because the cars have been driven. Folks looking for a must-have collectible want something with 5000-20000 miles on it, in which case, for the Esprit, the US is the only option. Saw a V8 with 5000 miles on it recently on eBay - made me sad, but whoever buys it and keeps it in a climate controlled environment might see some decent money out of it in 30 years.

My car with its 66,000 miles, no matter how well refurbished even if restored to factory fresh condition won't be able to compete with that - even if a new engine and gearbox are thrown in.

[Mark Blanchard]

The thing is I doubt a lot of us UK-car owners will see such price rises in the long term - most of us are rocking 60,000 miles and up because the cars have been driven.

So have all the 1960s 911S's, Ferrar Dinos, Aston Martin DB5s driven to the moon and back and now going for £100k plus. The dealers clocks them and make up the history.

And don't for get most ads you see for Esprits over 15 years of age have 60,000 miles on the clock, irrespective of mileage.

Classic car Dealers are as dodgy as Estate Agents.

[Vanya]

Well I guess if these "clocked" cars actually sell at those prices then there's hope yet for mine.

But the knowledgeable buyer will often if not always be able to spot the difference between a clocked car and a genuine 20,000 mile example.

With the exception of that insane Sport 300 rebuild where the car was picked apart to individual components and the chassis re-galvanized, it would be hard to have the underside, not to mention interior, look anything like an untouched/unused car or garage queen on a clocked car.

Having said that, and on a different note, does mileage necessarily imply anything negative for our cars? The very high mileage Esprits 90,000-150,000 have usually received totally new/refurb engines and/or gearboxes halfway through their lifespan- suspension components are generally replaced by loving owners once they're worn, paint reconditioned, tyres replaced, interiors refurbed. Which just leaves the galvanized chassis - unless the cars are tracked, the loads placed on the backbone should be minimal and therefore withstand an infinite number of stress cycles within the span of "normal use"? Am I right?

[cbclotus]

Hi Vanya.All i know is that regular use is good for a car.Hopeing to move house next week .So i will be able to work on my se turbo esprit.Cleanig. painting chassis .Next job will be to polish the wheels by hand.lol.....Hope your car is ok .Allways read your posts.Mike

[Vanya]

Good luck with the move Mike!

[MarkLarge]

Well,

to add my sixpence worth I am coming from a different angle to some.

I am more in agreement with red vtec and the feeling that 'are they actually selling at anything like that'?.

I sold my V8GT a couple of months ago because it had become 'too precious' and started to stop me enjoying the car. It was a 2 owner car with fsh and 27000 miles. I got back what I paid for it 6 years previously and reckon I did ok. It was not at the level of some of the cars advertised but well in excess of £20,000.

Now I have always used the guide that if 1 person contacts you seriously to buy then you have got the price at the top of the band, if no one contacts you then you have overpriced and if numerous serious contacts then you have underpriced. The amount of people almost dictating how much under etc.

I got 4 contacts, 2 wanting to pay £20,000 and the other 2 wanting to talk. I sold to one of those two and reckon we BOTH did ok from it.

I think the V8 is destined for future greatness but I don't think that time is quite yet.

The replacement Mazda RX8 (short term till I decide what comes next) is wonderfull. Yes, when the engine gives up the ghost I might not say tha,t but then the £1500 rebuild cost might not come too hard!! 

Mark

[Bob Worsfold]

To rizla 603104  My name is Bob Worsfold living in Olds Alberta Canada and I have owned the North American (1995) S4 Palacio purple turbo esprit. I bought it  From Miami Florida but it was a special order colour combination (red interior) by someone in the Boston area. It  only has 12000 miles on it and is only driven in the summer. My serial number end in 61406. My email address is bobworsfold@hotmail.com. Just happened upon your posting about the 2 palacio purple esprits.

[rizla603104]

Hello Bob! Good to "meet" the other owner. Have you got the provenance report from Lotus? It is well worth getting. I'd be interested to know if there were any other exported Esprits that were in the same colour - otherwise we remain a pool of 2! If you have any updated pictures - when you bring her out of hibernation - it would be great!

[The Pits]

Pricing of classics is such a sketchy business.

Mark's appraisal system makes a lot of sense. At the moment dealers are chancing their arm. If it's a Porsche, Ferrari or classic Aston the buyers are fighting over themselves to pay comedy prices. The price of the 997 GT2 went from £180k to somewhere around £300k in less than two months. To begin with they dragged way behind the GT3RS frenzy, then some bright spark realised that the GT2 was also a 'GT car' and a faster, rarer one at that. The GT3RS4.0 is now £300k for a LHD, £400k for a RHD. 2 years ago, less than half that. So now speculators are rushing in, fuelling the madness.

Lotus has been largely left out of the gold rush. Overall that's no bad thing as I don't believe values will crash like the super inflated cars. The market is smaller for classic Lotus but the buyers are more genuine enthusiasts. Prices won't go ballistic until the market widens beyond the Lotus faithful. Of all the Esprits it seems to me that the V8s have done quite well in the last 12 months. Most dealers are asking £25k for cars that were £17-18k not that long ago. Quite surprising given their reputation. It seems everyone wants an S4s but no-one wants to pay what it costs to get one!

The thing is though, is that there are £25k cars out there that want for nothing and (ok they should sell easier) but they are much cheaper than the £17k cars that need loads of work. It seems to me that the best cars don't attract the premiums they deserve and the neglected cars are way over priced. Frankly there are some cars out there that shouldn't be asking for any money at all. And others that should be asking a lot more.

[Jacques]

I fully agree with you Jonny, and when cars gets too expensive, they become a collectors still standing item of adoration, never to be driving Again, which is really sad.

If it's rotten, the name sell. If it's a pristine well kept example (not by driving miles, but mechanicaly), it's the "Work and parts don't Count"-thing.

Kind regards,

Jacques.

[Mark Blanchard]

If anyone want an indication of how ridiculous the classic car market has got, look at this rust heap of $hit that sold for £132,250.  It comes with a nice badge though.

[molemot]

A friend of mine had a Dino just like that...he spent heaven knows what on restoration, and in the end got fed up with the financial black hole and sold it. The next week, Enzo Ferrari died........(!)

[Loose Cannon]

The restoration businesses must be booming with these rich lunatics and their "barn finds"