Esprit Market Watch

[The Pits]

Agreed it's been a good few years for the Esprits, particularly the V8s which I thought no-one particularly wanted. Now, at long last, it seems everyone wants one!

Early racing green V8 on monobocs for me please, love the orange instruments at night and of course the boost gauge. I've given up waiting for the Sport 300. It's been some years since I've even seen one. A nice V8 or S4s will have to do.

[swindon_alan]

2 hours ago, The Pits said:

Early racing green V8 on monoblocs for me please, love the orange instruments at night and of course the boost gauge.

Let's get engauged

2 hours ago, Steve V8 said:

Found this lovely GT and tried to haggle, although I had a budget of 25k, I went to 26.5,  I was told straight, screen price, no less,

You wouldn't have been happy with that one anyway Steve. The front number plate mounting is all wrong...

[Barrykearley]

Looks a bit kerb crawlery to me 

[swindon_alan]

Oi! Better than looking like some sort of Space 1999 wannabe pilot...

[Barrykearley]

Hehe 

lm gonna get one of these driver suits on order @swindon_alan

[rizla603104]

What a difference a couple of years make!

[Bazza 907]

Paul

How about a crack at revised prices like the one you started the thread off with?

[GTK]

^ that'd be interesting.

Deviations from originality aside, this is the first S2 that has come up on ebay since June 2015. The bidders seem to know it too as they were almost immediate, which is great news given nearly everything about it has been played with. Ok the bids are still a bit low, but then the auction isn't active long and the reserve hasn't been met. You might know this car from such candid Youtube videos as "Lotus Esprit S2 240 hp" and "Lotus Esprit S2, my little toy", featuring the memorable quotes: "that's like your engine burning or something", "it's about us having an adventure with a stupid car", and; "the car almost burned", in which an S3 steering wheel and original gear knob are still present.

 

[rizla603104]

So three years on and the prices continue to rise - here's the state of play as I see it in 2016:

S1's - in good order - (2013 - £25 to £40k) 2016 - £35k - £55k 

S2's and S3's - (2013 - £10 to £16k) 2016 - £17k - £27k

X180's > (2013 - £10k) 2016 - £15k - £20k

SE's > (2013 - £12k) 2016 - £16k - £22k

S4's > (2013 - £16k) 2016 - £20k - £25k

S4S > (2013 - £19k) 2016 - £25k - £30k

V8's > (2013 - £19k) 2016 - £28k - £35k

There are also derivatives that are exceeding these prices by a long mark. Particularly S3 Turbos and V8's and various flavours. The fact is as well some of these models just simply don't seem to be available very often and more. Naturally I'm always interested to see how S4's are moving, but I see very few for sale. Here's hoping for a continuation!

[TBD]

My impression is that up until 2013/2014 most offerings were for cars basically in need of repair and/or restoration. In contrast, most recent offerings seem to have this process behind them. Obviously the sellers are seeking recovery (and then some) for their investment.

[rizla603104]

I think that there are still wolves in sheep clothing and paying top dollar doesn't guarantee a great car. But I agree that it is on the decline...

[hopo]

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/lotus/esprit/lotus-esprit-v8-gt-very-rare-lotus-build-car---------------2000/5576511?v=c

 

Price reduced!

 

love the way its described as a "Lotus Build" car - on fairness not many other people made many of them!

It does look a beautiful car, but price is very very strong - I'm pretty sure this is the dealer that has/had the "Naomi Campbell" evora on for somewhere around 100K. - ridiculous

There does seem to be a few V8s floating around at the mo. personally id love one, only thing scaring me is the fact that one sizeable maintenance bill is the same as the purchase price of a G car!

[rudolphwolven]

On 5-8-2016 at 22:22, The Pits said:

Agreed it's been a good few years for the Esprits, particularly the V8s which I thought no-one particularly wanted. Now, at long last, it seems everyone wants one!

I personally believe that in future, within a reasonable period of time, the 4 cyl. Steven Esprits will become recognised as the purest Steven's Esprit and become more desired as the V8's.........

In spite of the slight overall improvements on the V8's, the 4 cyl. Steven's reflects the Lotus (technical) traditions and heritage at best.

It is the ultimate well balanced example of all relevant technical and performanc aspects as intended by Colin Chapman and his team.........it was the final stage of a continuos development of the earlier Esprits with a an overall peak performance.

In spite of the 4 extra pots, the 60% more displacement and (only) 25% additional peak power the performance gains of the V8's were negligible.

The reduction of the Stevens --127 (peak) hp per 1 ltr-- displacement (which was the world highest for production cars those 1990 years) to the V8's --101 hp per 1 ltr-- was a disappointing achievement.

Of course, the adaption of a V8 was already foreseen in the chassis but the introduction of the V8 at that time imho was more or less a necessary follow up dictated by the market and the only possible way to go for the time beeing but not the ultimate desire of the Lotus technical staff .........the max. allowed load on the Renault gearbox was limiting its peak performance considerably...............of course it has a lot of extra's but driving the 4 pots reflects the ultimate experience of an Esprit.

Ruud

Edited August 9, 2016 by rudolphwolven

[hopo]

We all know the V8 could push out more power with the limiting factor being the Renault boxes they "found" every so often. In reality the V8 could have been a beast of car but was ultimately flawed like so many esprit versions which is unfortunate

I think few would argue that the Sport 300 is "the One" in light of  accolades and purity of the esprit experience - The market certainly suggest this!

[rizla603104]

Looks a little overpriced.... I'm sure it's rare - but aren't they all? Low mileage etc - reckon 8-9k over?

[johnpwalsh]

What about my Yellow Peril, S3, went to a private collection. Two days later on ebay for 25k. I now she was good but bloody hell. 100% markup. Good luck to the guy if he get's though.

[silverfrost]

It is not just the cars that are on the rise, Has anybody seen how much those auto art lotus esprit model cars sell for now  

[The Pits]

It will be interesting to see what this does:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/lotus/esprit/lotus-lotus-esprit-s4s----------------1996/6043861?v=c

but surely that's the car that was for sale from Stocks for what seemed like years? That one definitely had tinted windows and a similar mileage. Wasn't there some story attached to it?

[stephenwhyte]

You mean Barry Ely's Jonny........and yes was for sale forever.

Tinted lenses and windows need to go

http://www.barryelysportscars.co.uk/lotus-esprit-s4s-1996-very-low-mileage/

 

[The Pits]

Yes sorry, Barry Ely's. Peter Parker couldn't have had it long. I thought there was a story attached to that car which helped explain why it didn't sell?

[Steve V8]

On 12/10/2013 at 16:29, rizla603104 said:

I don't know if I've woken up in the twilight zone - but every Esprit I see for sale (even the ropey ones) seem to be going for lots and lots of money.....

S1's - in good order - £25 to £40k

S2's and S3's - £10 to £16k

X180's > £10k

SE's > £12k

S4's > £16k

S4S >£19k

V8's >£19k

What's happened? Does anyone know - is it because the good ones are less and so they're worth more?

Has James Bond declared he's buying an X180 for the next film?

As a footnote there are also some absolute howlers for sale at the moment who seem to think that they have equally good cars and seem to be trying to cash in on the price increase too.

Look at this post now, 2 years later and you can see the differences, 19k for a V8 I wish. I started looking last summer, when average cars were in the low 20s. Found this lovely GT and tried to haggle, although I had a budget of 25k, I went to 26.5,  I was told straight, screen price, no less,  or on yer bike!

 How many cars can command this type of pricing. I walked away and eventually found my car (with boost gauge), under budget in March this year.

45 minutes ago, The Pits said:

Yes sorry, Barry Ely's. Peter Parker couldn't have had it long. I thought there was a story attached to that car which helped explain why it didn't sell?

I enquired about this S4S back in February, I was told it sold for 50k.

[purso]

I saw the s4s on Barry elys car and classic page yesterday on Poa and got quoted 60k  

[Barrykearley]

8 hours ago, Steve V8 said:

 How many cars can command this type of pricing. I walked away and eventually found my car (with boost gauge), under budget in March this year.

I enquired about this S4S back in February, I was told it sold for 50k.

Less important but still somewhat costly on the 4 pots is the documented works done to the car. A v8 is a bloody leech on you wallet if it needs work. A cheap one is not necessarily a cheap one a few months into ownership !! These can hide all sorts of very expensive problems - and tears before bed is a common old thing.

i was warned - I'm daft and still bought mine - but by god I still spent more than I thought. Luckily - I'm daft !!, love my car and the figures still worked out just lovely.

 

 

heres a beauty of car !!

[Chillidoggy]

I'm always wary of service histories. There's an awful lot of "Check condition of (insert bit of the car of your choice here)", but that's just a claim that someone has looked at it, it doesn't guarantee that anything was actually attended to, if it needed it. The thing is, ALL Esprits are old cars, even that lovely blue S4s is 20 years old, and not everything is covered by the service sheets, far from it, and pretty much everything deteriorates with age.

I don't believe that low mileage and service history is necessarily a guarantee of condition or reliability, as no doubt a few of us, myself included, have discovered to our (serious) cost.

[Barrykearley]

 @ian29gte absolutely correct - that very v8 above had a lovely documented history and sadly it's still having to have its lump pulled out - I really feel the pain having been there