Esprit Market Watch

[scotty435]

Harry as always been a big Lotus fan, he as a stunning Elan sprint in garage, give the man some credit.

[Finlandese]

2 hours ago, scotty435 said:

Harry as always been a big Lotus fan, he as a stunning Elan sprint in garage, give the man some credit.

Absolutely. He´s a real enthusiast, and a great advocate to this hobby. Not to mention he has a pretty good taste in cars!

[Loose Cannon]

Take it easy. My comment was in no way meant to be derogatory, I've met him and he's as approachable down to earth as he comes across on screen. Him and Leno are only doing what many of us would do given the moolah. Hence the comment; must be nice.

[Giniw]

4 hours ago, scotty435 said:

Harry as always been a big Lotus fan

I don't know him at all but indeed I just had a look at his McLaren review and he compares the steering to the Lotus feeling:

 

[Steven162]

Looks like fuel pressure regulator is broken

 

[Steven162]

Sister car to mine, I wonder how many slots in the bonnet?

 

[jonwat]

Today's Times reports that classic cars lead the field for collectable returns: 

Discard the Jane Austen first editions and invest in an early Jaguar (or Lotus ) instead. Antiquarian books have generated the worst financial return over more than a century and classic cars the best, an analysis of the collectibles market suggests. Investors in rare books would have made seven times their money in real terms since 1900, according to a study by the London Business School and Credit Suisse. The equivalent from classic cars was a 242-fold return. Premier Cru Bordeaux generated a 65-fold return, while investors made 30 times their money from jewellery, after adjusting for inflation, and 20 times from postage stamps. The HAGI Top index, which reflects the prices of 50 models from 19 marques and comprises a notional 21,000 actual cars, has a “market capitalisation” of £13 billion, or £619,000 per car. 

[nello]

Harry Metcalfe is the best motoring Journo by far IMO. Love his Harrys Garage channel on YouTube. That news has just made my day!

[Jacques]

I second that, and add that I like the mix he makes between on one side, taking a car out of his garage, speaking about it, driving it around, and on the other side, driving a nice car somewhere in the World, like going in a testarossa to South of France, with two foldable bicycles, return home with an outboard motor and some champagne, all done in not exactly good weather

Well done sir!

Kind regads,

Jacques

[rudolphwolven]

From my observations, asking prices for Esprits are generally descending clearly since approx. Oct. 2017 / end 2017, after  a couple of years of slight, however clear increases.

It is the general trend for most popular Classics of all Brands as far as I can observe for the moment...........

Edited February 23, 2018 by rudolphwolven

[stephenwhyte]

3 minutes ago, rudolphwolven said:

From my observations, asking prices for Esprits are generally descending clearly since approx. Oct. 2017 / end 2017, after  a couple of years of slight, however clear increases.

It is the general trend for most popular Classics of all Brands as far as I can observe for the moment...........

Yeah - it’s called Winter......classic car buying is seasonal. Check back in the Summer 

[silverfrost]

Agreed Stephen,   Summer prices rise raise quite a bit for decent road going cars as folks want to jump straight in and head for the ope road, and in the winter prices for projects rise a little due to folks wanting a winter project to restore in the man cave so they tend to get a little more intrest when they come on the market 

[S4S 4]

I think to many buyers won't pay the asking price even when the car is priced accordingly. Let's see how prices go in the summer. What is the difference on a winter sale and a summer sale price if any.?

[The Pits]

Heresy perhaps but are S1 prices actually falling?

One car in the classifieds has been for sale for a while, looks lovely, fully restored but was originally on for £100k, now asking £79k.

Was £100k always dreamland? I thought the best S1s were fetching that. 

[JNW3]

10 hours ago, The Pits said:

Heresy perhaps but are S1 prices actually falling?

One car in the classifieds has been for sale for a while, looks lovely, fully restored but was originally on for £100k, now asking £79k.

Was £100k always dreamland? I thought the best S1s were fetching that. 

Now I am biased but I think if you have the right S1 then prices are still strong.

The one I think you’re referring to is immaculate but not as original - not sure if it was originally Monaco white but it definitely wasn’t originally tartan and orange as Lotus had stopped offering that trim by 1978. Collectors who will spend big money on cars always want authenticity and originality and although this S1 looks fantastic, it isn’t ‘as it left the factory’. 

And if the dealer gets it, c£80K is still strong money, considering good S1s where changing hands for less than half that a few years ago. 

[Paul Coleman]

11 hours ago, The Pits said:

Heresy perhaps but are S1 prices actually falling?

One car in the classifieds has been for sale for a while, looks lovely, fully restored but was originally on for £100k, now asking £79k.

Was £100k always dreamland? I thought the best S1s were fetching that. 

A fully restored white S1 did sell for £90k last year off an asking price of £105k.

[The Pits]

I get the impression that as Lotus owners tend to want to drive their classics, a freshly restored car was actually more desirable for some.

I'd say £90k is a respectable figure for an S1, good to see them fetching those sort of numbers. Maybe the owner of the one for sale is just in a hurry to move it on?

Possibly not the best strategy to advertise it high at the beginning of the winter and drop the price right before Spring!

[Fridge]

I'd agree with @JNW3

With normal, road going classic cars the money is paid for originality. Any deviation from factory+plus dealer options will potentially decrease it's value. Perhaps even for rare cars like the RHD S1, with only about 50 road going examples in the world.

In this case however I believe that the seller wants a quicker sale than you would normally achieve at the high end of the market. So, they initially put it up for top price and reduced it to stir interest, with the aim of making a sale.

The reason I say this is the last S1 sold for £90,000 after being offered at £105,000 the previous 2 months (and not reduced until the buyer negotiated a better deal I assume). That also was Monaco White with the Jock Bond interior, but originally had been yellow.

The advice would be, like anything, if you want to get a top price, hang on.

 

8 hours ago, The Pits said:

I get the impression that as Lotus owners tend to want to drive their classics, a freshly restored car was actually more desirable for some.

I'd say £90k is a respectable figure for an S1, good to see them fetching those sort of numbers. Maybe the owner of the one for sale is just in a hurry to move it on?

Possibly not the best strategy to advertise it high at the beginning of the winter and drop the price right before Spring!

Exactly!

Edited March 24, 2018 by Fridge

[GTK]

13 hours ago, Fridge said:

...rare cars like the RHD S1, with only about 50 road going examples in the world.

Is that all? Where do Esprit figure come from?

[Fridge]

As far as I can tell @GTK The figure is an estimate based on what is documented on the web. Most are familiar cars, even to a Lotus newbie like myself. Though some new ones do appear from time-2-time, and in good condition. Like the one for sale at Westover near Poole. This figure doesn't include those that are lying dormant in lock ups and garages.

Formal sites purporting to list cars on the road are wildly inaccurate, as they rely too much of owners registering the model/series number correctly.

I've no idea how many RHD S2s are on the road.

Incidentally, there was a red RHD S1 in either Crete I believe. It was posted on the Facebook group about 18 months ago. I got the impression the English/Greek(?) poster was keeping it for themselves, though possibly worth checking out if you've contacts in that area of the World.

Edited March 25, 2018 by Fridge

[GTK]

Far fewer S2's, they're extremely rare, like good steak and Fabergé. I'd say mine is probably the only one in fact, that I own. 

Think I saw that Cretian Esprit a while back, wonder what happened to it. Shocked to hear that an S1 went for £90k, happy shocked. There's an Elan [M100] on my regular route in Greece. It's in a yard with some other interesting older stuff behind some big gates. After many years seeing it I tried to approach last year and to say I was greeted with a cold shoulder and heightened paranoia is an understatement. To be fair though there were gypsies knocking about in the scrub outside. 

[Fridge]

@GTK there are a few RHD S2s kicking about, though I'm not sure how many and in what condition. Most S1s seem to be in very good order. And in Monaco White unfortunately. Though it's one of the better S1 colours IMO. A couple of lovely orange ones to ease the monotony. 

There are quite a few 'World Champion' (JPS) Esprit S2s. So overall, there must be at least as many S2s as S1s in the UK?

Lotus pals say the M100 Elan is quite good to kick around in. Just don't upgrade the rear brakes. Unless you like doing 360's!

 

Edited March 25, 2018 by Fridge

[GTK]

Yeah I'd guess S2 numbers probably aren't far from S1 with the former having more. I'd say the majority of both series cars are white and you're right the orange has to be the coolest colour of the S1. Don't mention the M100 war, two went last year for around €3k and either would have been a perfect rolling concern for me as a daily and for my series. I just didn't have the cash. Prob never to be repeated. 

[nello]

S1's and S2's though must take the prize for the most dramatic rise - Most classics have gone nuts in recent years but I'm sure it was not that long ago since neither could reach £10k.

I always miss the bus! (must dig out my old C&SC mags!)

Edited March 27, 2018 by nello

[Fridge]

To be fair @nello good S1s in the condition which are fetching these top prices haven't been available for anything like £10,000 for quite some time.