Esprit Market Watch

[Barrykearley]

2 hours ago, PhilT said:

Yes but...how can I put it...does it have something to do with the fact that average weight is on the increase and the esprit is 44" tall?

Mines not 😁

[Giniw]

Its just the Sierra owners apparently!  

[LotuStuart]

although I don't know what it means in reality, the heading says it is chassis 001, so a historical car rather than just a car.

I prefer my V8 though..

[C8RKH]

I think it just means it was stolen in Liverpool and the only numbers not scratched off the VIn plate were 001.  ;)

 

[The Pits]

An unusually large number of Esprit S1s for sale in the ph classifieds currently. The asking prices are definitely getting more reasonable, nothing over £100k anymore. To be fair a number of other collectable cars have seen corrections recently. They're still way over what many consider they're worth, I'm sure some would argue the same is true of the S1s but many such as Testarossa and 911 Turbos have all dropped back. Just shows you how much is pure financial speculation and a lot are cashing in, without ever having driven the cars I bet. At times like this I'm quite glad they largely left Lotus alone. For what it's worth I think it's a correction not a crash. There are still some cars out there bucking the trend and rising in value. With something very rare up for grabs it only takes two very wealthy people to want the same car for things to get very silly very quickly.

Is the S1 one of those cars where the reality falls short of the fantasy? Never driven one but I would dearly love to. I couldn't fail to smile every time I saw one in the garage though, I'd get a lot of enjoyment just knowing it's in there. Cheapest advertised is a yellow one at £44k. About right or too cheap for an iconic movie star?  

[Fridge]

I think you're right @The Pits

I've not driven mine yet. It'll be some while yet. The value of the S1 is it being the original design, as is any first of a series. Though not all early series cars are desirable.

Then comes the rarity factor, certainly UK RHD, along with the desirability. Given that the S1 was in the biggest film franchise (in years) and most successful pre-Sony Pictures Bond movie (ie Daniel Craig), then you have the biggest "advert" in history. Repeated every few months in the UK alone.

The yellow S1 looks like a very usable and mainly original example.

As with anything at the top of the market, it'll take time to sell. A glut reduces this further of course, and one of the reasons of this price rebalancing.

 

As for their drivability, I'd expect them to be very basic, certainly compared to the later more refined examples. But that is also part of their charm.

Certainly @Paul Coleman says "never meet your hero". Probably correct!

Harry's Garage offer his take on the Esprit very well. Check it out on You Tube (Esprit Turbo HC).

[Paul Coleman]

I'm sure Mark @lotuseaters can give us a view of the market right now as it's his yellow S1 that's for sale...

[Mark Blanchard]

Prices do seem to be on the way down.  This Highwing has been for sale for a while, was up for £32k, now at £26k.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-Esprit-SE-TURBO-High-Tail/222725061639?hash=item33db72bc07:g:xuYAAOSwCJxaEU6O

[C8RKH]

Take off the wing. Increase value by £5k and ding, it's sold....

You can probably tell I'm not a fan of the wing.

[Barrykearley]

That wings lovely.

that car sold a few years ago within hours of being listed on eBay for about £9500.

it needed the front end respraying due to peeling. Seems it’s been for sale ever since.

I would love to know if it’s the same one that was sold from down south - and the purchaser was going to drive it right back up north. Ended up in Paul Mattys as the gearbox had no oil in it.

[Giniw]

33 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

the gearbox had no oil in it.

Oo

(that makes me think I should check mine as a friend who knows well the UN1 gearboxes told me it's suspicious it's so clean!)

[Mark Blanchard]

Yes, I agree, never got the high wing thing, or any wing for that matter.  They look a bit Halfords to me.

[Barrykearley]

1 hour ago, Giniw said:

Oo

(that makes me think I should check mine as a friend who knows well the UN1 gearboxes told me it's suspicious it's so clean!)

They don’t all leak !!! I’ve two that don’t (for now)

[Gis]

There’s a cool and rather complete S2 project on BAT. Amazing how they survive being left in the open for years. If done right, that could be a real nice car. Interesting wheels, but I guess they could be made to work too, not far off the theme. Hope it finds a good home...

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1978-lotus-esprit-8/

[Gis]

And a heavily modified investors edition

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1984-lotus-esprit/

And a cool comment on it further down the listing. Well put...

“If you like to drive, you can’t go wrong with a Giugiaro Turbo Esprit. If you sit there looking at pictures of them for years and years, dreaming of what it must be like to drive it . . . and then one day you actually drive one, it fulfills all of your expectations. It is as fast as it looks. It handles as well as it looks like it should. And it provides all of the “sense of occasion” that you ever imagined a 1980s exotic car should or would.

As a bonus, the ride is reasonably supple, they are comfortable on a long trip, and they are pleasant (not tiresome work) to drive. They are more reliable than you expect, less expensive to service than you expect, have more reasonably priced parts than you expect, and between the galvanized chassis and fiberglass body, are relatively immune to decay.

With regard to all of the above, I can’t say the same for the Esprit’s Italian contemporaries. Grab an Esprit before more people figure this out.”

[Lotusfab]

I personally think prices will drop a lot more as we Brexit. It doesn't matter unless you have to sell. I have restored two car s now with labour and parts you are looking north of £50k, and that's if you bought an S1 for £20K to start with. a purchase at £40k your talking £70k plus. You can see the figures don't stack up. If you do all the work yourself you might save 20k. To restore a Turbo to as perfect your talking even more in labour costs,as there are many more bits. This is why the big guys havn't totally rebuilt a Turbo.  With the hours it has taken me it's done purely for a hobby and not to make money. 

I know one thing though. If you really wanted a perfect one it would be a very good idea to pay extra so you can get in an turn the key. £50K for a resto job will end up costing more than £70k plus for a perfect one. There are of course many people out there to who £100k is like buying a takeaway, sadly they don't all like Esprits! 

I know one thing. If I was offered £100k for my S1 I would have to think about it, but would probably say no!

[Giniw]

Rather nice, but isn't the handbrake lever gaiter a bit strange? That would drop the price a lot if I were buying!!

[Jeanvm]

you have to play with it much more then it will emerged better.

"isn't the handbrake lever gaiter a bit strange?"

[Barrykearley]

It wouldn’t just be the handbrake pointing in the air if I was sat in that car 😍

[Mark Blanchard]

Keeping a keen eye on this S1.  As Wayne once said - Would give my right eye ball for it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-Esprit-S1/202341220149?hash=item2f1c79ff35:g:lr0AAOSwrWVbIiH6

[Barrykearley]

Anyone need a kidney??

[Mark Blanchard]

No, not one of yours and not your liver either.

[Paul Coleman]

13 hours ago, Mark Blanchard said:

Keeping a keen eye on this S1.  As Wayne once said - Would give my right eye ball for it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-Esprit-S1/202341220149?hash=item2f1c79ff35:g:lr0AAOSwrWVbIiH6

It will be interesting to see how high this gets. I'm guessing at between £30k and £35k but I'm sure that won't meet Mark's reserve. He said he was advertising it to generate some interest in it. I definitely think prices have come down over the last year.

 

[Barrykearley]

Market has cooled slightly. There’s also more choice car wise out there.

not so long ago you would only see 2-3 on eBay at any one time.  Now there’s 20-30 (29 today excluding the 6 fake adverts)

At any one time there’s probably a couple of dozen knobs looking at cars - with maybe 2 or 3 who actually have the money to buy one

[silverfrost]

Murphys law Barry, you should know that by now lol. 

That said your motor is a nice colour and has had plenty of graft put into it, So I am sure it will find a good home soon. 

The only one I have seen price wise recently that has startled me other than the eBay con artist advertisements is a silvers stevens car for just over 8k and can' see why it has not been snapped up yet ! But that may be a con also unless it' a complete dog lol.