Greetings from this forum's newest (and briefest) S2 owner...

[detroit]

Hello, all. I thought I'd share with you a tale that will no doubt get a giggle from many. The story starts a couple/few weeks ago:

I figured that with the economy slumping as it is, and with the collector car market reflecting this, that this would be a good time to pick up a little sports car that I'd like park in my garage. I had some cash in the bank after all that quite frankly wasn't doing me any good earning all of a tenth of a percent, so made a list of desired autos. It was a pretty short list, and I decided upon an early Esprit. As it happens, there were a few on the net. One looked pretty ratty. One was at an auction in Texas. The last was at a dealership in the San Fran area. You probably all saw the add either in Hemmings or on Ebay. It was a yellow S2. Not thrilled about the color, but what the Hell. One can buy paint. Anyway, I arranged to have a friend in the area go look at it as I live in -you guessed it- Detroit, and put in an offer contingent upon the car checking out. A day later the car sold on Ebay.

Fast forward a week:

The Ebay buyer goes AWOL, and the dealership wants to know if I'm still interested. Absolutely. I resubmit the offer, and after a bit of haggling we come to an agreement. In the meantime, of course, my friend has checked out the car, and felt it was worth pursuing. At this point I'm thinking that this is very cool. This was last Saturday, the 26th. After being out of town a couple of days I picked up a certified cheque on Tuesday, and Thursday send it and the bill of sale back to the dealership via FedEx. Friday I get an email saying that the deal is done, and Saturday morning I secure shipping. I then called my insurance company, and added it to my policy. Thirty minutes later the transport company rings back to tell me that they have a truck picking up my new Lotus that day, and they gave me the delivery date. Friday. This Friday. Giddyup.

Yesterday:

I get a call from the transport company. The car above mine on the truck caught fire. It took the Lotus with it. Poor car didn't made it out of the city. And I never even saw it!

This happened Saturday, incidentally. I was a Lotus owner for a day.

So I'm looking for a Series 2 Esprit. Seriously. If any of you know of any out there, or have one you're contemplating selling, please, let me know. The transport company is buying...

[Bibs]

Ouch, that's not good. Was the car above another carbed Esprit?

Happy hunting for your new car and best of luck with this one!

[detroit]

Hey, how do I change that flag up there from Afghanistan!?! Detroit's bad and all, but it isn't THAT bad...

[Bibs]

http://www.lotusespritforum.com/forums/ind...rCP&CODE=01

4th one down

[andydclements]

Eric, two good points.

1) When the insurance is all settled, you'll have owned an Esprit and not lost a fortune on restoring it/ servicing it/ refurbishing it.

2) At least you didn't get too attached to it.

Good luck with the hunting, maybe next time you'll find one in a colour that you like as well.

Andy

[detroit]

Thanks, Bibs, for the link!...

[lotusdogg]

So sorry to hear that! That S2 was super pretty. Bummer.

Thanks for the shout out Bibsy!

BTW the link just sent me to my control panel?

[Kimbers]

Yes Tim you access the flag from the control panel, then edit profile on the drop down menu just below your picture.

[GavinT]

Oh no, what a terrible story.

If you will consider an S1 Tony K lives not too far from you and he normally knows where the good S1's can be found. Super nice guy and a wealth of knowledge.

Your normal insurance company will probably not cover an 'in-transit' loss like that, so you will have to go through the transport company. You'll be OK as by law they have to have a $million worth of coverage.

Which company did you use?.

Gavin

[detroit]

Gavin, thanks for the tip. I will indeed contact Tony.

[GavinT]

you can talk 308's too, because he has one as well.

Gavin

[Tony K]

Thanks, Gavin.

Welcome, Eric!

I'm 45 minutes south of Detroit in Toledo, just on the other side of the state line. My current fleet includes a 1980 GTBi, a handful of Esprit S1s, and a 944.

By the way, is the car that you had bought the yellow one from California, or the yellow one from Florida?

Cheers,

Tony

[USAndretti42]

Hi Eric and welcome to the forum.

What a shocking story. I wonder how the car above yours caught fire when it was switched off. Was it a Ford Explorer? I remember them having some problem where a switch on the ABS, I think, would stay on causing something to overheat and catch fire.

Was yours the car from Specialty Sales in San Carlos? Looked a very nice car.

Ah well. Better luck next time. It could have been worse. YOU could have been driving it when it caught fire. You wouldn't have been the first to have that happen.

[slewthy]

Very sad and terrible story. Very sorry for you and the car.

Wonder if this is the first tale of an Esprit going up in someone else's smoke? Would make a change.

Still, just think what you can do with all the experience you've gained!

Seriously though, good luck and better luck in finding another G car, you wont be disappointed when you drive it.

Simon

[detroit]

Thanks for the sympathy, gang. It is rather dissappointing. The car's scheduled delivery date was today. But as Andy pointed out, I didn't exactly have a lot of time to get attached to it!

I just hope I can find another one...

Oh, and the car was, in fact, the one in San Carlos. It still is I guess, having never made it out of the city!

[ifly]

My condolences on the loss of your car but at least the hunt goes on and there are others out there given that time and effort. Wish you all the best of luck on the next transaction.