How do you value a Series 1 Esprit?

[Sunbeam Fanatic]

Hi All,

Unfortunately it looks like I will be selling my S1 Esprit but I'm at a loss as to what value to put on it, It's in decent condition, midnight blue, good chassis, nicely re-trimmed, strong engine, MSD ignition, uprated front brakes, 3 piece compomotive wheels, clocks replaced with Smith's Telemetrix range in new dash fascia & well maintained.

I've had a look through the for sale section but couldn't see anything that would give me a steer on value, does anyone know of any that have been sold recently or have any knowledge of current prices.

Many thanks for ny help.

SF

[Nelly]

A subject of much discussion!

As much as anybody will want to pay for it is the answer, but that doesn't help you value it! From what I have seen (and I stand to be corrected) good ones go for £15k, with ones requiring work around the £8k mark.

There were three up for sale on Pistonheads recently - a car requiring some work was about £7-£8k, a good original car for £17k (I think) and one which was subject to a total rebuild and the full Nick Fulcher retrim for £40k!

The lack of wolfrace alloys on your car might be offputting for someone after an S1.

[Hemlock]

a good original car for £17k

No it was for sale for £20,900k.

If I were to sell mine it would be for £20k minimum, but mine is a mint early gelcoat with original tartan interior. I wouldn't put it on ebay either as it's only good for selling cheap stuff, if it's only there for 9 days or so a lot of potential enthousiast might/will miss it.

Depending on how original yours is and if it doesn't need any work, I wouldn't let it go for less than £15K.

When you think about it that's really cheap for an iconic supercar of the 70s, compare these numbers to any other super car of that era.... even £40k sounds cheap (and it's not like thousands were made either).

Just my 2€.

[Guest mkelite]

.................... and if i may say. i thoroughly agree with that. AND thats why the Elites are a bargain too............ DC.

[Nelly]

Thanks Hemlock, I couldn't quote remember but I knew it was around that price!

Edited April 23, 2010 by Nelly9000

[GavinT]

Originality is the key on this...S1s that sell for higher numbers have original interiors, unmodified bodies and matching numbers. If you replace items that are unique to the S1 model you will devalue the car.

If it was me I would bring all the maintenance up todate including the timing belt if it needs one. Always looks good when you see a listing that makes a point of saying 'new timing belt'. If it is behind on maintenance then that just opens you up to being beaten down by a potential buyer.

List it on ebay with a high reserve and see what the bids are like. Good luck.

Edited April 23, 2010 by GavinT

[simonb]

If you have original unrestored wheels & guages they will add to value

If it looks like a S3, then is it worth any more than a S3?

[Russell Mills]

It's amazing the strength of the Esprit S1 prices over the last 10 years and I think the only way will be up from now on as it is rightly being seen as a design icon and classic alternative to the usual suspects from Italy and Germany.

I remember seeing advertised S1 Esprits in Club Lotus for around the £3,000 mark about 15 years so it's great to see them finally be appreciated for thier true classic value. Next the original Gig turbo will be on the up (especially in HC guise).

[Sunbeam Fanatic]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the advice, mine doesn't have an original interior although it didn't have one when I bought it, looked like the previous owner had re-trimmed it with the cheapest house carpet available! The re-trim I had done is of very high quality though and is a mix of Alcantara and Leather (black) which included carpets and dash etc. I do have the original gauges but pretty much all of them had failed so a new fascia was made and Smiths Telemetrix ones have been fitted which look really quite good. As far as I know it is the original engine/chassis combination and mechanically it's always been well looked after, the MSD ignition system transformed the engines smoothness and reliability, also fitted a plumbed in extinguisher (just in case), the only major modification was a vented disc/4 pot caliper uprade to the front and I replaced the glass fuse box for a modern blade version. The body is pretty decent and looks like it has never been painted, there are a few gel coat "crazes" but nothing major and everything electrical seems to work fine (even if the windows are a little slow). It's a late S1 (1978) and looks like it may have had the S2 front spoiler fitted.

Certainly sounds like it's a case of pick a number and see if anyone is interested, I'll probably put it on PistonHeads and LEW to start and may give it a run on ebay just to gauge a response, watch this space ..............

p.s. Only selling because I picked up a 1970 S2 Europa that I want to restore and I have a Lotus Sunbeam that needs it's restoration completing so I'm certainly not getting out of the Lotus scene

Many thanks and any more comments / suggestions are certainly welcome!

SF

[Tony K]

Hi Steven,

I'd be surprised if your paint were original, for two reasons: 1) I can't think of any factory midnight blue color applied to an S1, and 2) It would not have held up all these years. By the middle of S1 production, Lotus had abandoned the gel coat finishes and had reverted to traditional painting. Non-metallics were generally nitrocellulose lacquer (which is delicate paint and rarely holds up), and metallics were Acrylic, most of which would be looking pretty dull or peeling by now (they weren't all that great, either.)

As for what fetches the highest prices in S1s, I'd start with Gavin's and Hemlock's comments -- originality. IMHO, an original gel coat finish in excellent condition is the top of the tee, followed by excellent quality repaints in original colors. I'm not sure how much value collectors place on original lacquer and enamel finishes of later S1s; all of the buzz seems to be around the gel coat cars.

Regarding interiors, again, original is best. You can consider a Nick Fulcher retrim to be original, arguably the top of the pyramid. How much more original can you get?!?! He IS original S1. That's like having Valentino Balboni test drive your Countach, or Giugiaro doing body work on your Esprit!! I'd rather have a new Nick Fulcher interior than a 1976 interior.

But the majority of S1s don't have original interiors or new Nick Fulcher original interiors, so I think the next best thing is a high quality retrim done in good taste and in the spirit of the original. I think the best/most valuable retrims will utilize the original pleating patterns, the original chrome-like trim strips, and pay respect to the original contrasting and patterning. You can't go wrong with leather, and other high quality materials such as Alcantara; if going with cloth, I think they should be high quality and as close to original as possible. When you start getting into random velours that have neither the texture nor colors of the originals, it becomes just another retrim, IMHO, no matter how well done.

Regarding mechanicals, I'd say that the S1 that can be driven and enjoyed as-is with no fettling will bring the best money. People have paid good money for S1s that needed mechanical attention; it seems almost the norm among some of the purchases by collectors in recent years that they didn't worry too much about what it needed mechanically, because they were going to have a specialist or their personal mechanic go through the car anyway -- it's like they expect to spend additional money on making it right once purchased. On the other hand, there have been a few cars sold that were clearly well-sorted, documented, having all of the S1 foibles and periodic maintenance attended to by people who are known to know what they are doing, and those cars pulled in extra for that. I recall one new S1 owner who immediately took his newly-acquired S1 on a 3-4 hour trip each way, in total confidence, oblivious to the fear that many early Esprit owners have driven their cars with for years. That's the way it should be.

Regarding mechanical originality, I think it's important that the car appear original, but for a car that is to be driven, I think that sensible upgrades such as Lumenition ignition, motor mount upgrades, wiring upgrades, etc., only help. On an ultra-low-mile car that is enjoyed as a collector's piece and not driven much or far, the original points and wiring are good for posterity and I think it's important that the most original examples remain that way, but for a usable classic, I think the original appearing car with all of the right upgrades professionally done is the way to go.

Regarding wheels, it appears to me that the Wolfrace wheels Chapman tried to distance the car from in the S2 are so quintessentially period and right, that most S1 owners have to have them. I think Wolfrace wheels are as key to an S1 as the original Campagnolo wheels are to a Maserati Merak -- the car just doesn't seem right without it. I'm not saying S1s need the Wolfies -- as I write this, my white S1 is sitting on some nice 15" Epsilon wheels -- but for the people who have to have an S1, i.e. those people who want an S1 for its being the first, original, collectible, Bond, pure, whatever, the Wolfies are an essential ingredient.

So consider all of the above; I think you can put good S1s on a spectrum with collectible/investment cars on one side and good, enjoyable, well-sorted drivers on the other side. The collectible/investment cars will be the highly original ones and will be worth the most, but a non-original car that can be driven and enjoyed with no excuses is just as rare, and valuable in its own right. The less valuable S1s are the ratty ones, with cheap fixes done to them, unknown/low quality bodges and modifications, lousy paint jobs, tacky interiors, etc.

Good luck with the sale!

- Tony

Edited April 24, 2010 by Tony K

[Paul Coleman]

Steven

Tell me your car number and I'll tell you what colour it was when it left the factory.

Re wheels - have you still got the original Wolfrace wheels?

Cheers, Paul.

[Paul Coleman]

Steven

Here are the build details for your car...

SERIAL NUMBER 0312G

ENGINE NUMBER AC7771114373

ORIGNAL COLOUR Black

BUILT 16/01/1978

Cheers, Paul.

[Guest surferphil]

I bet you get the best price with as many original bits as possible, with the bit's that aren't original; as close to or as logical an upgrade as possible. Anything you took off, list and include with the sale of the car.

Wolfies are the only thing letting the car down I'd say. If it had them and original chassis and engine. Running you could ask £8-£10 with confedence. The trouble is Wolfies are hard to find.

Get a certificate of provenance from lotus too.

Stick it on Pistonheads

Good Luck!

[Sunbeam Fanatic]

Well thanks to Paul at least I know it's the original chassis and the original engine although it's defintiely a midnight blue!

I guess I'll find it's worth what someone's willing to pay, nice car though, works really well but I have the Europa bug now!

I'll let you all know how it goes.

Cheers,

SF