Elite Riviera - Restoration stalled, what to do?

[Henry8601]

As some of you might have read in my thread I have been lucky enough to acquire a 1982 Lotus Elite Riviera in White, the only one in this colour. I have started work on the car in this thread.

The problem is that with my new job I just do not have the time to work on the car, and since October it has just sat under it's cover in the garage. I really feel that this is not the correct place for this car to be, but I just do not know what to do. I have spoken to Mike at Lotus bits who was very helpful, but it sounds like it is going to be maybe as much as £3000-4000 to get the Elite back into a good usuable condition. My reason to hesitate is that if I had £4000 + what the car is currently worth to spend on any car, I would not choose to spend it on a Lotus Elite (specifically I would get an Alfa GT).

Alternatively I could just sell it in it's current condition, but I am aware that it is such a rare machine that I would probably never see it again.

Does anyone have any idea what the car is worth in it's current condition, and what it would be worth done up in nice condition with MOT and tax? LooseCannon has seen the car in person so I suppose would be the ideal person to comment, and I would have thought that Emmerg would be interested given his connection to the car.

What I do not want to do is spend thousands of pounds for someone else to have the please of doing the car up, and then loosing significant money on the car whenever I come to sell it.

What should I do?

[silverfrost]

Henry,

Sorry to hear your having second thoughts about restoreing the car, Projects are really hard to price at the end of the day its whats someone is prepaired to pay, If nobody on the forum buys it , maybe ebay but its luck of the draw if you get decent bids, that said if you set a decent reserve. As for the model type i dont class any of the lotus brand as rare if it needs work, the only time i would pay decent money for a special edtion was if it was in pristine condtion, Anything else that requires restoration on the lotus range needs money spending and paying a premium at this point just because its called a riviera will probably not even enter peoples heads, I know it would not sway me to pay extra.

Or sell to lotus bits but that way you will not get as much as they are a buisness and have overheads and this will be reflected in the price they offer. I wish you the best with the sale if you let it go, or the best if you decide to keep the car and restore it, Can you not do the required work for the mot test as then you could either keep and make the car pristine over a period of time whilst not throwing major money at it in one go or at the same time if you get it MOT,D you would increase the sale value and probably get a wider selection of buyers/bidders just depends really on how much it needs.

I wish you the best regards danny

Edited April 26, 2011 by silverfrost

[USAndretti42]

Without knowing how much you paid for it I would guess it would be marginal at best that you would get your money back on paying to restore the car to a roadworthy condition.

If money is short and time is short you have two options, 1) keep it under its cover until you get more time or money or, preferably, both or 2) sell it as it is and accept that you will never have such a rare car again. On a bright note, when Lotus release the new Elite onto the market, it may well perk up interest in the type 75 Elite. At least, more people will be aware of it as, no doubt, all the magazines will tell the story of the original Elite, then the 1970s Elite and then lead into the new Elite.

[Loose Cannon]

Hello Henry

Yours is in very similar condition to mine, ie quite easy to spend £4000 if you are not really handy, therefore little profit anywhere, just depends if you enjoy the restoration or not.

Personally I'd rather be driving the thing, but then my car has an emotional bond and would rather sit on it until he right time comes. If yours is just taking up space it could be time to sell, I hope you would give Guy first crack at it rather than a dealer. Value wise it's tricky, I probably paid over the odds for mine - decent useable Elites aren't expensive and get proportionally better value.

Guys red Elite (my old one) is probably one of the best anywhere and has the advantage of being 100% original....must admit when I got mine I couldn't wait to paint it, but am now getting sentimental about originality and losing the factory finish and patina, even though it will look a shed without intervention.

[Musiccitylotus]

Being on the tail end of a full resto myself, I can feel your pain. With the Elite, there is no immediate return of investment, as we all know. For me, that was never the point of restoring one. It was doing it cause I love the car.

If you don't love the Elite that much (You write about wanting an Alfa), cut your losses and pass the Elite on to someone with the passion and time/money to do the job. It's a unique one you have, so it would be worth it. And I bet, there is someone out there looking for a Riviera. Heck, if it would be here in the States, we would be interested.

Oops, did I just say that???

[Emmerg]

Henry

If I had the room for it I would buy it = but I have four cars and no room for another. I am thinking whether there is anywhere else I could store it and will ask some family members at the weekend. If I can't, please try to sell it to someone who will do the work and restore it back to its original condition - as opposed to sell for bits or for some sort of conversion !

Good luck with your dilemna - try not to think about whether restoring it will make you any money (it won't) just think about the pleasure of the refurb and bringing a rare car back to life ! It will look the mutts nuts when done !

All the best

[raffi]

hi

i am interested in buying the riviera if still available

thanks

[Henry8601]

Thanks for all the words of advice and encouragement. I will definitely stick with it - if I let it go I will never see it again. With my comments about the Alfa, its not that I don't love the Lotus (I think it is awesome) I can just think of other things that I would like to spend that amount of money on. So, I will just keep going at my reduced pace (only a weekend a month really) and see where it takes me - ideally as far as the MOT at least

I have put up some new pictures in the projects thread, and I have some questions about the electrics. Guy is completely correct, and I think a lot of the joy will come from being able to drive something that is so unusual that I put back on the road (I have never seen another on the roads). I also just got an insurance quote of £210 which helped If I am going for agreed value insurance, what should I be insuring it for? £4000?

I am going to be at the Castle Combe day on the 28th so it would be great to meet anyone else who will be there.

[Dunc]

Thats great to hear Henry! We all have moments with car projects when it looks like we just wont ever find the time to get to the finish line. Good to hear the guys above have renewd your enthusiasm. I had a similar situation once with a 500SEC. I had just taken on a project house and had a baby daughter. I ended up selling it as an unfinished project, and even though it went to an enthusiastic new owner, it still rankles with me that I never finished that one.I felt like i had betrayed that car.

Inurance wise, £210 is ok, but not amazing. I think you'll get a better deal if you shop around.

I've been with this bunch for the last two lotuses:

http://www.classiclineinsurance.co.uk/

I pay less than that and I live in greater London. My car is also somewhat non-standard...

I'm going to castle combe, so look forward to meeting up for a chat. Pop over and introduce yourself. Mine is the yellow eclat V8. I think there will be a few of us there. we had quite a good elite/eclat representation last time, despite the wet weather.

Best wishes

Duncan

[bistobarry]

Hi Henry,

Good choice in keeping it. These are great cars and you must be excited just to own it even if you can't use it at the moment. I would keep it till the times right to spend money on it , if its not costing you money just sitting there why sell it?

I've had mine for 15 years and don't use it alot but love to go and look at it and think what a great looking car.

If you do ever need to sell it I would love to have first refusal and would pay over the odds for it just to keep mine company.

Cheers

Ray

[Matt-watts]

I would sell it. Why spend thousands of pounds on it and hours and hours of your time when its not the car you really want ( you said so yourself) get the Alfa GT your hankering after and get the best you can afford and don't look back !

I've seen people restore cars because they feel they owe it to the car, the car looks sad in bits, they have the skills needed, it could fill in the time when the wife watches crap on the tv ETC ... Find the car that makes your heart pound then restore it (life is to short)

Hope this helps

Matt

Edited May 24, 2011 by Matt-watts

[Trevsked]

I would sell it. Why spend thousands of pounds on it and hours and hours of your time when its not the car you really want ( you said so yourself) get the Alfa GT your hankering after and get the best you can afford and don't look back !

I've seen people restore cars because they feel they owe it to the car, the car looks sad in bits, they have the skills needed, it could fill in the time when the wife watches crap on the tv ETC ... Find the car that makes your heart pound then restore it (life is to short)

Hope this helps

Matt

Matt

Agree entirely. If your heart and enthusiasm are not fully with a car like this you cannot possibly do it justice and wont enjoy it.

Trevor.