Barry ely s4s

[Philsport300]

Does anyone know anything about the blue s4s thats for sale with less than 10k miles on it?

 

http://www.barryelysportscars.co.uk/lotus-esprit-s4s-1996-low-mileage/

[Zolder]

Link for the Blue one. http://www.barryelysportscars.co.uk/lotus-esprit-s4s-1996-very-low-mileage/

[sailorbob]

Why is the yellow one quicker to 60 mph?

[Vanya]

I believe he wants 40,000 pounds for it and 30,000 for the yellow one. That oughta be enough to dissuade anyone

 

Sorry don't know any more....

[NeilP]

Blimey! Didn't someone sell a sport 350 for less than these recently?

[Vanya]

Yep.

[R555WRS]

My father in law dropped his S4 in there the other day to have a new exhaust manifold (ouch!) fitted and he said the blue one is absolutely immaculate and stunning. He also said it looks great in that colour combo.

Do not know any more than that.

Stu

[The Pits]

I actually think the yellow one is more over priced of the two.

 

I'd love to take that blue one away but not at at £40k, that's Sport 300 territory.

 

The thing is, assuming everything mechanical is in good order, what would be a fair price for what must be one of the very best S4s left?

 

We're all used to very low prices for Esprits but it would have to begin with a 3 surely?

[Vanya]

Whatever anyone is willing to pay for it I suppose. I have some Club Lotus magazines dating back to the beginning of 2000 that I received with my Turbo SE 2 years ago - the other night I noticed that part of Barry Ely's stocklist dates back at least that far - so I'd say some of his prices are well off the mark.

 

The LHD Turbo SE 1 owner car that needs a respray being a case in point, and that yellow S4s at 30,000 being another.

 

If the blue one is concourse then I'd guess 32,000 would do the trick - it's not viciously expensive but still a stretch. Enough to nab someone who knows the value it holds. 

 

With that in mind some members on this forum seem adept at negotiating on price - I don't know how flexibly Barry Ely is but you could give it a shot Jonny? Pitch him 34,000 see what he says...

[top-plumber]

Before I finally bought my car 2 yrs ago, I looked at the yellow S4 he has in stock. Really nice car but has not sold in 30 months. When I had conversations with Barry he was very much of the opinion that the S4s was without question the best Esprit built. He didn't like the V8s as they were" troublesome" and he thought they had got just right by the time the S4s came along, and his words " typical lotus" changed it again! This may explain the very high prices of his S4s.

Wayne

Really nice looking Red S4s on eBay for 25k

[Vanya]

He flat out refuses to sell the V8 because they, according to him, they eat their gearboxes. Fair enough.

 

The red one at stocks is worth a look - I was tempted to look at it last week when I was in London but alas the allure of the V8 was too great...

[fjmuurling]

Vanya you have a V8 coming your way ??? (Lucky / happy you)

[Bibs]

Yellow one?

[Vanya]

Nah it's red with black interior, with AWI Monoblocs....not my preferred combo, but the damned thing is mint. We're talking straight outta the factory here...I'll post pics when the deal is done

 

I was ever so tempted by Scott Walker's yellow V8 GT which is very fairly priced if you give him a call about it, but the '97 I'm looking at is right around the corner here in Sweden with just under 20,000 miles on the clock and priced almost identically, so it's a bit of a no-brainer to buy local.

[The Pits]

 

Many congratulations Vanya, the V8s are awesome whatever Barry Ely or anyone else says. I personally love the AWI monoblocs too as they were unique to the V8 and helped distinguish it from the S4s. My ideal V8 spec would be mono blocs and boomerang dash as you know. I'd say live with them for a while and see. I know, a bit rich coming from someone ditching a perfect set of BBSs! 

 

Looking forward to seeing some pics, sounds stunning.

 

Now I'd love to be in a position to buy that blue S4s, the same colour as my V8GT, and my SE was Pacific Blue and I never had an S4s, never driven one in fact. So I'd pay quite a bit just to have a go in one! I want it badly but not enough to consider selling my Guigiaro Turbo for. All I ask is that the next owner looks after it really well for me!

 

 

Enjoy the V8 be prepared for lots of whooping and other embarrassing 'Dukes of Hazzard' noises that you won't be able to contain!

[Vanya]

Thanks for the congrats Jonny! I don't wanna jump the gun though - haven't transferred the monies yet, but there's a sort of gentleman's agreement in place Will create a thread for it in future.

 

I was in France last week trying out that sexy blue number that was advertised on Lotus For Sale ('96 V8, Midnight Blue with tan interior) - it blew my mind - I had previously been a passenger in a V8 but never driven one. After a single outing I was hooked - compared to the Turbo SE it's quiet, soft and yet firm over bumps, perfectly weighted power steering, deadly wheelspin available in most gears, extremely comfortable seats...the list goes on and on.

 

I mulled over an S4s prior to the test drive but that went outta the window afterwards. I daresay the S4s is a safer investment than the V8 to be honest...but I wouldn't trade a mint G turbo for it either

 

The Monoblocs have grown on me a little; they are very nice wheels, but after seeing Futura's in the flesh...well....

 

Let's put it this way, I'm hoping that mint set you're sitting on doesn't disappear in the near future...

[The Pits]

Yes being a Class-A hippocrit about the wheels, I actually bought the Futuras for my V8GT which originally came with OZ Saturns. Imagine my surprise when the buyer said he wanted me to put the Saturns back on! Futuras are gorgeous, no getting away from that.

 

No idea currently where the front pair are which is a source of near constant annoyance! I'll will have a proper dig around for them one day when I get the time. They're nearly worth keeping just to hang on the wall of my garage!

 

Hope the whole V8 thing works out. Keep us posted. Sounds like you've done a fair bit of whooping already!

Looks like that blue S4s has tinted windows on it. Not sure about that.

 

Easily removed I presume?

[MPx]

Not sure if this is the same car, but if its the one I remember from the Lee High Road days (same colour, wheels, milage, etc), then Barry has had it for many years,  It was one he "found" which had been virtually abandoned in an underground car park in London, unused and unloved and not pretty - I don't think it even ran at the time.  He bought it and re-commissioned it to a very high standard sometime in the early 2000s.  Its been in his ads for years, usually displaying his own B4 ELY registration, and has also always been the most expensive S4s on the market at the time.  The milage has barely changed over the intervening years ... so its not been used which IMO wont have done it any favours but for those who value low milage above all then its unlikely to be bettered outside the US where they seem to specialise in not using nice cars.

[Vanya]

I don't get that obsession in the US - I recently watched Jay Lenos Garage featuring a beautiful Lambo Diablo which had something like 23000 miles on the clock - the mileage spawned the comment "well this really is quite high mileage, especially for a Lambo"

- is this due to owners wanting to keep the value of their vehicles high or is it an innate lack of confidence in the mechanical durability of supercars?

I swear if I had the money Id be running a Diablo or an XJ220 as a daily driver - what's the bet they'd hold up quite well when driven responsibly?

[Vanya]

Half OT - but this just came up on Pistonheads recently.

 

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/lotus/esprit/lotus-esprit-s4s/2698936

 

I'm in pain - low miles, right color...and RIGHT after I've just gone and bought a V8. I swear if I HADN'T it wouldn't have turned up. Such is life.

[The Pits]

Ouch!

Definitely your fault Vanya! I'd love it too but enough to part with my GGT? That's still a no.

On the flip side, you have a V8 Esprit with a twin turbo Lotus V8 in the back!!!

It's the car everyone was begging Lotus to make for decades!

[Vanya]

Well for me the consolation is that I probably paid less for my mint condition V8 than what Paul Matty probably wants for that S4s

 

If I had a GGT in good nick and a good colour I probably wouldn't trade it for an S4s either to be honest...

[Bazza 907]

What's a GGT?

[Vanya]

Giorgetto Giugiaro Turbo?

[Bazza 907]

Ah, thanks, not seen that abbreviation before