Evora GTE Registry

[BatMobile]

@TheKevlarKid thanks for that insight so these new 4 you would consider every bit as good?

in serious chats with Alex at the moment on the white one but nervous at age/build/warranty etc. 

[Babas89]

Thanks @TheKevlarKid, I was not aware of this list but I was sure if this cars are from Lotus (I Saw the rebuilt of the Solar yellow when I visit the factory)

[BatMobile]

@Babas89 if you are interested in the orange one send me a pm and will send you Alex’s details. He is selling them and can talk you through the car - he sent me those pics. 

[TheKevlarKid]

As for the 5/6 original cars that we were told were going to be dismantled but have slipped through the net and out into the wild.

Well all I can say is that providing they are well documented as to which cars they are, they should hold a similar collectors value as the 20 reworked factory cars hold. They are part of Lotus history whether we like it or not and at some point in the future (could be 5 could be 50yrs) they will be just as desirable I believe. 

How many pre-production/concept sports cars do you see come up forsale from the likes of ferrairi/porsche/etc?? and when they do how much do they go for? not saying these car will ever see ferrairi money but their time will come I have no doubts.

 

 

 

[Bruss]

Perhaps there's a chance for my little old development car then. I just have to be around in 50 years to benefit.

[Babas89]

@BatMobile

I'm in contact with Alex he know I want this car!

this is this the last pics he send to me

[BatMobile]

Ok great - they have a way to go before they can sell, they were going to be tiptronic but the Italian firm they were working with didn’t produce the product they had hoped so all need to be put back to manual.

they then have to get them approved by the dvla and then sort warranty options etc. 

He reckons 6-12 weeks but this could slip if anything arises that needs to be fixed. 

[Babas89]

Thanks for this informations they didn't give to me 

No problem to wait, I'll collect à GT430 next week to wait for it 

[TheKevlarKid]

46 minutes ago, Bruss said:

Thanks Gav. I didn't know the full history.

 

 

Nobody at lotus would ever admit to this but if you ask me there is only one reason why those 30 original GTE's existed in the first place.

In 2011 (under Dany Bahar's leadership) they entered 2x Evora's into the 24hr race at LeMan's in what is known as the GTE class of cars, hence we know them as the Evora GTE's.

The 2 race cars were pretty much a full bespoke wide body race car that looked like an Evora 's but infact, the only parts used off an Evora were the 'A' pillar covers and the door pull surrounds, everything else was custom made for them.

The rules for entering the GTE class stipulates that you must have made 25 road going units of the car you intend to race in order to be able to enter.

Now Ive never tried to enter the LeMans 24hr race before but its one of the worlds most famous races and I imagine getting an entry is an extremely difficult process. I cant imagine for one minute you're going to be able to hoodwink your way past the FIA official who comes around to see your 25 road going cars so he can tick the box on your entry form to proceed, it's just not going to happen. Hence the need to have something to present to them when that moment arrived...

Voila, I give you the 25-30 road going GTE's, they'll have had millions of pounds of budget for entering LeMans, the road car project with Mansory  could have easily been all part and parcel of the overall budget they had available to them knowing full well in order to be able enter the race they must have made 25 road units...

 

[Bruss]

So all the talk at the time from Lotus about the Chinese/Asian market was BS.

 

Say it ain't so. 

 

 

[TheKevlarKid]

Probably not, I firmly belive what I've written above was why the cars were first thought up, certainly a major contributing factor. Like I said, entry to the LeMans 24hr will be a very strict procedure, no corner cutting and would make perfect sense to it all.

However, as the cars were being made and shown to the public (hey would have had to make it look like they were going into prodcution), interest on them started to take up and they were probably started to be viewed as a viable product to build and sell. Lotus had lots more GTE/Mansory bodywork left over in stock even with the 30 cars they had (which Strattons also bought). It certainly looked to me as if they intended to build more, then dany was booted and the project stopped. Bosch!

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

But didn’t the Le Mans 2011 race take place BEFORE these 25 -odd cars were built? In which case how could they be considered for homologation?

[Bibs]

Regarding the Stratton cars, I'm fairly sure some of them (I can't remember which) are full carbon bodied too. Spotted the weave through the paint on a recent visit. 

[TheKevlarKid]

8 hours ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

But didn’t the Le Mans 2011 race take place BEFORE these 25 -odd cars were built? In which case how could they be considered for homologation?

It all happened around the same time as I recall, I'm not sure how the rules for LeMans work regarding the entries/regs/cars required to be built by manufacturer (or in production).

The reason I say this is simply because of how the 30 cars they had built were all presented. Non of them were fit for use and couldn't be sold as they were (hence why the sat around for so long), and its not like they could have carried on producing them like that without some major changes and certification doing on them before the program really could continue (crash testing, emissions etc).

Just with the amount of cars built, the way the were built and presented etc all points to them being just 'show pieces' to me. Pretty much like everything else dany did, all for show, very little go.

5 hours ago, Bibs said:

Regarding the Stratton cars, I'm fairly sure some of them (I can't remember which) are full carbon bodied too. Spotted the weave through the paint on a recent visit. 

My red car has a full carbon front clam, but has a GRP front bumper and rear clam....

[bingoking]

6 hours ago, Bibs said:

Regarding the Stratton cars, I'm fairly sure some of them (I can't remember which) are full carbon bodied too. Spotted the weave through the paint on a recent visit. 

When I had my car detailed and the front end wrapped the guy told me he thought my car was carbon bodied as he said he could see the weave. I only have his judgement on  this, I can’t see the weave, maybe to the untrained eye it doesn’t show up too well on a black car. 🤔

[TheKevlarKid]

If you open the doors and look where the hinges are you can see the end/edge of the front clam. You'll see exposed carbon on the panel if it is a carbon one.

[BatMobile]

Left hand drive in uk.

any opinions on this gents? 

Annoying? Hard to sell? 

If it were rhd I think it would be a done deal but the whole lhd element is bothering me. 

[CocoPops]

Personal preference.
IMO you will find it harder to sell a LHD car in UK, BUT it also opens up the market to selling into Europe.

I personally wouldn't buy a LHD car, but that's simply my preference.

[C8RKH]

46 minutes ago, bingoking said:

When I had my car detailed and the front end wrapped the guy told me he thought my car was carbon bodied as he said he could see the weave. I only have his judgement on  this, I can’t see the weave, maybe to the untrained eye it doesn’t show up too well on a black car. 🤔

 

 

As regards to LHD - just look at the Esprit prices in Europe, much stronger than in the UK. Also, if you wanted to do lots of European Road Trips (exactly what the GTE would be superb at!) then LHD is a boon!  I'd have one in LHD. Nae bother.

[TheKevlarKid]

That is very much down to the individual. I've owned 3 lhd lotus over my time with no major problems. You have to adjust your driving approach at certain junctions so as to give yourself the ability to look both ways which can take a little while to get use to but it's not that difficult. However, I can see how some people would not take to it, you have to put a little effort in...

Driving down small country lanes can also be a bit of a problem what with the car being so wide and you sitting on the gutter side. It can all feel a bit weird/uncomfortable as it's not where you'd normally be sat. 

Other than that the only thing you really need is to replace the O/S wing mirror for a Jaguar mutlivex mirror, there is a big blind spot down that side. Its most noticeable as you come down slip roads onto motorways and dual carriageways, the shallow angle of approach to the main carriage way sits any cars in the first lane of the carriageway right in the middle of the blindspot and you can't see them at all, even turning your head. The mutlivex mirror sorts this problem out and gives you full view.

As for resale, yes lhd cars are traditionally harder to sell here. However, being the type of car it is and the physical amount of lhd v rhd cars available then there will always be some sort of demand for them and it opens up for foreign buyers. Certainly the lhd GTE's that have already come up for sale second hand in the UK have all seemed to find homes.

 

[Bruss]

If you are worrying about resale value then you are buying the wrong car. Buy a 400 derivative and protect your resale. On the other hand if it's a keeper then lhd is just down to personal preference. I now drive a lhd because I live in France (and one became available at the right time), but my BMW is rhd because Mrs Bruss prefers it.

 

 

[BatMobile]

I am not bothered about resale value, you makes your choice and pays ya money as my dad would say, but when the time does comes to move on i don't want to be sat with something no one wants.

they have a demonstrator so i need to go and have a drive i think and see what LHD feels like. 

[Babas89]

We've se same problem in France with the RHD cars 

 I've drove some and it's not à problem, it's inconfortable the first 10 minutes, after that it doesn't change a lot.

A friend just drive RHD all the time (Honda CTR + S2000)

The only thing is the GTE is large and may be à problem on small road (but don't really change if RHD or LHD)

As said it open the european market for selling.

I'm happy to get the opportunity to buy the #15 in LHD and it came from UK.

The chrome one is LHD and that's perfect for me 

[Bruss]

1 hour ago, BatMobile said:

I am not bothered about resale value, you makes your choice and pays ya money as my dad would say, but when the time does comes to move on i don't want to be sat with something no one wants.

they have a demonstrator so i need to go and have a drive i think and see what LHD feels like. 

Yeah, apologies if that sounded a bit aggressive, it wasn't meant to be. I was just trying to point out that the GTE/GT350 type cars are a specialist vehicle rather than the norm. As such I think that someone willing to pay more for that special nature will be less worried about lhd or rhd.

 

 

[BatMobile]

@Bruss not at all, I took it as you meant and was just clarifying my comment.

good point on the lhd/rhd comment. Will need to have a drive I think and see if it’s something I want to get used to.

owning a gte has always been a dream for me, just love them so trying to ensure my heart doesn’t make me rush into a bad decision.