[Ebay-bot] Early 1980 Lotus Esprit S3. Genuine John Player Special Factory Fitted Engine

[Loose Cannon]

The seller can control if questions appear or not.

 

Past experience suggests buyers rarely do their homework about Lotuses and appear here too late. Even Chris Evans with all his moolah ended up with a right clunker and sold it very quickly

[Barrykearley]

Is that the one that's proudly displayed all over the traders website?

[Loose Cannon]

Sorry which website is this? Evans' S1 went to auction I think and he just about got his money back probably due to the "celeb factor"

[Barrykearley]

It's on uksportscars

[stephenwhyte]

Seems another member has very recently had a good experience buying his blue Turbo from this dealer, so surely a bit unfair to have a go without having personal experience.......

Edited April 14, 2015 by stephenwhyte

[Barrykearley]

Doesn't make sense to me at all........I wouldn't have thought Evans would have bought a duffer

[Bibs]

He did.

[Chillidoggy]

I guess some people simply don't do their homework when it comes to buying.

[stephenwhyte]

Some people are too rich to care.........jammy bandits!

[GTK]

Gent's it strikes me that given there's no way to warn a prospective buyer on ebay, the only responsible course of action is to give the vendor the benefit of the doubt (that they are reiterating what they believe to be true) and instead contact them to advise that the car simply isn't what they think it is. 

 

At that point they either take according action or they don't. In the event that a prospective buyer does actually find this thread, they'll either be reassured or fully resolved that it's not for them.

 

EDIT: The photos btw have been taken by someone who knows their way around a camera, and at a time they knew the light would be good (sun low in the sky). They've been reworked in post production - lowered saturation, heightened contrast and some colour tint for the most part. Some have been sharpened more than others. I mention that because when you sharpen a hi resolution photo it becomes very 'honest'. If you look at the interior shots you can see individual flecks of dust, wear on the wheel, carpet, centre console and to the right of the dash. To put it bluntly - someone taking photos at this level could easily have hidden the interior wear, the stone chips and even the laminations in the glass if they wanted, and no one would be any the wiser until they saw the car in the flesh. 

Edited April 16, 2015 by GTK

[Chillidoggy]

It is possible to contact eBay if you feel the object being advertised for sale is not what it seems, or is incorrectly described.

[Barrykearley]

I have seen a lot worse to be fair.....

anyone that has a bit of a research will for sure find out what it is.

But as it stands - there are a lot more expensive comparible cars on the web........ It's not that bad value really

[ramjet]

The value isn't in question initially. It is the description which is misleading.

[ChrisJ]

relisted - price dropped by 1k, no mention of JPS now, Cat C is mentioned, and the ownership description is a bit convoluted.

[Barrykearley]

Looks like they have far more accurately described now

Still a nice car - they've clearly been on this forum and taken note - even so far as to highlight the car is as good as the photos - nearly denying any touching up digitally!!!

Have to say - if I was still looking - I'd be very tempted

[dd123]

I would be tempted, but i'm pretty sure the S2 JPS didn't have a turbo esprit bodykit on it like this one.

[ChrisJ]

It didn't, and it isn't a JPS either.

[Neverweaken]

Very interesting,

It now includes a letter from lotus that it is a jps, cert from Andy graham is on the auction

[dd123]

Still got the turbo kit on it though, decals etc. I prefer it orginal myself.

[ChrisJ]

I stand corrected - well done for the seller in persevering in their research. 

 

However, with the exterior now shouting Turbo Esprit - where's the damn turbo, the interior no longer being black leather with gold cloth inserts, and the non standard wheels, maybe the 1st advert was more accurate in that it has a JPS engine.

 

I agree with Dan, in that I'd prefer the original. So, how much would it cost to turn this

back into this

 

and restore the interior from this

to this?

 

As that is what I'd want to do.

[Bazza 907]

Whilst it is what it is, feels a shame that somebody went to the effort and expense to converted a proper JPS Esprit into a turbo look a like.

 

At least a new owner won't have to rebuild the turbo.

 

Wonder if the wheels are 14 or 15 inch?

[pete]

so if it was in it`s original state how much would it be worth?

[Mr_John111]

Oh I get it now it's an ORIGINAL JPS commemorative edition just with a different body, different wheels, a different interior, no stickers

I have an antique axe at home - over 500 years old, my father changed the handle and my grandfather changed the axehead but it's still over 500 years old

What a cheek to call it a JPS!

[Tocus]

this car is now also for sale in germany on a german car sell website:

 

http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/lotus-esprit-s2-genuine-john-player-gro%C3%9F-gerau/209038155.html?lang=de&pageNumber=1&__lp=2&scopeId=C&sortOption.sortBy=price.consumerGrossEuro&makeModelVariant1.makeId=15900&makeModelVariant1.modelId=7&makeModelVariant1.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant2.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant3.searchInFreetext=false&negativeFeatures=EXPORT&noec=1

 

GENUINE John player, eemm yeah right...

[pete]

sold for £11,200