Undervalued

[Vanya]

2 hours ago, Escape said:

This one looks like a bargain! Or it least undervalued in it's estimate. I thought I saw the same car advertised for €12k buy it now. I do love the blue interior! Could be an idea if I ever decide to redo mine.

http://www.historics.co.uk/buying/auctions/2016-11-26/cars/ref-56-1990-lotus-esprit-turbo-se.aspx?p=

They always look good in pictures though. Then you see them in the flesh......

[Escape]

I consider £12k a bargain for any Esprit that's up and running. If bodywork and interior are halfway decent, that's a big plus.

[Vanya]

1 hour ago, Escape said:

I consider £12k a bargain for any Esprit that's up and running. If bodywork and interior are halfway decent, that's a big plus.

In that case there's a lot of those out there. They're bulletproof! 

But admit it, you buy one for 12k and then spend 25 k replacing all the corroded parts for shiny new ones! I know I have...

[Escape]

On 09/11/2016 at 14:33, Vanya said:

In that case there's a lot of those out there. They're bulletproof! 

But admit it, you buy one for 12k and then spend 25 k replacing all the corroded parts for shiny new ones! I know I have...

I guess that's the thing, I'd buy it for £12k, spent a max of £2k on parts that need to be replaced (unless I missed something seriously wrong when buying it) and just drive and enjoy it! I don't think the total expenses on my current SE add up to £12k, including purchase but excluding fuel. That's over 18 months and about 20k km.  Very happy with it. 

[nello]

Just watching the RM live auction in Arizona - this '83 G Turbo just sold for £31800 / $40000!

 

[silverfrost]

Think 30k is good value for the very good condtion G turbos imo, 

[Vanya]

Oh wow. I've been eyeing that example for a while prior to the auction. Good money but still not prohibitive! 

[purso]

What was the mileage?

[ChrisJ]

32000 - http://www.rmsothebys.com/az17/arizona/lots/1983-lotus-turbo-esprit/1691506 - more pictures here

A few things look at bit strange to me:

• Where's the tail pipe?
• Not see a mixed colour interior before
• Uniroyal Tigerpaw tyres - T rated? 118 mph.
• Are these the correct decals - the "t" is the later one. Also on this thread (page 4) there is the comment "Not fitted on Federal cars"

 

 

 

 

it Might have been repainted as it has the later decals on it with the larger "t"

[silverfrost]

Interior trim may of been from the factory as lotus has always been known for customers to able to spec the car custom, But yes a chance its after market but i think it looks quite decent, the later stevens cars had the black top dash,  One thing that sticks out to me is the glovebox having the lock,catch on it,  I know my s3 does not have one and i wish it did, as hitting the glovebox with bottom part of my fist is the norm to open it and it is always hit and miss as to if it opens or not !

The tyre thing may well be the last owners mistake or choice, probably not a wise idea on a car like this, but i made the same choice on my s2 to be able to keep the same spec tyre profile and manufacturer for both front and rear tyres and also get a modern tread pattern, down side limited to 120 or something like that, but i will never do that sort of speed in that car so made sense to me. 

That turbo looks nice and all the little faults can be easily sorted out, i think its a nice car and a good price for that part of the world imo 

[Gotti]

My brother own a 308!Its a real good car.I think the quality of an 308 is better.For the name Ferrari you have to pay extra money.I owned an Esprit S2, S4 and now a dry sump.

However,i love the Esprit!

[silverfrost]

Gotti,  your car will never be under valued its an ESSEX you can pretty much name your own price these days if you ever choose to sell it 

[jack.pe]

On 09/11/2016 at 08:56, Escape said:

This one looks like a bargain! Or it least undervalued in it's estimate. I thought I saw the same car advertised for €12k buy it now. I do love the blue interior! Could be an idea if I ever decide to redo mine.

http://www.historics.co.uk/buying/auctions/2016-11-26/cars/ref-56-1990-lotus-esprit-turbo-se.aspx?p=

Cars are often undervalued at auctions to whip up interest.. this went for over £20K in the end plus the buyer's premium which will be around £1-2K. 

[silverfrost]

2 minutes ago, jack.pe said:

Cars are often undervalued at auctions to whip up interest.. this went for over £20K in the end plus the buyer's premium which will be around £1-2K. 

I can explain the bidding war on this one in one word  SILVER  

[Barrykearley]

Nuff said - best colour

[Mark Blanchard]

Must have been the cheapest supercar at RM.  Looks a cracking car.

[nello]

You can watch the whole auction on replay here . The Esprit is on around 1hour 11 mins.

A Diablo VT went before the Esprit for £175k - the Esprit did not look out of place and was looking just as exotic to me.

Bargain really...............

[JayEmm]

I'll say one thing. There are a lot of Ferraris out there which have hardly been used. I would not call them pampered. I'd rather a Lotus which has been used over a Ferrari which has not any day.

The tragedy of Ferrari is the buyers are extremely mileage sensitive. Much more so than the actual cars themselves.

 

I also wonder if it is an age thing, but I never really associated Lotus with making kit cars. I know it is something which bugged Chapman his whole career, and the reason the Seven was sold off. I don't think they've made a kit since what, 1973?

[Barrykearley]

Really laboured at trying to squeeze a bit more out of that 

[Jacques]

It seems to me that Ferrari have always worked hard to keep a certain image to their cars. Sometimes even as much or possibly even more than their cars.

I think there is a reason that Ferrari is the best known brand on this planet.

And there is a reason that Lotus is not.

Fortunately for me, I'd say, as it allows me to buy, run and drive the Esprit, at least for now. 

When I asked all 45 children on my job, if they  know a car brand, the very first brand they all said:  Ferrari.

When I asked them if they know Lotus, they asked: what?

Again I think there is a reason for that.

And there is a downside to the Ferrari brand. It's connected with snobbery for a lot of normal people. Not very attractive, really. But one can easily live with that, by not paying attention to it. It doesn't matter what other people think, as long as you are happy about it yourself.

When I showed all 45 children my esprit and started the engine, every single one lost their lower jar on the ground and said wauw. No exception.

By then they all realiseed that it's not about image, it's all about the feelings it arouses in us. The connection between mind, to hand, to wheels.

I can easily live with that, by paying attention to it.

 

Kind regards,

Jacques.

 

[silverfrost]

I think with Ferrari, It has always been a car that would come up as a lottery win car amongst normal people as it is precieved as wealth related, But they are beutiful cars, well some of them anyway, also Ferrari has never done many cheap/low end cars such as porsche has done.  Which is why porsche is not not related to wealth these days imo.  You only have to look on ebay to get a boxster for a couple of grand, but going back a few years the 924 was considered the poor mans porsche which summed up this brands snobbery at the time as it was not a cheap car but cheaper than normal. 

 

[Mark Blanchard]

Quite a number of those Ferraris have hidden historys.  Those same Daytonas, Dinos and 308s were driven to the moon and back through the 70s and 80s, just like 550s and 360s have been more recently, yet once they've been restored at great expense, as if by magic they have low mileage and have always been pampered.  I'm sure there's a good industry in faking service books and reciepts for the top end cars.

[silverfrost]

They learn that at a young age with Ferraris, probably from watching Ferris Beulers day off with the clock the mileage scene 

 

[Andyww]

The reason Ferraris are so highly prized is not really the physical car itself.

Its the same reason that a Canaletto painting of Venice will be worth millions whereas the painting my grandmother did of Venice, despite being just as good, is not.

 

[silverfrost]

Very true Buddsy,   The Brand name is not the physical item,  Car manufacturers are always trying to get on the brand name list as it is like printing your own money,  It is also known in the car industry as lifestyle