ARE ELANS UNDER VALUED?

[nono17120]

Perhaps a more reasonable comparison for the Elan would be with the TVR, Marcos and Gilbern, which were competitors of the Elan at the time and in the same ball park for price. The same fibreglass bodyshell construction, Ford and BMC parts, and similar sporty market segment.

The Elan is 1.5 to 2 times the price of those cars in comparable condition now....does that make the Elan over-valued?
Mark

I agree with your thinking in the 60's or 70's: "similar".

But now, I don't think we can think like that because of the offer

[elanner]

Re Jimj's comment:
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Scrutinising what is available at the moment, even the more expensive ones are not what I`d call really nice. Clearly my estimate of what he`d need to pay is a little out of date or just unrealistic. Even high ?40Ks doesn`t get the car you might expect, it seems.
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I think this is exactly the issue. There are so few really nice Elans out there. The majority of high priced ones that I see for sale are littered with things that would bug me or are faults. Let's face it, they've all been thrashed to within an inch of their lives at some point or other. And they weren't designed to survive for half a century. So something has to give.

We all know of a few top notch restorations but most of them are never going to come on the market!

I don't think fibreglass is really an issue, as mentioned previously, there are plenty of fibreglass cars that are commanding excellent prices. But today, and even when new, most Elans have such lousy door/boot fit that it's hard to put them in the same category.

Not long ago I read an article (in this forum perhaps?) that argued that four cylinders forever prevents a car from moving into the 'expensive classic' realm. I'm not sure that's true (e.g. Elite) but it certainly doesn't help. Added to that I think most people today simply see them as being too small, so they don't make the same visual impact as the competitors. But then, the exception that proves the rule, there's the Seven.

Nick

[Davidb]

Shirley the car to look at to compare values is the Lotus Cortina-same engine and gearbox and similar production numbers...

[el-saturn]

and whats with the twin cam escorts??? a prepared FIA car costs almost as much as an Elan........ yes, a 26R!! sj

[elaninfuture]

Surely it's a case of apples and oranges, but as a early Porsche owner (who feels they are overvalued) looking to purchase an Elan, they seem like a great deal and a lot of car for the price. I have no crystal ball, but I think people like me (who couldn't think of purchasing my Porsche in the current market) will soon be flooding your excellent forum.

[cabc26b]

FWIW - I land on under or exceptional value -

As for why , I think as some members have pointed out the rareness of the car in general and the percentage of the really nice ones inside that population are factors , I don't think fiberglass and 4 cyl engine hurt . The alpine a110 as pointed out shares a lot of common traits . 356 values are not impeded by pedestrian 4 cylinder motor . Abarths, and Porsche 904 values have not been impacted by chassis engine combo, However , most of these cars tend to be cherished by there owners and put thought extensive restorations . While the TVR and Marcos are peers to an ?lan they tend to suffer neglect to a larger extent that lotus ( hard to believe ) and in the case of the wood chassis marcos the production numbers are minuscule by comparison - you can count the realy nice ones on two hands ( minus the 1800GT race cars ) .

[nono17120]

Surely it's a case of apples and oranges, but as a early Porsche owner (who feels they are overvalued) looking to purchase an Elan, they seem like a great deal and a lot of car for the price. I have no crystal ball, but I think people like me (who couldn't think of purchasing my Porsche in the current market) will soon be flooding your excellent forum.

I don't think you could buy a early 911 in few years.
Even if the prices stop to increase, it probably won't decrease.

For exemple, I bought my 911 half than my Elan (and the 911 was in better conditions !!)...


... but 12 years before

[JimE]

The ex-Ronnie Peterson 1972 Elan Plus 2, which didn't look concourse from the pictures, was sold for a substantial 73k so if its the right car with the right provenance for a buyer who knows! The Graham Hill Plus 2 reg RAH 400F wasn't sold for anything like that money but was in poor condition. This forum has mentioned comparison with the Lotus Cortina. There is currently a restored one up for sale at 125k although I'm not sure I'd want to part with that sort of money. My starting point for a really good Elan, which ticks all of my boxes, would be the price of a new Elise plus a little bit more. That's what I would pay for mine which is a time warp car.

[Davidb]

I think that perception is everything: The Elan is small and has a reputation for fragility. In my opinion, the fiberglass makes a difference to values. The Elite really isn't very valuable-you could pay far more for a 911 and look how many of them there are! Corvettes are not valuable-too many of them. Alpine A110s have a sexier appearance than an Elan but nothing else is better. Gordon-Keeble? Too few and not very valuable. Ford GT40. Porsche 904/ 906/908/910/ etc, Alfa TZ2, Lolas etc etc are all in a different class as limited production racing cars.
The best comparisons have already been made: TVR and Marcos. The Lotus Cortina should be a good comparison I think as I said earlier.

Buyer perception is everything-Lotus road cars do not have a good reputation for strength or reliability.

I think that Elans are undervalued given the prices paid for 'Grey Porridge'.

I sold my air-cooled 911 and kept my S2 Elan-what do I know?

[HAIRY]

Rarity has been mentioned once or twice, which poses the question: how many Elans and Plus 2s still exist?

[nono17120]

+1

[HAIRY]

The Veg & Jim E, it is well documented that Chapman found the Elan chassis was some 5 times more ridged than the F1 space frame chassis of the day and consequently adopted a monocoque for the Lotus 25 and subsequent race cars.

[Davidb]

Hairy, can you provide evidence of that?

[HAIRY]

http://www.grandprixhistory.org/lotus25.htm

[Davidb]

"it is well documented that Chapman found the Elan chassis was some 5 times more ridged than the F1 space frame chassis of the day"

That is what I would like to see evidence of. My BS alarm is still ringing!