Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello all, my dear father has decided to give me a car. The car I have is completely up to me but what he wants is a project car that needs tinkering with but no real hard work is needed to get it going. I therefore wondered if it is still possible to pick up a decent Elan (not a plus 2) for under ?10 000. Engine work is of no desperate concern, as long as it's there. What do we think, possible or am I too late?
Best regards, Peter

Do any sub ?10k cars exist?

Precisely what I want to know.
Best regards, P

Well only jf you are very lucky unless you want something like this ??..but even that is sold
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds ... ld/9726349

I would have bought that if I had the funds, I was gutted when it sold!
Best regards, Peter

Your budget and the requirement of " but no real hard work is needed to get it going" are incompatible in real world.
Buying or restoring an Elan is costly. It is difficult "to beat the market", you need either to be a painter or an engine builder or have both as very very good friends, as these are the most expensive parts of the car.

How much of the pistonhead's car do you think would be re-usable?
And how much would it cost to make the re-usable parts serviceable?
Then you have to source the rest - new or used!
Good luck to the new owner.

A perfectly good, usable S4 went through Silverstone auction in July for ?19k. I can't remember if it was a coupe or not tho.

Regards,
Mark.

Bits wrote:Do any sub ?10k cars exist?

If you look in the right places at the right time some do occasionally pop up/exist (Need full resto's but complete cars)

I think Mark is asking the right questions. A cheap car, but looks like a bit of a basket case to me, albeit (seemingly) complete.. Recoverable? Sure, but you?d spend more than the finished car is worth, I reckon.

Peter, you seem to have enough Elans already. Lucky fellow. Have you considered an Europa?

It will probably cost more to restore a project than buy a good car, although it depends on how much work you do yourself, particularly bodywork. Some project cars need virtually everything and with the current cost of parts are probably worth less than 10K. My S4 project with many thousands spent on chassis, suspension and many of the expensive small bits was valued at ?15K for insurance by a broker who had Elans and knew his stuff. I doubt if I would get the insurance value if I sold it, which I'm considering due to rapidly declining health. My family don't want me to sell it and I hope to come to a decision soon. If I do sell it I'll want it to go to a good home so feel free to PM me if you want to be first in line if I sell.

Gray

Gray wrote:It will probably cost more to restore a project than buy a good car, although it depends on how much work you do yourself, particularly bodywork. Some project cars need virtually everything and with the current cost of parts are probably worth less than 10K. My S4 project with many thousands spent on chassis, suspension and many of the expensive small bits was valued at ?15K for insurance by a broker who had Elans and knew his stuff. I doubt if I would get the insurance value if I sold it, which I'm considering due to rapidly declining health. My family don't want me to sell it and I hope to come to a decision soon. If I do sell it I'll want it to go to a good home so feel free to PM me if you want to be first in line if I sell.

Gray

Sorry to hear about your health but there's nothing wrong with your marbles. Solid, sensible words and potentially a great offer.
That basket , I would guess, would need at least ?10k spent on it and yet for high teens you'd get a very serviceable car.
I've built 2 elans from boxes and one from a crashed car. If you like a labour of love and have deep pockets go for it , but on a budget you should buy complete and running, in my view.

Thank you all for the comments. Gray, I have sent you a PM, not sure if you will get it as I am sure that some of my PMs never reach my intended viewers. As you can guess, I am very interested. If you could let me know what sort of price you would like for it, I'll let you know if my funds will allow.
Thanks for the kind offer and I hope you get my PM. I also hope you don't mind if my auto correct called you Gary, completely my fault but I can't alter it...
Best regards, Peter

JonB, I don't really have many Elans, I have my plus 2, which may never materialise, an s2 which I plan to hill climb next year, and a shed full of bits with no ID that I call an s2 purely for bragging rights. I want at least 4 Elans That's the plan!
Best regards, Peter

That's more than the CEO of Mclaren owns
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cultur ... tus-elans/

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

My Elan will be very similar to the CEO of McLaren, only a much prettier colour and with the correct 26R wheels rather than the vented ones.
Best regards, Peter