Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi folks, its a while since I've been on this forum, but I just wanted to get some views on respraying a +2 roof.

A car I am looking at has gold roof, which is really not to my taste and I could not live with it. So, if I was to purchase the car, the roof would need a respray....probably white.

Firstly, where do people stand on this and is it likely to affect its value?

Secondly, it has a beige Webasto sunroof. I don't want to reopen a discussion around the pros/cons of these as I know its discussed elsewhere, but has anyone seen a reasonable colour for these on a white roof?

My 73 +2 has webasto sunroof also I good car resprayed in two pack cirrus white in original colour,could send a photo but think there is one on forum if not

I think beige-ish is as good as it gets for white

S130 roofs as delivered are vanishing. You might reconsider your aversion. Or at least consider a less 70's metalflake/metallic

I mean, 20 years ago I would have painted it in a heartbeat, but now I would think about it.

Thanks for the feedback....appreciated.

This was the car.....I've not seen this colour scheme before, so I am guessing its a custom job.

https://m.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1044972

My thinking was, at the right price, it may have been worth it to respray the roof and put the correct wheels on.

As it turns out, the owner has no history on the vehicle at all and has kept no receipts.

Hi Peter,
do you think if the Roof was resprayed a silver/grey metallic it would be better and would still look correct for a 1973 +2S130. For my TVR 3000M it has a webasto/weathershield roof and i contacted "Littleport Boathaven". They made a new Cover the colour i chose from Everflex at "Martrim" no problem. Or when the Roof has been sprayed grey a Sample sprayed on a piece of Carton and send it to "Littleport Boathaven" to match with Webasto.
Alan

It's not the first red / gold car I have seen.

I think it's a lovely combination but eerrrrmmm, "Everything in appearance is spot on: alloy wheels, the body and interior."? As you mentioned, those wheels are supposed to be black / silver. You can take them for restoration easily enough.

Cream leather. A definite plus point. The original vinyl coverings are a bit sweaty in the Summer.

Like the blue car, might be ambitious price wise especially with zero provenance.

No provenance, non-original colour and non-original interior, and all for ?25,000?
I think you can do a lot better in the current market, like this low miles one owner car.... https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1044628

Mark

That's for all the feedback.....this forum is just brillant.

Yes, the yellow one does look really good.

I know yellow is supposed to be super trendy these days, but....call me old fashioned, its not yet a colour I can live with

Peter. A very unoriginal car and certainly not to the purists likes. However, I think it looks ace. You have to live with it so go with your heart with only a passing glance to investment potential.

phunter121 wrote:That's for all the feedback.....this forum is just brillant.

Yes, the yellow one does look really good.

I know yellow is supposed to be super trendy these days, but....call me old fashioned, its not yet a colour I can live with

Peter, that example just illustrates what you can get for ?25k or less, and for me, there's no contest between the cars. The biggest issue with having no provenance with the car you really haven't a clue what you're buying.

Just some thoughts on paying top money for a car with no provenance...

Who did the paint and when? You can spend ?2000 on a blowover job for an Elan which may last a year or two until all the micro-blisters and cracks turn up. A professional quality job takes many hundreds of hours, and can cost anything up to ?10,000 to be done. I would have thought that if a good quality job had been carried out, then at least the receipt for the work would have been kept with the car. If the paint has been done in the past year or two, run! If it's been on for 10 years or more then it's probably a very good job.

Has the chassis been changed, when were the suspension, steering and brakes last overhauled? The engine, gearbox and differential must have had some work in the last 40 years, but who did what and to what standard?

Did the car start out as a complete car, or has it been built up from 2 or 3 or more wrecks? Many Plus 2 cars were being broken 10 or so years ago, and their are a few Frankensteins about!

Maybe none of this matters if you want a project car to play with and are not worried about originality, getting the car painted and overhauled. But when someone is asking top money for something, you should expect a good deal of history with the car to support the assumption that you are getting a top car for that money.

Mark