Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Went to see the one that is on ebay
non runner
and original its upto ?3100
To much money for to much work,for me that is

3100 seems cheap to me for the repainted yellow one on eBay. I believe all old Lotus cars are climbing in price due to two things, build numbers and the worldwide popularity of the Elise (and now Exige.) The +2 is a rare collectable car.

How about this one:

http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/123409.htm

Guy reckons it's 'probably the oldest plus 2 on the road'

Or there's a white '73 model on Autotrader for ?5995

A Blue/silver 130 for ?7995 here:

http://www.allsportscars.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=205

Or if you really want to push the boat out there is a nice looking JPS also on Autotrader for, wait for it.......


?13,250!!!

Difficult choice there, the two of them both looks nice, though the blue one a bit pricey. I'd love the red one for the purity and the cachet of the early chassis number. But the +2S130 is more comfortable... (I've got a problem free comfortable 5-speed S130..)

Buy the red one and T-Cut the paint !

Don't know what happened to my first reply but here goes again:-
Regarding the early Red plus 2. I have seen the actual car. I sold the guy a window lift motor for it. I had a good look round it.
If anyone is thinking of buying it Please PM me first!!!!!
Regards
Dave

Go on Dave, spill the beans. I'm guessing it needs a new chassis (with associated brake, suspension and steering overhaul), a respray, an engine rebuild, and an interior re-trim. And probably new chromework of course. But it's such an early car...it must be saved!!! If he drops the price a bit I'm tempted.
Mark

1964 S1 wrote:3100 seems cheap to me for the repainted yellow one on eBay. I believe all old Lotus cars are climbing in price due to two things, build numbers and the worldwide popularity of the Elise (and now Exige.) The +2 is a rare collectable car.

Its a non runner and its going to need a new chasssis
and paintwork not in the best of condition

Needs new chassis???

Might have to deal with the man again so will only pass the info privatley.
Regards
Dave

1964 S1 wrote:3100 seems cheap to me for the repainted yellow one on eBay. I believe all old Lotus cars are climbing in price due to two things, build numbers and the worldwide popularity of the Elise (and now Exige.) The +2 is a rare collectable car.

I think there may be more hopefulness than reality in the above. True, all of the early Loti are rare cars by any measure of recent classics. But only the Elite 14 and Just 2 have shown an ability to be worth even close to their restoration prices. If you consider the price difference between a project and a princess and the investment required to make a project into a princess, I think you'll agree this one might not be such a prize.

Of all the early models, the +2 seems to be the goat. It's definitely a pretty car, but has never gotten much respect from anyone but its loyal owners.

Hi Wulmar,
I purchased a +2 from the net, this was in Melbourne (Australia) and I live in Adelaide some 1200 k's away, flew over and drove it back!!.

Mine is also an early one (chassis 100), mine on the initial inspection looked good for its age, 18 months on and a minor rebuild later it is starting to take shape,

I paid $17,000.AUD which is about 5,000 pounds and have spent around $6,000 AUD getting it back to a "reliable" condition.

I would go for the early +2 as they are certainly a "different" +2 with only 200 made with the Alfa lights. I like the "simplicity" of the early +2 and it is something different than the +2S.

What I have found with any old car unless it it concours you are better to get something that is OK and do it uo yourself, at least you know it is done right.

Save the early +2!!!!

Cheers Darren

Does goat mean underpriced?

I can concur with a lot of the above comments. I went to see four + 2 's of various model types and age before buying mine. 3 of the 4 were "original" and running. From 20 feet on each one I thought "this is it" but then the dissapointment set in.
All cars were in the ?3000-?4,500 price bracket, I deliberatley avoided the few ?2000 cars I saw for sale knowing from past experience you only get what you pay for.

On each car the problems were the same as stated by a chap above.

1) Chassis always looking worse for wear
2) Trim hanging off and broken seats with knackered headlining.
3) 2 of them had "minor" faults on engine so "would not start today"
4)Very tired looking suspension with perished rubbers
5) Hateful under engine bay with wires all over the place and spagetti hanging down behind dash.
6) For some reason most of these "original" cars had most of the "good bits" missing...ie Original steering wheel, chrome trim, ashtrays all probably ebayed to get a few bob more

I decided to change tact and look for a abandoned project which I eventually found. Car I bought was a painted shell mounted on new Galv. chassis with the four corners on and 90% of new or re-furb of bits to finish.

Problem with this route is not having stripped car myself I'm always stuck as to where bits go and even though I got car at good price I know even at this stage I won't recoup money easily after completion............the thing that swung it for me is that there are a lot of new bits on car to Ebay if I were to fail early on before I start to spend and I hope I'd easily get my purchase price back................on the earlier cars I viewed I would have been struggling to salvage any nice bits to sell on.
The bottom line is though it depends on what the car is for. For me like many I suspect it is for a hobby and to get away from "big brother" and "celebrity dancing" of an evening..............I guess if I really wanted a nice shiney perfect +2 I'd have to bite the bullet and pay ?10000 for one at least.

Cheers,
Kenny

wise words. My first priority on looking for mine, after speaking to Chris Foulds and Paul Matty, was NEVER to even consider buying one with an original chassis, either with a replacement Lotus galvanised one or a Spyder one. And no.2 was the paint, as these two are the most complicated and expensive to fix...

Ooopps. I bought one with an original chassis Doh!
Mind you after 4 years of driving including a good inspection of the chassis at all the usual weak points it seeems fine.
I think the key exception to "don't buy an orignal chassis" is if the car is low mileage and has been garaged for most of its life.
When I was looking for a +2 I looked at about 8 or 9 most of which were on "new" chassis. two of these (both lotus replacement) were welded around the front crossmember/wishbone mounts. Given, these were old replacements, but just because it is quoted that it is a replaced chassis, always have a good good look at the usual places.
Cheers
tim
(PS I wonder whether my +2 will be the only one on an orignal chassis soon!)