Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I'm just reaching out to Elan +2 owners near Maidenhead. A very kind man called Nick (also active on this forum) let me see his car at the weekend and it was very useful. His advice was to see as many cars as possible, so if any of you are local and had an hour free....I'd love to you car.

Peter,
Get down to Matty and drive the blue / silver . Then you will have a benchmark.
You may even find you don't fit / don't like it etc!
It will also show Matty you are serious for possible future negotiations .

It looks like its been sold.

Interestingly, that is 3 over ?25K +2's Matty has sold in the last year. One of which I saw and rejected.

It suggests that top quality cars sell, the lesser one's are difficult.
Presumably because of the time and expense required to raise them up to standard.

(And I know all about time and expense!)

Yes, sounds like it....and perhaps since they seem to have a good reputation, they may also be getting an added premium.

What I find interesting is why there are not more 'private' sellers of these cars. I have been tracking over 40 +2 cars over recent months and 80% of them are 'trade' sellers. Where are the trade sellers getting their cars?! ....its not from auctions, as I am tracking these as well.

Probably from private sellers , unable to sell privately for a good price ??

John

Only Paul Matty seems to be pulling that trick off at the moment, market seems Flat...... Take this car for example https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-ELAN-2 ... SwjVVVwKqw i saw that when it sold through H&H first hand https://online.handh.co.uk/m/lot-detail ... id%2F37%2F it was a nice older restoration that needed about ?500 spending on it to make it 'Very nice'....... I believe the garage that bought it did that work and stuck a ?20k price tag on it (which may well be justified knowing how nice it is) but it's sat in their show room for two and a bit years now with no bites.....

?17999 now .
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C820956

What a shame it is white Peter.

That is a realistic price for it in my opinion, be interested to see if it sells.

If he paid ?13,000 at Auction, with auction fees, that will be over ?14,500....plus your ?500 tidy up = ?15,000.

Now selling at ?18,000 and will probably sell at ?17,000......Profit ?2,000. I don't know anything about classic car trading, but it does not sound like a great margin.

Add the two years he's had that in stock....... 20% is a standard mark up but i don't think he would have wanted that money tied up for that long as a trader.

Mad thing is even at ?17k i bet it's a struggle to sell due to it's model not being the most desirable......

What about it's model makes it less desirable? +2S with 4 speed box is a good thing, no?

For one reason or another the car didn't attract me when I was looking 18 months ago, so I didn't even bother to view it. Not sure exactly why, it just didn't feel right.

Rich

Rich135 wrote:What about it's model makes it less desirable? +2S with 4 speed box is a good thing, no?
Rich

From my POV
It was not a 130/5 or an early +2.
Offered by a dealer that was not a Lotus specialist. Not a cheap as private but with no knowledge backup.
It was white. (With a silver roof it should not have had.)

Nice, but with no real attractive features to single it out.

vincereynard wrote:

Rich135 wrote:What about it's model makes it less desirable? +2S with 4 speed box is a good thing, no?
Rich

From my POV
It was not a 130/5 or an early +2.
Offered by a dealer that was not a Lotus specialist. Not a cheap as private but with no knowledge backup.
It was white. (With a silver roof it should not have had.)

Nice, but with no real attractive features to single it out.

Thanks for your reply Vince. I guess it just shows different points of view as I sought out a 130/4 rather rather than a 130/5 and didn't want an early +2, but I completely agree with you that it being offered by a non-Lotus specialist was one of the main reasons I didn't bother to view it.

Rich

Right now the only cars making top money are the ultra original very early or very late cars (as Vince said), Paul Matty has a car right now that could well be a record breaker if the right buyer comes along as it's the most desirable spec with next to no miles and the history to back it up...... https://paulmattysportscars.co.uk/lotus ... -s-1305-2/ (thats the car that most are bench marking as 'desirable')


Many will tell you otherwise but originality is key....... there are some very nice cars like the white one above that simply won't sell because some one has put their own personal taste to it.... Thats just how flat the +2 market is right now.

Personally i didn't buy a 5 speed because i preferred the Black seats, three fuse box version and planned fitting a voigts kit that could be reversible.... each to their own.