The Lotus Grand Tourers

Hi

Looking for a late 80s SE in good condition with a reasonably low mileage.
Ideal car would be Calypso red with the light coloured interior but not essential more interested in the overall condition.
Healthy budget available for the right car.
Hope someone can help.

Car and Classic have one for 20K

Might be able to negotiate as the dealer has several in stock

The red one is sold which is unfortunate as it looked half decent. I looked at the other two yesterday and both are quite high mileage with the black car covered in micro blisters which you can’t see in the pictures and the blue/grey car is 114k mileage and a little too fatty on the interior when viewed up close.

I would suggest not getting too fixated on low mileage as these cars need to be used regularly - and they are now all over 30 years old.

For regular use, this is where the MOT checker comes in - use it to see that it hasn't been sitting around for the past few years. Also important is who has been maintaining it, as some mechanics have a great reputation.

Good luck with your search.

I would echo that, garage queens equals king size bills. If its been properly gone through you may be lucky but one that's used regularly is a better bet.

Bash

One thing I've learned that seems universal is that at 25-30 years old, all cars need a significant level of restoration regardless of mileage and climate because all of the "organic" components break down with time. Bushings begin to squeak. Seals, gaskets and weatherstrip begin to leak. Sure, things like engine bearings will have very little wear, but everything made from plastic, rubber or vinyl will need to be renewed if you want to really use the car.

My Excel is a garage queen with ~22,000km. I haven't had it long. I got 30 years of receipts with it showing it was being looked after but big lapses in between flurries of work indicate a pattern of storage, recommissioning, enjoy it for a little while, then back in storage, over and over again. Today, everything except the air conditioning works (leaks of course), and it looks like you'd expect of a 2-3 year old car, but the one really annoying thing is it leaks oil and power steering fluid profusely (I did have to fix a couple of coolant leaks when I got it too). I had bought an engine gasket set and was going to pull the motor this winter and reseal everything, but more urgently I blew the transmission in one of my Jaguars, spent several months of weekends rebuilding that, and then being an old geezer I pinched a nerve in my neck and haven't felt like doing much of anything since Xmas. Guess I'll wipe the garage floor for another car show season and hopefully do it next winter.

The plus side of buying a very low mileage car is the cosmetics will be in better condition and it likely won't have as much corrosion underneath (mileage may have been limited to summer months). Paint and upholstery are expensive and are often beyond the capability of the backyard mechanic. A lot of the weatherstrip and trim is also made of the rare earth element "unobtainium" so its also better if your car doesn't need any of those items replaced. The downside of buying a low mileage car right out of storage is that unless a previous owner has already done it, shortly after you start driving it, the car is going to leak and squeak from everywhere until you renew the aging seals, gaskets, bushings and weatherstrip. You may be more able to do those yourself, and generally those gaskets, seals and bushings are easier to source than trim and weatherstrip.

Either way, I expect with a Lotus Excel, you're going to wind up spending way more than its worth to have it both cosmetically and mechanically excellent so maybe better advice is to say to yourself that mileage is just a number at this point. Inspect the candidate car for what it needs done to it in order to make you happy. Maybe you can tolerate a few leaks and squeaks on your way to the once-a-month car show until you can get around to a winter project. Or maybe you just want to drive without worrying about checking all the fluid levels every single morning and aren't as concerned with what it looks like. Evaluate purely based on what the car has recently had done to it, or needs done to it and don't worry about number in the instrument cluster. At the other end of the scale, I've seen some of the most excellent Supras with 300K+. Pay for a pre-purchase inspection if you are uncomfortable doing such a critical evaluation yourself. I wish I could remember who it was on the Jaguar forum to give credit, but I memorized a great quote "The best money I ever spent on a car was the money I spent on the one I did not buy."

I also agree, if fact what attracted me to my Elite was that it had accumulated 150,000 miles over its 43 years when I bought it in 2022. Particularly that although it had got to around 100,000 when it had its ungalvanized chassis changed to a galvanized one and its engine fully rebuilt etc in the very early nineties, it has been in lighter but regular use ever since, hence no 'recommissioning'. I've just continued that approach of maintenance, repair / replace when needed and use it, seams to work so far....

Andy

£12500 on FB

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1553855 ... 7531563411

When you buy a 35-40 year old car it does not matter much whether it is an 85 or a 90.
The original 85 Excel has all the qualities of an upgraded Elite without the additions of polished wood, run-on aspirator motors or air conditioning.
A good Excel is one which is being used daily and has a caring owner.

Buy one from an old fogie.

Dave the cog