Amazing looking Elite

[KevW]

This car is nothing to do with me but I just thought I'd bring to the attention of the forum. It looks great - especially the interior.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3113505.htm

[johnthebass]

Very nice job! But it's too cheap!!!! I guess that with all the work done the owner must be selling at a loss! Just a worry I see from the description the chassis has been powder-coated not galvanised. I'd be worried as to how long it might be before it starts rusting! I presume that at that age it was before galvanised chassis were standard.
John.

[AndyC]

Selling at a loss? I think we all know that if you do a full restoration on a Lotus and do all the general work yourself the car will be worth less than you paid for the parts, materials & car. Even if you were to do the specialised bits (paint, trimming, engine rebuild) yourself you still are likely to end up with a fantastic car that you could not sell and not make a loss on. That still doesn't mean it is a bad idea to do one up, it just means it absorbs money, but then so do most hobbies.
At least the chassis is powder coated not hot-dipped by somebody who risks warping it, although it could warp under the baking of the powder coating process. The person could have just pained it, but powder coating is much better and would probably mean that the chassis would now outlive most of us that could purchase and drive it now, or at least last longer than we would care to drive a Lotus.

[johnthebass]

I appreciate your comments Andy. Firstly in saying that the Elite is too cheap I would have thorght that with the relative rareity of the model it ought to be worth a lot more especially with the condition it's in. It almost looks concourse! Secondly my own experiences of powder coating within the electronics industry where screws and bolts go through a chassis vibration can cause movement of the fixings and eventually leads to rust round the fixing areas. I suppose that the thickness of the coating may be an important factor in aiding longevity. Finally I'm sure that we all don't grumble about the expense of maintenance of our cars because we love them and yes it may be true in a lot of cases that when it comes to a sale we will make a loss at the time of sale. Seems to me though that suggestions in various mags would say that current values are likely to increase.
John.

[AndyC]

I hope the mags are right and prices will increase, they seem to have taken a hit since the credit crunch/ recession started. I'd guess that a car valued at 35k has lost at least 20% of that even if in exactly the same condition as it was 4 years ago. It will take quite some time for values to increase back to pre-recession figures and will be driven by the availability of disposable income & comfort of job security.

I agree the Elite feels like a car that should be worth so much more than good examples are currently reaching, but a fair few those with the funds available are possibly looking at what else is out there and realising they can purchase a better known car (how many non-enthusiast of Lotus actually know what the Elite is?) for the same or very little more money.

My thoughts on the powder coating are, yes I agree it's not as good as galvanisation and can easily rust around the fixings/ any place where something wears against it, but it's got to be a pretty good second place for corrosion resistance and doesn't entail the chassis being heated to several hundred degrees quickly by immersion in liquid metal. It does seem a pity that the owner didn't just replace it with a galvanised unit.


That car really does look like a great potential purchase, ideal for somebody who wants a Lotus and doesn't want to spend every weekend sorting out niggles but is happy to spend each weekend washing and waxing the paint having had a few more miles on the clock since the last weekend.