The vendor of as we speak’s Good Value or No Cube Lotus says, “As I accumulate components and work on this Elan, it’ll go up in value,” however on the identical time has simply lowered the value by $3,500. Let’s see if the automotive is much less incongruous than the advert.
Precipitous depreciation is a function constructed into virtually all up to date BMWs. As such, the rule of thumb for getting a cut price is to buy flippantly used vehicles nonetheless underneath guarantee. Working example: the 2023 BMW M8 Gran Coupe Competitors we checked out final Friday was solely a 12 months outdated, had achieved simply 7,500 miles, and, at $114,995, requested about two-thirds the value of what one would price new. And it had a slew of aftermarket goodies to sweeten the deal. Sadly for the M8’s vendor, few of you admitted to having a candy tooth as that price ticket fell in a 65 % No Cube loss.
When Colin Chapman died of a coronary heart assault on the far-too-young age of 54, he left behind a legacy of automotive innovation and motor racing successes. One in all Chapman’s most enduring concepts was the follow of bettering efficiency by “including lightness.”
As we speak’s 1967 Lotus Elan SE is proof of that. It weighs slightly below 1,500 kilos and gives efficiency that bests lots of its extra highly effective contemporaries.
Effectively, this one would achieve this if it ran. I imply, it might if put in the proper palms.
In line with the advert, this Elan wants just about every part to be able to be reintroduced to well mannered society. It’s evident from the photographs that the automotive would require paint, upholstery, and, at a naked minimal, an entire mechanical going-over. On the plus facet, virtually every part is there, and the vendor claims the engine turns, so maybe, if compression is first rate, it received’t want a teardown instantly.
A enjoyable occasion reality in regards to the 1600 cc Lotus 4 is that it has three camshafts. Chapaman based mostly the engine on Ford’s sturdy Kent 4 block, including Lotus’s personal twin-cam cross-flow head and a brand new entrance case for the timing chains. These two cams work along side the unique Ford cam within the block, which was nonetheless wanted to drive the distributor and oil pump.
When new, this Elan’s engine made round 95 horsepower and will rocket the automotive to sixty in underneath 10 seconds. The place the Elan shines, although, is in dealing with, and the mannequin is usually touted as one in all historical past’s greatest on the subject of being mild on its toes. These are so revered, in actual fact, that Mazda used the Elan as a benchmark when growing the unique Miata.
Different mechanical parts within the Elan embody a Ford-sourced four-speed handbook gearbox and rear pumpkin cleverly transformed from dwell axle to impartial rear suspension that includes Chapman struts at every finish. That every one appears to be extant on this automotive, as does the spine body that the Elan’s fiberglass tub physique sits over in saddlebag style.
It’s considerably of a priority, then, that the vendor notes within the advert that they’ve already procured a alternative body from England that they may embody within the deal for an additional $5K. The advert does declare that the unique body may very well be used within the automotive’s restoration, but when it’s intact and serviceable, why purchase a brand new one? The vendor additionally threatens within the advert that they may proceed to noodle with the automotive, and the value will enhance the extra they do. Yeah, positive, they may.
That value is $16,950, a latest drop after getting no bites at $19K. We’ll now must determine if that’s a extra applicable value for the automotive in its present situation. What do you say, is that this undertaking Elan value $16,950 because it sits? Or, at even that decreased asking, is the bloom nonetheless off the rose?
You determine!
Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
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