Value of an Elan

[turbophil]

I've got a lead on a running Elan (not M100). I know very little about them other than they are simply cool

That said, this car is supposed to have a decent body, decent paint, runs good, drives good. I have not seen it, but I know it's a decent enough running vehicle to drive to work and look decent along the trip. Apparently the main problem lies within the non-functioning headlights (broken servo motors???) ... With that vague desription, what's it worth??

I won't have to buy the car site unseen, but I need a rough estimate for what the thing -may- be worth ahead of time. It's guaranteed not to be a show stopper--more of a daily driver type of condition. 5, 10, 15, 20 grand?

Thanks!!!

Phil

[glb]

Originally Posted by turbophil

I've got a lead on a running Elan (not M100). I know very little about them other than they are simply cool

That said, this car is supposed to have a decent body, decent paint, runs good, drives good. I have not seen it, but I know it's a decent enough running vehicle to drive to work and look decent along the trip. Apparently the main problem lies within the non-functioning headlights (broken servo motors???) ... With that vague desription, what's it worth??

I won't have to buy the car site unseen, but I need a rough estimate for what the thing -may- be worth ahead of time. It's guaranteed not to be a show stopper--more of a daily driver type of condition. 5, 10, 15, 20 grand?

Thanks!!!

Phil

Tim Mullen on ET knows a lot about Elans.

The headlights are run by vacuum, not servos. Therein may lie a problem:

The vacuum reservoir is the front X-member of the chassis. On both sides are the chassis' suspension uprights. If the car has been poorly maintained, those uprights can rust and go away, cracking the reservoir. This cannot be fixed or welded; it requires a new (Spyder or Lotus) chassis.

If it needs a chassis, it's not worth a lot.

The upright problem: The square/rectangular tubing that forms them is open on the top. At bottom there is a "half-moon" opening for drainage. If these openings aren't kept clean (and, IMO, oiled to prevent rust), oxidation attacks.

There are quite a few posts on early Elans here. Some cars are for sale. Do a search and see what $ is being asked, what maintenance people have done.

They are wonderful cars when right, but buying the wrong one due to proximity isn't going to pay off for you.

[tvacc]

I know Elans inside and out. They dont have servo motors. It is all done with vacuum from the engine.

Which is not a good sign. Could be something simple..more difficult( read expensive) or really difficult (VERY EXPENSIVE)

The front of the frame is the resovoir for the air. If the frame is rusted..that is expensive and terminal. Could be the switch in the dash. unobtainable last I checked or just a simple hose.

I have a Elan Sprint 71 for sale. Pictures are in the For Sale section. Not cheap...but a great car.

Be happy to help you determine what the other car is doing. You can easily drop 20K into a BAD Elan. And end up with a 20K Elan.

Prices are in the 19K-21K for a decent S3 -S4 driver with good paint and good frame. Good interior. 24K and up for the S1 early cars and 72 AND 73 Sprints.

Bad Elans are all over the place as they can cost plenty to fix.

[codymac]

Originally Posted by glb

This cannot be fixed or welded; it requires a new (Spyder or Lotus) chassis.

TTR as well.

Don't know a lot about Elans, but have been reading, and reading, and reading for the past year or so... before I pull the trigger.


Unibrain (on this forum) knows a fair amount as well - he restored one, including a chassis swap.


Me? I dream of a pre-airflow FHC.

[tesprit]

As the others have said the main concern is frame rust. The rest can be repaired, but chassis rust is terminal unless the car is cheap and you want to disassemble it for a restoration in which case you will easily spend as much on the restoration as you would on a good solid car.

[turbophil]

Wow- This is not sounding too promising. I'm a pretty handy mechanic. Are there particular places to poke at with my pocket knife to determine if there's chassis rust or will it be pretty obvious?

Also, what makes the frame not repairable?

Best,

Phil

[mopho]

Originally Posted by turbophil

Wow- This is not sounding too promising. I'm a pretty handy mechanic. Are there particular places to poke at with my pocket knife to determine if there's chassis rust or will it be pretty obvious?

Also, what makes the frame not repairable?

Best,

Phil

Don't panic, the headlight issue could be something simple, like the vacuum tube came off the motor, chassis, or even the back of the switch on the dashboard. It could also be that the "footballs" (rubber bladders that compress down from vacuum which in turn pull the headlights up) are torn or worn out (unfortunately, these are not super cheap, but not as bad as chassis replacement), or even the connection rods to these footballs came off.

Chassis can be repairable, but if the cross member that doubles as the vacuum chamber is not able to hold vacuum, it is a good sign that the chassis is too forgone, since it will rust from the inside out

[mopho]

To answer your question, as rough guess, assuming the chassis is OK, I'd say $12k maybe.

But in truth, as a far as I am concerned, there is only two kinds of Elans to buy: Either a complete fixer upper that you will do a ground up restoration, or one that is perfect, or near perfect, that you can go out and enjoy. Anything in between, you will be pissing in the wind

[tvacc]

Originally Posted by mopho

To answer your question, as rough guess, assuming the chassis is OK, I'd say $12k maybe.

But in truth, as a far as I am concerned, there is only two kinds of Elans to buy: Either a complete fixer upper that you will do a ground up restoration, or one that is perfect, or near perfect, that you can go out and enjoy. Anything in between, you will be pissing in the wind

I think you are a little light on even a fixer upper. It would totally depend on condition and I have not seen many Elans under 14K in a while.

Most all cars have been restored. I remember when we used to go to LOG and there were always a few unrestored...rough cars. Not anymore.


But I agree with what you say...it is pay for now...or pay later

[mopho]

Originally Posted by tvacc

I think you are a little light on even a fixer upper. It would totally depend on condition and I have not seen many Elans under 14K in a while.

Most all cars have been restored. I remember when we used to go to LOG and there were always a few unrestored...rough cars. Not anymore.


But I agree with what you say...it is pay for now...or pay later

Perhaps you are right ( I hope), the last runner I saw for sale was at $12k, so that is where I came up with the number. I've also seen a restoration project go for $12k too, so who knows?
This discussion just came up on lotuselan.net and it seemed there was not much of a consensus, the numbers were all over the place. I guess it is only worth as much as the buyer is willing to pay

I know when I had a momentary lapse of reason two and half years ago and put my restored Elan up for sale, I did not get much interest at $19k, though admittedly, I did not try to sell it all that aggressively.
At least I finally came to my senses and decided to keep it and spend another $12k modifying it instead.


OK, so perhaps I did not come to my senses

[FunElan]

Our Elan is not restored. It is almost exactly what Turbophil describes. It runs perfectly, everything works, and the paint is fine. The thing that really distinguishes the body from being perfect are the stress cracks. The car still has some quirks, but they're all known quirks since the car has been in our family for 20+ years, or we've created them. Also people say working on this car is hard, and, in most ways it is, but to me that's half the fun. Just my opinion.

-Matt

[tmr]

Buy one that has been properly restored if you can afford it. Tony is right in that there are lots of bad ones out there. Mine was a basket case to start with, but there were plenty of 'drivers' out there that were no better but cost the same to restore because they were running. Mine sold for top money, but my labor was worth about $.04/hour.

[tvacc]

I would love to keep mine. But as my son and partner has to now be on equal footing with me, the next "toy" car is his. And he wants an Elise. I dont want to keep the Elan enough though to give him the Elise and me keep the Elan. I enjoy driving the Elise too much. Now if it was a Seven...I would not sell it. Made that mistake once.

Edit..
The Elans have finally started to appreciate in the past two years. I think it is because that there are not too many that come up for sale. Especially like mine. I just found out that my car has the long rumored but never addmitted to "E" cams. According to Miles Wilkins book, the factory never admitted that they put the cams from the Jensen engine in the Elan. According to the guy i bought it back from, his mechanic says my car has the E cams. First one I have ever seen. I have not seen it for myself. Never noticed it in the dozens of times I have had the valve cover off this car.

I truly think that good Elans will be up around 30K in the next few years.

[turbophil]

This feeback has been great... I may have an opportunity to buy this car for sub 5K... I'm not sure... Time will tell. I appreciate the value and buying tips. Feel free to keep the information flow coming

It's not really something I was looking for... It just presented itself. I had been jonesing for Triumph TR 3-6 or Austin Healey to be honest... That said, an exceptional buy on an Elan would work well too... I just want to be certain (or as certain as one can be when horse trading cars) that and exceptional buy doesn't turn into a nightmare

Best,

Phil

[tvacc]

Originally Posted by turbophil

This feeback has been great... I may have an opportunity to buy this car for sub 5K... I'm not sure... Time will tell. I appreciate the value and buying tips. Feel free to keep the information flow coming

l

It is either very bad...or it is a plus 2. In the faint chance it is not either of those...buy it sight unseen. No way you can lose money...but you may spend a lot.

The awful truth is that in all likihood you still will spend more than the car is worth on parts, your labor will be all free..and you will spend 5 years restoring it. IN the end it probably would have been better just to buy a good one. But to quote Sam Spade in the Maltese Falcon..."It is what dreams are made of".

I have just got to the point in my life...now I am 55...that I would rather spend the time driving and not working and wishing on a car.

If I cannot afford a good one...I just pass them by now.

[MikeRoberts44]

Phil,

Where were you when I was trying to sell mine 2 1/2 years ago? Actually, tvacc and the others have covered most of the bases, but give me a call Tuesday and we'll chat. I had mine 25 years. I might even go see it with you.

[khamai]

Phil,

As said there a lot of folks on ETalk that know the Elan quite well.

Hard parts - engine, drivetrain, brakes, etc are not difficult to get.

Some resources for Elan info...
www.gglotus.org (go to the Elan section under "Tech" and parts interchange section)
http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/index.php

On the GGLC site there are articles about the headlamps, buyer's guide, etc.

Cheers,
Kiyoshi
'65 Elan S1.5 & '66 Elan S2

[turbophil]

So here's the deal. The so-called lead I had was a guy that ended up getting transferred out of the country for several years on business. My friend has been storing the car. The guy is beginning to cut ties with the states...

Long story short, I never asked if the car was hard top... well it is So it's a 1973 +2, which I know even less about than the normal Elan. From what I gather, they're a very uncollectable stretched version of the Elan with a hard top and back seats... Worth $1000-5000 in running condition...Does that seem about right?

Thanks again for the help!

Phil

[darkSol]

Here's what that particular model looks like if you're interested...


(more at http://www.oldcar.co.za/class/1973_L...an+2/index.htm)

[codymac]

A +2 can be a nice car though:
http://elisetalk.com/forums/showpost...6&postcount=15