This would be the single dumbest thing I could possibly do with $20k, right?

Nope. I can think of several dumber things to waste money on.....that is a very sweet looking machine.
 
None more 80s, this one goes to eleven.

I wonder if it comes with a kilo of coke.
 
Monetary appreciation? I don't think that enters into it at all. I've watched the classified for years looking for the right Esprit. They've pretty much bottomed out and I suspect they'll always be right around that $15-20k mark for a decent example. I'm talking about the early Giugiaro Esprits — the body style in this ad, not the later Stevens design. What can I say? I'm a child of the 80s.

If we're talking about money the best thing I can say is that I might end up spending thousands on repairs, but I'll likely always get exactly what I paid for it when the time comes to sell it. This one is especially attractive because it's got 60k miles. Letting them sit and not driving these cars is the kiss of death. The guy drives it and appears to take good care of it, so that gives me as close to a warm & fuzzy feeling as is possible to get with these cars.

My mechanic used to run a Ferrari repair shop here in town and he's worked on these before. I'm going to have him give the owner a call tomorrow and ask all the important questions.

Meanwhile, I just got my loan approval. There's a lot of questions that remain to be answered, but the money is there if I want it.

I just got out of an eight year relationship with an old Porsche. Someone please save me from myself. :facepalm:
 
You're going from a Porsche to a Lotus? You ARE crazy. My '80 911 is the most rock steady stable car I have ever owned. Plus..Bought it for 10k.... Worth 15-18k now.
 
You only live once. Go for it. That looks like a fun car to carve up some canyon roads with, and I love the styling.
 
They weren't known for their reliability......and they really weren't that fast.........

so you're making the right decision.
 
Cool!

The problem is the purchase price might just be the tip of the $ iceberg... but man that would be fun to cruise around in.
 
TomcatMF said:
As far as the cons go, what exactly scared you away?
Click to expand...

I felt like my eyes were wide open: It's a 30 year old British sports car. A Lotus, fer chrissakes. My expectation is that I probably wouldn't make it to the end of the block without one of the mirrors falling off or maybe a turn signal relay erupting in smoke. That's to be expected.

What freaked me out is how it's possible to spend thousands on a four cylinder motor with a Renault gearbox. The prospect of "fixing" something multiple times. The possibility of the car being in the shop for weeks at a time.

I've had some oddball cars and I've loved them dearly. But maybe I got spoiled by the Porsche's reliability and build quality. And really, more than that, maybe I'm just reaching the age where I'm happy these cars exist and I'm still excited to see them, but I'm glad they're someone else's problem. The Miata is dead reliable and it's a hoot to drive. I'm good for a while.
 
dmn23 said:
I felt like my eyes were wide open: It's a 30 year old British sports car. A Lotus, fer chrissakes. My expectation is that I probably wouldn't make it to the end of the block without one of the mirrors falling off or maybe a turn signal relay erupting in smoke. That's to be expected.

What freaked me out is how it's possible to spend thousands on a four cylinder motor with a Renault gearbox. The prospect of "fixing" something multiple times. The possibility of the car being in the shop for weeks at a time.

I've had some oddball cars and I've loved them dearly. But maybe I got spoiled by the Porsche's reliability and build quality. And really, more than that, maybe I'm just reaching the age where I'm happy these cars exist and I'm still excited to see them, but I'm glad they're someone else's problem. The Miata is dead reliable and it's a hoot to drive. I'm good for a while.
Click to expand...

I hear you. My Corvette has been pretty reliable for me, except for an issue with one of the electronic modules, but there is one thing that worries me a bit is that the LS7 motor has a propensity to randomly drop a valve, thus destroying the motor which would cost around $15K-$20K to replace. Apparently the valve guides on some motors are out of spec. But unless you get them checked you won't know for sure. Many Z06 owners are taking preemptive action by replacing the heads, but that is a $3K job and not a sure fix either. No one knows if it is a QC issue with the heads or it is an inherent weakness in the design. But it seems the C6Z06 can be a ticking time bomb. I suppose it's the price to pay for supercar performance.
 
Yeah, I love the look of the espirit, but Lotus doesn't exactly come to mind when someone mentions reliability. I also have a feeling that 'handling by Lotus' from that era was great compared to the average 80's car, but probably about as good as a modern Camry. I figure acceleration is also probably pretty anemic by today's sports car standards. Still, the damn thing looks hot as hell, and they are pretty rare.

One thing that has always bothered me about lotus cars is that they never seem to really appreciate in value relative to other exotics of comparable age, despite their rarity. The other thing that bothers me is that despite being rare cars, you see them up for sale quite frequently, suggesting people buy them in lust but can't tolerate the idea of a long term relationship with the car.
 
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