Investment cars

[Pat H]

jackpe said:

Lotus Esprits are totally undervalued due to a largely undeserved reputation as being troublesome.

Rust will not be an issue which is quite refreshing, they look absolutely awesome as 70s wedge designs, offer the brilliant Lotus ride/handling and you can still get a decent one for between £20-30K. that a quarter of the price of a 308 or a porsche 911 turbo from the same era.

Well, I agree that early Esprits are undervalued.

But if you like V8s, then the Lotus will leave you underwhelmed.

That turbocharged 4 pot is a frustrating motor. Whilst it certainly delivers the performance, it is a nasty thing to use.

There's lots of lag and you need to keep stirring the gearbox, which itself is a pretty unpleasant pastime.

And then there's the noise it makes. The snorty intake is all very well, but the exhaust is gruff and bland, with that wastegate farting along like a bog being flushed.

A decent Giugiaro Esprit certainly looks dramatic, and they grab people's attention like nothing else on the road. I've never experienced so much positive enthusiasm as when driving my Esprit.

And a decent one is not necessarily unreliable. Apart from an appetite for headlight motor linkages, mine has been pretty faultless, including a 1600 mile round trip to Le Mans.

But I don't find it much fun to drive. If you are really in the mood and grab it by the scruff of the neck, then the steering comes alive, the ride becomes fluid and the handling is impressive.

But if you just want to potter about, then it is heavy, obstructive and frustrating.

My own view of Esprits is that they are magnificent and bloody awful in equal measure.

If the OP wants an appreciating car which is lovely to drive and sounds magnificent, then I would add an Alfa GTV V6 to the list. That V6 sounds better than any V8, they feel pretty special and they have enough power to be interesting.

I would have liked to be able to nominate an Alfa Montreal, but the boat has well and truly sailed for them.

[POORCARDEALER]

Pat H said:

jackpe said:

Lotus Esprits are totally undervalued due to a largely undeserved reputation as being troublesome.

Rust will not be an issue which is quite refreshing, they look absolutely awesome as 70s wedge designs, offer the brilliant Lotus ride/handling and you can still get a decent one for between £20-30K. that a quarter of the price of a 308 or a porsche 911 turbo from the same era.

Well, I agree that early Esprits are undervalued.

But if you like V8s, then the Lotus will leave you underwhelmed.

That turbocharged 4 pot is a frustrating motor. Whilst it certainly delivers the performance, it is a nasty thing to use.

There's lots of lag and you need to keep stirring the gearbox, which itself is a pretty unpleasant pastime.

And then there's the noise it makes. The snorty intake is all very well, but the exhaust is gruff and bland, with that wastegate farting along like a bog being flushed.

A decent Giugiaro Esprit certainly looks dramatic, and they grab people's attention like nothing else on the road. I've never experienced so much positive enthusiasm as when driving my Esprit.

And a decent one is not necessarily unreliable. Apart from an appetite for headlight motor linkages, mine has been pretty faultless, including a 1600 mile round trip to Le Mans.

But I don't find it much fun to drive. If you are really in the mood and grab it by the scruff of the neck, then the steering comes alive, the ride becomes fluid and the handling is impressive.

But if you just want to potter about, then it is heavy, obstructive and frustrating.

My own view of Esprits is that they are magnificent and bloody awful in equal measure.

If the OP wants an appreciating car which is lovely to drive and sounds magnificent, then I would add an Alfa GTV V6 to the list. That V6 sounds better than any V8, they feel pretty special and they have enough power to be interesting.

I would have liked to be able to nominate an Alfa Montreal, but the boat has well and truly sailed for them.

GT3 is one of best cars I have ever owned....loved the "wringing its neck" nature of power delivery to get it to go

[yosini]

I'm lucky enough to currently own a 4.2 AJP Cerbera and a mk1 Interceptor - and to be honest they are both absolutely amazing cars. The Cerbera is furiously fast, and I mean furious - if you drive it in anger you better have your wits about you as it will bite you hard. On the other side though if you drive it sedately it can be gentle and easy and a dream to take shopping to Tescos. It even has 4 seats - we took mine to Normandy and back within 36 hours carrying 4 adults and loads of camera equipment and it was tremendous. The early snarly bark of the 4.2 beats the 4.5 in my opinion. However, be wary of early 4.2 cranks as they can snap. I know this from experience.....at least it went whilst on a track and no other damage done....

The interceptor I used to commute in - and yes that is expensive, but driving it anywhere would just calm you even in crazy London traffic, everything is so effortless and easy - priceless when you are commuting. But when you put your foot down on a motorway it just breezes along and all you need to worry about is accidentally drifting up to 100mph without realising it. Also amazingly reliable - it just needs petrol and water in the radiator an it will run through anything. I have no worries at all of not moving it for 2 months then jumping in it and driving 200 miles.

Love them both - if you get a good one of either you certainly won't be disappointed. and you can do this in them both:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyxwQSa51zo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmh2DV01ejU

If you fancy something cheaper and solid, with potential for rise then go for an early P6 Series 1 (prettier) with the V8 and manual box. Easy to drive and super cheap to maintain, bit heavy on the steering but nimble to cruise around in and turns a lot of heads - mainly for people to say "my dad had one of them...."

Cheers

Joe

[Lowtimer]

I thought all the series 1 P6B were slushmatic?

[V8 Fettler]

For investment, originality and provenance are everything.

If the new TVR is a success then the value of later TVRs will rise, probably.

[jamiebae]

Lowtimer said:

I thought all the series 1 P6B were slushmatic?

There was an 'S' model with a 4 speed manual, and a lot of cars have been converted to the 5 speed SD1 box too.

[fausTVR]

With the TVR Griff the boat has largely sailed (many at £30+k now), however the Chimaera 500 (~600 made) is rarer and as such has more investment potential at this stage I would say, with good ones starting below £20k still. As has been said, the new TVR models when they hit the streets will probably have an upward effect on values also.

As the OP doubtless knows, both models are an easy DIY proposition.

[Huntsman]

jamiebae said:

Lowtimer said:

I thought all the series 1 P6B were slushmatic?

There was an 'S' model with a 4 speed manual, and a lot of cars have been converted to the 5 speed SD1 box too.

All S1 P6B were slushbox.

Series 2 P6B 3500S has a spanish box. 3500 was slushbox.

[Lowtimer]

Yes, as I thought, all the V8 models with the lovely chrome grille were automatic, all the manual V8 cars were facelift with the plastic grille

[mfp4073]

I f.... I had a fair wad of cash to spend, then a Jensen Interceptor would be perfect for me! But, it would have to have been fully restored, so no rust or nasty surprises.
I have wanted one of these since the 70's, back in the day they just looked and sounded fantastic, especially when you are only about 10 yrs old.
I remember thinking how dull my Raliegh bike seemed after seeing an Interceptor woofle and rumble down the road.
Anyway for the past 9 1/2 years I have owned a Monaro, it was totally stock when I bought it, but it has been upgraded over the years.
If you fancy one then get it soon, as the years go by they are starting to get a bit thin on the ground, and they had very poor protection against rust. I will probably just keep mine now as I have spent too much on it.
So, one is a cruiser and the other a bruiser.
I still fancy an Interceptor mind

Edited by mfp4073 on Monday 17th April 12:26

[Huntsman]

Lowtimer said:

Yes, as I thought, all the V8 models with the lovely chrome grille were automatic, all the manual V8 cars were facelift with the plastic grille

Wasn't a chrome grill, it was anodised aluminium

[Lowtimer]

Really? Well, you'd know. Lovely thing to behold anyway. I'm surprised though, they always look too shiny to be anodised

[swisstoni]

Old Lotus and TVR seem underpriced when you look at what they are. Probably down to ignorance and old wives tales.

[fausTVR]

swisstoni said:

Old Lotus and TVR seem underpriced when you look at what they are. Probably down to ignorance and old wives tales.

Yes, Clarkson falling out with Peter Wheeler subsequently had a lot of fallout for TVR's reputation IMO.

[Sebring440]

OverSteery said:

I am not a Jensen expert, by any means, but are you sure about it being simple to maintain? Structural rust is not easy to sort on these.

I suspect as a hand built, low production, luxury car from the 70s they are not simple to maintain.

Not a Jensen expert (had anything to do with them at all?) but you make sweeping statements about them.

Structural rust is very easy to sort, all the panels and repair panels are available. If you can weld and do bodwork then it's easy. If not you have to pay someone else to do it. Is that not the same with most cars?

You "suspect" they are not simple to maintain? All very standard, straightforward stuff, bulletproof American mechanics and Lucas electrics. Everyone complains about Lucas electrics but it's all perfectly good, when new. Now it's old, and you may have to replace wiring, connectors, etc. But again, when thing wear out, you replace them. I think the Jensen Interceptor must be one of the easiest classic cars to maintain.

[swisstoni]

I've bought one of these. Factory 'breathed on' with various performance bits, and pretty rare. I feel it's got a fair chance of retaining its value. I very much doubt that it's an investment - very, very few cars actually are.
Anyway, the point is that they are very nice cars to drive and tick most of the OPs boxes.

[ChrisDT]

SL55 F1 pack?

[swisstoni]

ChrisDT said:

SL55 F1 pack?

Yes that's right. Not my car pictured.