Why is the Lotus Esprit not appreciating in value??

[TP321]

All other classic cars are increasing in value except the Esprit - why?

[jjones]

because it (rightly or wrongly) has a reputation of being a money pit with few redeeming features?

[Steve7777]

Because bubbles aren't rational.

[jonah35]

Not that quick, apoplectic running costs. Same reason tvrs and Maserati 3200s aren't rising but Porsches and old m3s are.

[J4CKO]

Same reason as Porsche 944's aren't really, because they aren't 911's

[Tuvra]

That interior..... Probably

[Batfink]

because most are broken down?

[F1GTRUeno]

Because the only people that buy Lotuses are already Lotus owners?

[Welshbeef]

Is it iconic?
Is it great to look at?
Any specific racing pedigree?
Lotus have just gone into administration and closed down F1 operations
Same era 993 Turbo S totally destroys it
It is really known outside of the UK?
Is it that great a car?
Does it sound good?
Anything game changing on it?
Would a 308 GTB be a better buy ? or a TVR Cerb v8?

Or is it simply pot luck. Actually if you like them and you believe they are good value buy one and enjoy it for what it is - I've not once seen one in the flesh so only photos to guide.

[CountZero23]

They are appreciating, flat purchase scuppered my plans of getting one last year.

GT3's were about 13/14k then, same sort of price for S4's. You could get a decent face lift V8 for 18k.

Now you can add 3/5k to all of those models.

Go back 5 years and they were bottoming out, been on the rise ever since.

Lot's of people can afford to buy them, not so many can afford to run them so there are less and less good ones about.

Next year it will be a toss up between getting a GT3/S4 and my bank manager hating me or being mental and going for a Noble M12 and being headed to bankruptcy. The M12 is seriously undervalued at the moment, at least that's what I'll tell myself if I manage to talk myself into it...

[DonkeyApple]

Fundamentally, two core reasons:

The buyers pushing prices up in the UK are the Boomers. This isn't really a Boomer car.

Secondly, no international demand.

A third, lesser reason is that a specialist hasn't decided to push prices up, which tends to be the trigger for a forgotten classic suddenly playing catch up.

I guess another reason is zero race pedigree.

The money pit arguement is really a function of current value and the type of current owner. Majority of stock has been kept barely going on tight budgets.

[otolith]

Not much race pedigree, but not zero.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Esprit_GT1

[TP321]

Race pedigree = F1 constructors winners many times in the 70s
Looks = great looking car! very low and wedge shaped
Iconic = James Bond car

Not so good: engine not being a V8, hence lack of sound, plastic body.

Overall it's a stunning looking car, and for £11 - 15k for an eighties icon I don't think you can get better.....

[rich888]

TP321 said:

Race pedigree = F1 constructors winners many times in the 70s
Looks = great looking car! very low and wedge shaped
Iconic = James Bond car

Not so good: engine not being a V8, hence lack of sound, plastic body.

Overall it's a stunning looking car, and for £11 - 15k for an eighties icon I don't think you can get better.....

+1

Engine not being a V8 is not strictly true because they did indeed release a V8 Esprit in the later years.

I remember watching the James Bond 007 film in 1977 and then first saw the Esprit in the flesh a few months later when one of the neighbours bought one and it was sensational compared to what everyone else was driving around in - aka Maxi, Allegro, Capri, Princess, etc.

Shortly after the Esprit was unveiled onto UK roads one of my proddie racer friends chased one of these round the Redhill roundabout in Nottingham, and can vouch for the fact that they have astonishingly high levels of roadholding, and far in excess of the Ferrari 308 GTB and Porsche 911 could achieve in the mid 1970s which were its direct rivals.

As for the interior, I always thought it was space age compared to what was available in the 1970s.

The only car that eclipses it in the 1970s in my opinion is the far more complex, far more practical, and far more powerful Porsche 928, though prices of these classic models are no longer cheap as highly sought after models are now increasing at a far more rapid rate.

Am a little bit biased because I own a Porsche 928 S4, but really do think the Esprit evolved over the 1970s and 1980s into a very accomplished sports car which should not be dismissed.

Why the heck Leyland Minis and Ford Escorts command such a high premiums nowadays compared to the Esprit which was light years ahead is beyond me!

[MJK 24]

CountZero23 said:

They are appreciating, flat purchase scuppered my plans of getting one last year.

GT3's were about 13/14k then, same sort of price for S4's. You could get a decent face lift V8 for 18k.

Now you can add 3/5k to all of those models.

Go back 5 years and they were bottoming out, been on the rise ever since.

Lot's of people can afford to buy them, not so many can afford to run them so there are less and less good ones about.

Next year it will be a toss up between getting a GT3/S4 and my bank manager hating me or being mental and going for a Noble M12 and being headed to bankruptcy. The M12 is seriously undervalued at the moment, at least that's what I'll tell myself if I manage to talk myself into it...

As this man says, they are appreciating so I'm a but unsure as to why people are saying they aren't.

To add to the above, perhaps fives years ago, you could get a V8 GT for £15/16k. They're now around £20k. A girl I knew paid £22k for a Sport 350 in 2007ish. That would now be a £30k + car.

[FeelingLucky]

Welshbeef said:

Lotus have just gone into administration and closed down F1 operations

Do you do any fact checking before posting this st?
Of for a drive in my imaginary 944, toodles.

[anonymous-user]

TP321 said:

All other classic cars are increasing in value except the Esprit - why?

They are appreciating. I've had my eye on early Turbos for a few years now.

[budfox]

I'd buy one if I had the money and could afford to run it. I think they look superb, and the James Bond pedigree is something that I'm very keen on.

[GravelBen]

TP321 said:

Race pedigree = F1 constructors winners many times in the 70s
Looks = great looking car! very low and wedge shaped
Iconic = James Bond car

Race pedigree - did they ever race the Esprit? Racing something else with a Lotus badge isn't really the same.
Looks - personal taste, I think its very dated and fairly ugly.
Iconic - again personal taste, yes it was a Bond car but so was the Z3!

[fatjon]

jonah35 said:

Not that quick, apoplectic running costs. Same reason tvrs and Maserati 3200s aren't rising but Porsches and old m3s are.

TVR Cerbera is worth more than I paid for it in 2007 despite its apoplectic running costs. I think the Esprit problem is that it's pig ugly, badly made (even compared with a TVR), not very quick and has a vile, worst of the 1970's interior. It really has no redeeming features.