Lambo Espada Discovered

[Stelvio1]

A friend who knows I am rather keen on classic cars informed me a couple of weeks ago that a friend of his had an Italian sportscar in his garage that had been stored for a good few years and he was keen to move it on - apparently it was owned by his father. Thought nothing about it but last weekend at a loose end I called him and we went to view said car - I was expecting an Alfa but wow it turned out to be an Espada mk1 complete with eared wheels

It is in rather a poor state and requires substantial work

Are parts available? and would it be worth restoring? - I am keen to put in an offer but it looks a rather moneypit project.

[037]

May I be the first to request any kind of photo!

[castex]

Do you have some money put aside? Do you have a clue what would be involved? I'm not up on current Espada values, but this is a quirky car. One that inspires passion in a select few. People like me.
I say buy it and hang the (expensive) consequences. Good luck.

[iva cosworth]

037 said:

May I be the first to request any kind of photo!

And the 2nd

[Stelvio1]

No photos at the moment, but the more I think the more I am considering making an offer - but what offer? I would hate to insult the vendor with a derisory one.

[iva cosworth]

Re value,not sure Espadas have "taken off" in value but if it's in a poor condition

then it's very doubtful you will get your money back after a full resto.

But if it's more the resto that you enjoy and money isn't a large problem.

Go for it.

[Google [bot]]

I'm sure there was a thread fairly recently about an Espada stored in a garage for years. I vaguely recall the advice was it would likely be uneconomical to restore. Perhaps someone with better search skills could find it.

[Pistom]

May I be the first to suggest not to bother with a photo.

There will be a reason why it has stood there so long and even without a photo, I would guess it is past economic repair. Decide whether you want to make money or have fun. If the former, work out how much you can get for it in spares or offer to sell it on his behalf and auction it off.

I dread to think how much a car like this would be to restore but it will be more than you can imagine.

Of that's what you want to do then do it but I hope you are wealthy.

If you work really hard, are careful in controlling your costs and put the effort in, you could end up with a small fortune, assuming you've started with a large one.

[Stelvio1]

Thanks for your comments. Some further information from the owner today - it was taken off the road in the early 90's with engine problems? I am going to view on Sunday but my initial unbridled enthusiasm has become somewhat tempered

[NDA]

£50-60k if in good to stunning condition.

Sounds like a lot of trouble to restore - however the parts might be worth a few bob.

[SV8Predator]

These 'finds' are always put off the road because there was a very expensive problem that the owner could not afford to fix. You could buy it and fit a Rover V8 I suppose.

The brake parts will be cheap though.

[Pistom]

Engine problems alone could be not too difficult to fix but are these cars really selling or over £50K?

[Stelvio1]

I could never buy a classic car to part - especially one so rare, if my offer is not accepted I will walk away. At the moment I am struggling to envisage an offer over £12k. The problem will be the owner no doubt will look at the prices of cars for sale in the classified?

[NDA]

Pistom said:

Engine problems alone could be not too difficult to fix but are these cars really selling or over £50K?

Yes.

[SV8Predator]

Pistom said:

Engine problems alone could be not too difficult to fix but are these cars really selling or over £50K?

Same engine as the Miura? Cheap to repair do you think?

[Pistom]

SV8Predator said:

Same engine as the Miura? Cheap to repair do you think?

I didn't say cheap nor did I say easy!

Many a time the expert diagnosis is " you need a new motor guv" turns out to be an isolated component that can be changed and is fixed then for many thousand of miles.

Not the same thing at all but I bought a car with a straight six running low oil pressure. Bought the car for about £3K under value thinking I can drop a used engine in. I strip the sump to check big ends and find the oil pump has worked loose. I strip the bottom end and find the crank is undamaged and in spec. I fit new bearings for piece of mind as there was some signs of wear and put it all back together. That was 2 years and 15000 miles ago. Still going with no problems.

The rule is, if you aren't sure what the problem is then assume the worst.

You really need to know more bout the true condition before throwing £12K at this. You also need to drop the rosy view that all classics are worth restoring. It's not true that you can't polish a turd, you can but would you want to?

[LotusOmega375D]

Buy it for £12k and stick it in an auction. Didn't that Channel Island car go for about £25k?

[NDA]

Pistom said:

. It's not true that you can't polish a turd.....

You can roll it in glitter too.

[dinkel]

Poor Espadas go for s little as 20K.

A full resto will set you back as much as a full Countach resto . . . So, do the maths.

Superb cars as they are I'd inform at a Lambo specialist before touching it thoroughly.

A snappie would be nice.

[Stelvio1]

Well struggled through the snow into deepest Derbyshire today and had a most decent chat with the 'owner' and have left him to consider my best offer - he will contact me during the course of the next week.

On second inspection it appears not so bad