Lotus Elan M100 - Whatever happened to the Kia version ??

[autofocus]

Hi there,

Back in the mid to late 90's I worked as New Car Sales manager at a large Kia dealership in the Midlands.
I remember at the time that Kia had bought the tooling and design rights to the Elan M100 from Lotus.
If I remember correctly the Elan never went into full production although there were a few cars produced to showcase the product.
I also seem to recall that two cars actually made it to the UK (one Red and one Yellow) both of which were exhibited at the British Motorshow (sorry not sure if NEC or Earls Court).

I used to buy alot of ex motor show cars and I remember that I tried to by these cars from Kia UK to sell them on through the dealership I worked for at that time they were not prepared to release them for sale.

Does anyone know what happened to these cars and whether or not they remained in the UK ?

Also does anyone on here own one. If so would love to have a look at it as I never actually got to see the version that Kia produced.

Finally does anyone have any decent images of the Kia KMS II concept car (based on the Elan) that was also exhibited at the British Motor Show.

Sorry to take up valuable Lotus time but it is sort of connected.

Any help appreciated.

Regards

Tim

Edited by autofocus on Tuesday 21st August 23:22

[jb111s]

I was wondering the same thing the other day!! I remember going to a motorshow back in the early 90's & being a bit shocked that they'd sold the design to Kia. They were going to be a fraction of the price IIRC. I think part of the deal was that it would only be sold in the Asian market so it wouldn't affect Lotus though.

[TVRinBFG]

They use to sell them in Germany in lhd. I recall the Lotus was about £20k new and the Kia £13k new. If you look on www.mobile.de under Kia and then Elan, there are two for sale (LHD).

[autofocus]

Hi there,

The Black one for sale on mobile.de is 8500 Euros.

Isn't that around £5800.00 (obviously plus import tax etc if it was brought across to the UK).

Out of interest what would be the approximate cost of importing the car, is there any VAT, duty etc ?

and how would the total price compare with that of a Lotus Elan M100 of similar spec ?

Thanks

Regards

Tim

[Beachbum]

autofocus said:

Hi there,

The Black one for sale on mobile.de is 8500 Euros.

Isn't that around £5800.00 (obviously plus import tax etc if it was brought across to the UK).

Out of interest what would be the approximate cost of importing the car, is there any VAT, duty etc ?

and how would the total price compare with that of a Lotus Elan M100 of similar spec ?

Thanks

Regards

Tim

If the country you are importing from is part of the EU, you do not pay import duty. Not sure on the VAT rules though, as 2nd hand cars are not liable for it over if sold privately, so I guess it depends on the circumstances of the sale in the selling country.

[TVRinBFG]

There's no duty or VAT to pay; change the lights, then just an MOT and the £25 first registration fee when you get it back here in UK.

The green one looks better value:-
27.000 km is 17000 miles,
100 kW (136 PS),
First registered 01/99,
Klimaanlage means aircon
Top Zustand means A1 condition

I seem to recall the engine is from the Astra GSi - is that right?

[tricky 100]

About the same sort of money as buying one local with the right badging and the steering wheel in the proper place . I know ,im missing the point