Climax Elite S2- should I buy?

[Gbreadner]

I have loved these cars and always dreamt of owning one...There is one advertised on this site for a very reasonable £25000. In these credit crunch times it also an investment which will not lose you money but I'm hesitating as ( from the books I've read) they can be very difficult to live with and frightnenly expense if thing go wrong with engines and bonding to the fibreglass monocoque. Is there anyone out there who could offer advise? Thanks!

[Sam_68]

I took a look at the car you are referring to. As you say, the price seems very reasonable, but be aware that it's basically a rolling restoration case. The paintwork is untidy (call it £6K for a professional to sort it out) and the interior is untidy.

I didn't bother looking at the mechanicals, but I can't imagine they're pristine, either.

I guess you need to tell us what you'd use the car for, though - they are too fragile to use as a daily driver, which narrows it down to a weekend toy or historic competition. And, of course, by modern standards they're not at all quick.

They do look extremely pretty, though.

[Gbreadner]

Thanks for that Sam...that's pretty much what i thought would be the case. Ownership to me would be no more then the odd week end run out and Lotus meets. The dealer in question has two others currently so I guess with restoration costs this one would get close(ish) to the the price of those.Thanks for the advise.

[Sam_68]

Yes, the others are very pretty indeed, though one of them is a race car that's not ideal for road use.

I came to the conclusion that I'd realistically never find the time to restore the shabby one myseld, and if I had it done professionally it would cost me at least the same as buying one of the nice ones.

...and unfortuately I can't really justify spending close to £40K on another fragile toy that I barely get chance to use, these days.