Ambitiously priced Lotus 340R

[danny tattersall]

As a an owner of one of these fine machines I have a vested interest in the value of a 340R. As such, I periodically check on the usual websites and have seen them advertised until fairly recently in the £30 - £35k range. You can imagine my surprise when I casually went through the usual searches and found this one advertised at £79k - https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/... It does look like a lovely example but that sort of money can buy some pretty serious metal! Intrigued, I conducted another search only to discover that a left hand drive one with 17,000km on the clock sold at auction for £71,584 - https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24132/lot/79/ in May this year. Am I missing something or do these 'values' make no sense whatsoever? I wish the vendor best of luck with the sale as it has certainly set the bar very high!

Danny.

Edited by danny tattersall on Thursday 13th July 12:25

Edited by danny tattersall on Thursday 13th July 12:27

[Beachbum]

This was discussed pretty extensively on SELOC. People seem to think that its high, but achievable. Personally think its crazy money, but more than happy for it to continue, as it seems to be pulling up residuals on other Lotus's
A 2004 111R for £17K and another 2007 111R for £24K.

If this keeps going, it will finance my new Evora, without me having to spend any money, in real terms

[Tickle]

Yep, prices are on the up. A Sport 160 went for £30k recently, again discussed on SELOC a fair bit.

Great for us Lotus owners.

...not so great if you are trying to buy one.

[danny tattersall]

Nobody can deny that Lotus prices in general have increased over the last few years. But for a 340R to have sold, and another one to be currently advertised, at twice the price they were a matter of months ago is incredible. Those prices are also in excess of double what the car cost when they were new which gets me onto the subject of Lotus 2-eleven values; does anybody think that these are likely to follow the pattern of the 340R? I've recently bought an immaculate launch edition model which has 1 owner from new and 1100 miles on the clock for around the same price that they were when new. I knew that I was paying top money for it but I happened to think it was worth it. However, somebody else told me that they thought it was very expensive. So, I suppose the value is all down to people's opinions and the acid test is whether they actually sell at or near the advertised price.

I bought my cars to enjoy them rather than as investments but it is always nice not to lose money on them if possible.

[alvington89]

I have a 340R as well and am equally bemused by the apparent sudden price rise.

The one on this site has disappeared from the 'for sale' section, so presumably that means it has sold (it was advertised at £ 69k then raised to £ 79k).

[Cold]

As is always the thing with these sort of situations, it was difficult to even give them away when they were new. Ah well.

[HeMightBeBanned]

The rise in 340R values seems to have been catalysed by the Bonhams auction in May, where a not-very-nice example went for £69k. A couple have sold on the continent for ~€80k and €104k. The common factor was that they were all LHD, so it was debatable whether RHD cars (more supply) would fetch similar amounts. The one on Pistonhead was advertised a couple of weeks ago at £69k and was rapidly re-priced to £79k. It was listed as sold within a week of the advert being placed.

The evidence would point to 340Rs being able to sustain a £70k+ price point. How long this will last is anyone's guess.

[comfortably numb]

And yet there appears to be several 311 for sale for around £85-95k? Why are these not selling?

[danny tattersall]

They are truly excellent cars but the prices have reached fever pitch. It'll be interesting to see how long this hangs around:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Danny.

[RobinSherwood]

danny tattersall said:

They are truly excellent cars but the prices have reached fever pitch. It'll be interesting to see how long this hangs around:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Danny.

The most recent sales were Bonhams in May with 17,000 miles (and apparently the car itself wasn’t that great) £72,657. The car that sold privately in the UK last month with 5000 miles went for £79,000 and a car sold in Italy last month with 1600 miles for £92,000.

This 'last car' is my car and I have had one serious sounding enquiry already and I only listed it this morning. So we shall see.

[danny tattersall]

RobinSherwood said:

danny tattersall said:

They are truly excellent cars but the prices have reached fever pitch. It'll be interesting to see how long this hangs around:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Danny.

The most recent sales were Bonhams in May with 17,000 miles (and apparently the car itself wasn’t that great) £72,657. The car that sold privately in the UK last month with 5000 miles went for £79,000 and a car sold in Italy last month with 1600 miles for £92,000.

This 'last car' is my car and I have had one serious sounding enquiry already and I only listed it this morning. So we shall see.

It looks like a lovely example and I wish you all the best with the sale. You'll miss it when it has gone but the money in your bank account will provide some consolation!

All the best,

Danny.

[HeMightBeBanned]

Still for sale. Suggests that £100k is too strong for the 340R.