Barn Find, what's it worth???

[robm3]

Wife's cousin got married recently to a chap in the country, we went out to his property for the day and to cut a long story short I got bored and went out for a walk, straight into a JPS Lotus Esprit in a barn, covered in dust, looked really cool even in the condition it was in!
Went back in and asked the cousin about it, turns out the hubby had it in his youth and couldn't bear to part with it but she wanted it gone (must have shagged some old flame in it I guess).
I searched him out and started to talking to him about it, basically he'd heard I was interested in cars (understatement) and said he'd be happy to give it me if I was going to restore it.
It had been outside for a while a few years back and looked pretty neglected, apparently it was running well but had a gear linkage broken. Naturally everything would need to be renewed but....

What would be the price of one of these fully restored???

Edited by robm3 on Sunday 2nd March 21:54

[Kylie]

Wow, you would be mad not to take it if its a give away. Out of all the G shape cars the JPS was my personal favourite - it is REALLY special IMO. Look on lotusespritworld.com for models current cars for sale that will give you an idea. You will also see the ajoining forum on there and a massive community that will help you every step of the way.

Look on Lotus Buzz as well. Detailed pics of the car inside underneath, engine would be useful. These are much easier to work on than the later ones. Buy a car parts/service manual and go for it I say!!!

Edited by Kylie on Friday 11th July 23:38

[robm3]

Yeah, I'm really tempted although on the drive home wifey wife was "well how much will it cost to fix? And what's happening to that Ultima kit you don't go near? And were will we put it? etc..."
And she has a point or two but my oh my, it looked really good sitting there....

I'm considering towing it out and dropping it off at a Lotus Restorer (anyone recommend one?) with the words "can you sort please?" but just want to get a value so I know how much to spend. E.g. if it's worth 5K mint, I'll spend up to 5K etc...
Cheers,
Rob.

[ELAN+2]

I'd guess a mint JPS would be worth nearer £9k than £5K, however the chassis do rot on S1 and S2 Esprits and are costly to replace. You cant go wrong if you get it for nothing though, assuming the chassis is sound, recommissioning it would probably cost less than a couple of grand as long as the engine/box are ok.

godd luck!!

[GKP]

You might want to chat with Scott at Bell + Colvill about the S1 he recently had rebuilt for an overseas client.
A couple of grand wouldn't even buy the refurbished suspension components!
How does a bill of £35k sound? Plus the car.

[robm3]

GKP said:

You might want to chat with Scott at Bell + Colvill about the S1 he recently had rebuilt for an overseas client.
A couple of grand wouldn't even buy the refurbished suspension components!
How does a bill of £35k sound? Plus the car.

Hmmmm, let me try getting that past MrsM3.....

[Kylie]

Still though if your handy with tools, theres no reason why you cant get it and plug away to do the small stuff. Anything you do to it to bring it up to scratch WILL add value. Im all for finding these barn finds and keep them on the road. Did you see the JPS on LEW for sale listings to compare? If you google pics of these cars they are stunning. If I had the space at home I would be importing that JPS on LEW. Id love it as another daily runner along side the audi.

[LooseCannon]

You'll never make money restoring an Esprit, only do it if you want the car for itself. As said previously perfection is 35 grand upover, but if the base car is a freebie you will have a 2 grand headstart won't you?

[autocross7]

WOW!!! You are lucky... or not? You will not make any money off it in the short run for sure, but there were not exactly a fleet of these cars made (even by Lotus numbers)...

I'd be inclined to go for it as well. It may not make you any money, but these cars are not going to loose money either - over time anyway. With Lotus slowly making its way back into the main stream mind who knows what will come of prices in the future. But do not do this for money... do for the history of the car.

Cameron

[peter450]

It's a DIY rebuild, do it all yourself and you might just break even or only be down a couple of grand

A garage restoration will be a lot of money, way more than the car is worth

[lostgear]

There were only 100 JPS Esprits built, it will have a number on the door post. What is it.

[Mr POD]

robm3 said:

wife was "well how much will it cost to fix? And what's happening to that Ultima kit you don't go near? And were will we put it? etc..."

In my experience, think of figures for time and money and double them and then double them again.

I don't understand how people FIND the time to do projects if they have families, TBH.

In your case, I'd get it anyway and put it under a sheet in the garden.

[mwmackenzie]

I spent over £33K on my 88 Turbo, on upgrades and updates and am trying to sell it for £17,750 with no real interest apart from a guy from Germany? You may manage to get her up to a reasonable spec for £5-£10K and possibly get your money back but you may struggle to make money on it.

I'd do it if I was you if just to get another fab classic back on our roads..

Good Luck

Mark

[robm3]

I've decided not to do anything with it. We currently have four cars on the drive and the wife would leave me if I put another under a tarp!
I don't have the time to DIY either...maybe if it's still there in 20 years...

[G_Reaper2]

I am looking for a JPS to restore. any chance of suppling me the details?

Cheers Mike

[robm3]

G_Reaper2 said:

I am looking for a JPS to restore. any chance of suppling me the details?

Cheers Mike

Email me directly mate..