would you buy a evante if it was produced again.

would you buy a evante if it was produced again.

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tomuch

Original Poster:

143 posts

214 months

Monday 12th March 2007
quotequote all
o.k
I am looking at the market place for the evante Mk1 .
The car vegantune made to take over from the elan.
Would any of you guys hand over hard cash for one.
the evante was made in some numbers and a lot of elan run on the upgrade chassie ofth evante .
Question:what drive train:
vta would be a good engine as it has been in the past but to keep the cost down on some model a i am off the thort a zeeteck,
of the shelf from ford
would be a smooth unit or a durotec link to A FIVE SPEED OF SOME CHOSEN CHOSE .
COCK PIT .:A AGAIN I see two differing market lux seats or bucket for the track sport model .
Do you guy`s think there is a market for this car again ,
As you can tell i think there is a market more today than when it was original sold .

king arthur

6,978 posts

268 months

Monday 12th March 2007
quotequote all
I don't suppose very many people will even remember the Evante. I remember it with its Vegantune engine being featured in road tests alongside the likes of Ginetta, Marcos, Scimitar etc. Can't remember what it looked like though.

Wigeon Incognito

3,274 posts

225 months

Monday 12th March 2007
quotequote all
It looked like this:



Not my cup of tea, its like they took the Elan than gave it a few 70s/80s styling cues.


Edited by Wigeon Incognito on Monday 12th March 19:22

GTRene

17,776 posts

231 months

Monday 12th March 2007
quotequote all

Wigeon Incognito

3,274 posts

225 months

Monday 12th March 2007
quotequote all
GTRene said:


That one looks a lot nicer than the one I found. I'm still not a big fan though.

In reality, whats the point? Surely the MX-5 dominates the 'modern day Elan' niche?


Edited by Wigeon Incognito on Tuesday 13th March 00:14

tomuch

Original Poster:

143 posts

214 months

Tuesday 13th March 2007
quotequote all
Hi guys
I was thinking of remaking them as i now own the rights .
It would be a cheap car, The costing is about 15k on the road basic model.
As with these things the dvla inspector may wish a few thing upgrades and that will need to be costed in but for 15K .I think it would be a good seller.
I like it!
I am looking at anew model as well but it will be more costly.
I would like get the original shape with some upgrade on sale .
The question is would you pay 15K for a two seater retro sport car.
thanks lads for replying sy

silverback mike

11,290 posts

260 months

Tuesday 13th March 2007
quotequote all
All the best to you fella. clap

Fittster

20,120 posts

220 months

Tuesday 13th March 2007
quotequote all
Why have a modern reproduction when you can have a really nice elan for near enough the same cash?

johnnymaestro

4,775 posts

230 months

Tuesday 13th March 2007
quotequote all
Fittster said:
Why have a modern reproduction when you can have a really nice elan for near enough the same cash?


yes

If the Evante's came with minilight rims and the design changes at the back to remove the boot lip then it would be more appealing.

But as stated you can get a very nice original Elan FHC or DH for that ammounnt of money.

Good Luck to you though in making themthumbup

tomuch

Original Poster:

143 posts

214 months

Tuesday 13th March 2007
quotequote all
Hi guys
The elan was and is a real nice car.
Remember vegantune did the chassie upgrade for the elan .
The evante was biult to take the shape of the elan into the future .
Vegantune were restoring elan for many years and fitting upgraded chassie to the elan when there original chassie were beond repaire or the owner wanted a better chassie.
The evante was as good on the track as it was on the road in my opion.
The car was biuld for luxery and vegantune used all there race knowledge to help the car .
The car was before it time .If the car had only been on the market for a few more years it .It would have found the next generation.
Instead it fell to the side as do many good things.
A restored evante can be found for 5K to 10K ,10 being the price peaple would like .Some were between the 5K to 10K I think the market is for second hand cars. I think the cars are cheap to buy at the moment.I can only see original cars with original engine going up. you can pick up a real bargains £1500 for a car needing a new powerplant.
The thing with evante was when thay stopped making them the engines were still selling at high prices and engines were removed from second hand cars by guys that new the price of the engine unit.In most case the cars were refitted with crossflows and the next owner was not aware of the engine change as it was the car thay were after.
thanks again guys for feed back.

rallycross

13,274 posts

244 months

Tuesday 13th March 2007
quotequote all
no.

anyone with any sense would buy an MX5, S2000, Z3 or similar for same or less money.

the market was a different place many years ago when the Evante came out (1986?) nostaliga for the old Lotus elan was alive and well, and there were no decent sports cars available at the time (anyone remember the reliant SS1600 from that period?).

so why bother with it again now?

Sam_68

9,939 posts

252 months

Tuesday 13th March 2007
quotequote all
tomuch said:
...Would any of you guys hand over hard cash for one.


No, I'm afraid that I wouldn't.

Apart from my personal view that the styling changes were gauche in the extreme (naff ducktail spoiler and bolt on wheels, bumper moulding integrated with the main body so that even very minor frontal damage can cost a fortune to repair), it simply doesn't make sense to buy a newly registered Elan derivative when you can buy a Spyder Zetec conversion that retains all the aesthetics of the original, with modern running gear, but with road tax-free 'original' identity.

Sorry... I'm sure the Evante was/is a perfectly acceptable car, but there isn't really much of a niche for it in light of the Spyder Zetec developments.

Hemibum

833 posts

224 months

Tuesday 13th March 2007
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Presume you're not thinking about doing your own advertising copywriting

tomuch

Original Poster:

143 posts

214 months

Tuesday 13th March 2007
quotequote all
Spelling !not good .
Advertising : I want to see what responce i get first!
Well i believe i own all copywrights to both evante and vegantune: I do not own the MK2 evante:
As with these thing it take a few weeks to get all rights into new owner ship.
thanks for input.

cymtriks

4,561 posts

252 months

Tuesday 13th March 2007
quotequote all
It's a nice little car but the biggest gap in the market is the next size up.

The Elan +2 could be resurected with a Caterham 21 style front/bonnet. I'd be tempted if the design was any good.

Actually I'm surprised that the 21 hasn't been resurected as a kit. All it needed was to escape from the restrictions of its spaceframe chassis, which caused too many deisgn compromises, and have it replaced with a backbone chassis.

Yes, I know pop-up headlights are part of the Elan thing but they have to go. Safety / SVA don't like them which is why they suddenly vanished from most cars some years ago. Spyder get around this by basing their cars on old Elans thus retaining their body and headlight shape.

grahambell

2,718 posts

282 months

Wednesday 14th March 2007
quotequote all
You'd probably stand more chance if you offered a kit car option rather than just the turnkey production version you seem to be thinking of.

Judging by Dare's experiences with the Ginetta G4, chances are that a complete all-new turnkey car will end up costing nearer £20k than £15k.

Yes, you would to some extent be competing with the Spyder developed Elan, but of course there are only so many original Elans about, and doing the full conversion isn't cheap either. Some will probably say the Spyder is worth more simply because it's a genuine Elan - even though about the only genuine Elan part left is the bodyshell, complete with dodgy old Lotus fibreglass.

There aren't many 'daily driver' practical (ie. with wind-up windows and boot) kit cars on the market, so there could be an opening there. Agree you might need to lose the 1970s facelift job in favour of something more in keeping with the original.

As for engines, Zetec is now scrapyard fodder suitable for kit cars and old Escorts. For all-new cars you really need to think Duratec or Sigma.

Moose.

5,342 posts

248 months

Wednesday 14th March 2007
quotequote all
grahambell said:
You'd probably stand more chance if you offered a kit car option rather than just the turnkey production version you seem to be thinking of.

That's exactly what I was thinking. If you could do a fully comprehensive kit for say £10k, it would sell very well I recon

baSkey

14,291 posts

233 months

Wednesday 14th March 2007
quotequote all
Moose. said:
grahambell said:
You'd probably stand more chance if you offered a kit car option rather than just the turnkey production version you seem to be thinking of.

That's exactly what I was thinking. If you could do a fully comprehensive kit for say £10k, it would sell very well I recon


i agree too.
but it should be both a la caterfield.
i also agree it HAS to be zetec/duratec/sigma*. it's worth looking into mx5 and e36 for drivetrain parts..? (anyone agree?).

i love elans.so with a bit of tweaking (as said pop-ups need to go) it could be cool. especially if you do the demonstrator in red over white with a gold stripe..!

the point about the dare 'ginetta' is spot on. your market is predominantly going to be the middleaged fast road/sprint market. whatever you do keep it simple and don't make it 'luxurious' because you'll fail to meet the quality levels of a 13k mitsubishi czc thing let alone an £18 mx5 or whatever.


*hehe how wrong would it be to have an ls5/6/7 musclelan..?! hehe

Sam_68

9,939 posts

252 months

Wednesday 14th March 2007
quotequote all
grahambell said:
Judging by Dare's experiences with the Ginetta G4, chances are that a complete all-new turnkey car will end up costing nearer £20k than £15k.


And then some, if you are wanting a decent profit margin! The Ginetta has a a much more spartan, 'kit car' feel than even the Elan.

I think you'd find £25K would be closer the mark for a turnkey car of a decent standard (using all new parts). I've a feeling that the market for faux Elans costing £10K more than an original in perfect condition, and liable for full road tax and standard insurance ratings would be fairly limited.

You might sell a handful, but don't plan on retiring to Monte Carlo in a couple of years time!

grahambell said:

Yes, you would to some extent be competing with the Spyder developed Elan, but of course there are only so many original Elans about, and doing the full conversion isn't cheap either. Some will probably say the Spyder is worth more simply because it's a genuine Elan - even though about the only genuine Elan part left is the bodyshell, complete with dodgy old Lotus fibreglass.


You can, of course, buy new 26R replica Elan bodyshells (with fixed headlamps) from Tony Thompson and others already, if you want rid of the 'dodgy old Lotus fibreglass'. IIRC, the Evante chassis was manufactured by Spyder, so it would be possible to put together the combination of Spyder Zetec running gear under a new 26R bodyshell to create a completely new, reliable, SVA friendly Elan, anyway.

grahambell said:

There aren't many 'daily driver' practical (ie. with wind-up windows and boot) kit cars on the market, so there could be an opening there. Agree you might need to lose the 1970s facelift job in favour of something more in keeping with the original.

Wind-up windows on an Elan!? yikes

baSkey

14,291 posts

233 months

Wednesday 14th March 2007
quotequote all
Sam_68 said:


You can, of course, buy new 26R replica Elan bodyshells (with fixed headlamps) from Tony Thompson and others already, if you want rid of the 'dodgy old Lotus fibreglass'. IIRC, the Evante chassis was manufactured by Spyder, so it would be possible to put together the combination of Spyder Zetec running gear under a new 26R bodyshell to create a completely new, reliable, SVA friendly Elan, anyway.



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gets divorced.

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