Lander Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Sign of the times, people can no longer afford the extravagance of running super cars. These guys used to look after my uncles Esprit, they weren't cheap but they were very good and had some of the most experienced Lotus technicians in the country working for them. Last time I visited their premises about 18 months back their shop was almost full of cars. http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/End-road-luxury-car-dealer-nearly-40-years/story-14180348-detail/story.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone baby gone Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 When the going gets tough, the tough sell their toys... http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=174219 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lander Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 When the going gets tough, the tough sell their toys... http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=174219 Just been reading that thread and it's what prompted me to post mine. Our economy is collapsing and the financial experts are forecasting that we are heading back into recession Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diver Dan Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 At the moment, I see lots of expensive (when new) looking cars sitting parked-up outside people's houses with flattened tyres and very rusty brake disks. Maybe it's just because it's winter though. It's one thing to buy a sports / luxury car, it's quite another to run it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lander Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 At the moment, I see lots of expensive (when new) looking cars sitting parked-up outside people's houses with flattened tyres and very rusty brake disks. Maybe it's just because it's winter though. It's one thing to buy a sports / luxury car, it's quite another to run it. My uncles Lotus has needed a £20k overhaul/refresh in the past two years to have it put right because it spent most of it's time in storage for several years which caused parts to deteriorate. And it's only done 30,000 miles from new. It can be more cost effective to keep them running sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Bowman Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 At the moment, I see lots of expensive (when new) looking cars sitting parked-up outside people's houses with flattened tyres and very rusty brake disks. Maybe it's just because it's winter though. It's one thing to buy a sports / luxury car, it's quite another to run it. Actually it's quite cheap to run a supercar these days because generally the most expensive elements the powertrain are so more reliable than thirty years ago. What we are seeing is a rebalancing. in the 50's to 70's you could run a sports/luxury car if you had money or it was your hobby and you knew what you were doing. Frankly within reason if you can't look after a plastic tub like the lotus then you don't really deserve to have such an iconic vehicle. Of course there will be specialist work once a year but the ex technicians will start up on their own. Brakes Timing belts aircon electrics None of that is specialist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lander Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Actually it's quite cheap to run a supercar these days because generally the most expensive elements the powertrain are so more reliable than thirty years ago. What we are seeing is a rebalancing. in the 50's to 70's you could run a sports/luxury car if you had money or it was your hobby and you knew what you were doing. Frankly within reason if you can't look after a plastic tub like the lotus then you don't really deserve to have such an iconic vehicle. Of course there will be specialist work once a year but the ex technicians will start up on their own. Brakes Timing belts aircon electrics None of that is specialist. They are notoriously difficult cars to work on, very limited access to the engine. Typically you're looking at an engine out job by a specialist just to replace cooling and oil feed pipes to the turbos, but we got round it by making some special tools which enabled to us to remove them and fit new ones. A few months after we fitted the pipes it had to go to the specialist and have the engine removed anyway to have the exhaust studs and nuts replaced, amongst other things so it was a waste of time You cannot run a super car on a shoe string. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Boys with their toys.....often see the middle aged, cap wearing gentleman driving about on a sunny afternoon in their open-topped sports car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Bear Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Actually it's quite cheap to run a supercar these days because generally the most expensive elements the powertrain are so more reliable than thirty years ago. What we are seeing is a rebalancing. in the 50's to 70's you could run a sports/luxury car if you had money or it was your hobby and you knew what you were doing. Frankly within reason if you can't look after a plastic tub like the lotus then you don't really deserve to have such an iconic vehicle. Of course there will be specialist work once a year but the ex technicians will start up on their own. Brakes Timing belts aircon electrics None of that is specialist. I suppose that it depends on which Lotus models you are thinking about. The S1 Elise variants are simple cars by any modern standard but I would expect something like an Esprit to be a bit partial to the pound notes. I would not call the M100 Elan a real Lotus simply because the engine drives the wrong wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNACR Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Classic car prices have looked like a big bubble to me for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Bowman Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 They are notoriously difficult cars to work on, very limited access to the engine. Typically you're looking at an engine out job by a specialist just to replace cooling and oil feed pipes to the turbos, but we got round it by making some special tools which enabled to us to remove them and fit new ones. A few months after we fitted the pipes it had to go to the specialist and have the engine removed anyway to have the exhaust studs and nuts replaced, amongst other things so it was a waste of time You cannot run a super car on a shoe string. Of course you are right but you can run a pretty special car for the cost of a reps Audi or BMW. Spent £1400 on the Arnage in 14 months and done 12k miles that includes a rad, full service and indicator stalk, people spend more on their people carriers, trick is to get a car that was decent in the first place I.e lotus as opposed to TVR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russe11 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 were not talking lamborghinis ferraris porsches etc as well as less familular top end cars I think you will find its the middle getting the squeeze, not the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lander Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Of course you are right but you can run a pretty special car for the cost of a reps Audi or BMW. Spent £1400 on the Arnage in 14 months and done 12k miles that includes a rad, full service and indicator stalk, people spend more on their people carriers, trick is to get a car that was decent in the first place I.e lotus as opposed to TVR Thats very reasonable, is your technician a Bentley specialist? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcellar Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Boys with their toys.....often see the middle aged, cap wearing gentleman driving about on a sunny afternoon in their open-topped sports car. That's middle aged? Do we expect to live to 120 now? What a depressing thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Bowman Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Thats very reasonable, is your technician a Bentley specialist? Yep Hanwells Ealing, but got the rad done local , it's got the BMW 740i engine with a few tweaks the original green label arnage. A lot of bits you can find the equivalent BMW spare . It has been a whole lot of fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timebandit Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 (edited) How about buying a sports car building company, for your mid-life crisis. brookecars Edited January 20, 2012 by timebandit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lander Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 How about buying a sports car building company, for your mid-life crisis. brookecars Wow, a 400bhp cosworth engine in a road legal go kart, those things will go like hell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Bear Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Wow, a 400bhp cosworth engine in a road legal go kart, those things will go like hell Yes, looks good, 510Kg! Only snag is no roof option so not for a wet day. I'll just have to suffer on with the Exige. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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