Selling??

[CuTSpike2]

Does anybody know where I can get a Lotus Elan 1992 for $6000 or less, all cash?

 

[Famine]

http://www.autotrader.com, but given that S2 Elans tend to sell for twice that, no.

 

[1X83Z]

I'd check out the Kia Elan.

Too bad it wasn't sold here.

 

[Danny]

"Hey, I drive a Lotus."

"Hey, I drive a Kia."

I know which one is most likely to land the missus.

 

[1X83Z]

"Hey, I drive a Lotus."

"Hey, I drive a Kia."

I know which one is most likely to land the missus.

Same body though - you could just change out the badges.

Picking up women with your car isn't easy: "I drive a Mercedes. It's like a BMW, only less reliable." That worked on my wife.

 

[Gil]

Does anybody know where I can get a Lotus Elan 1992 for $6000 or less, all cash?

If you find an Elan for under $6000 it will be in several boxes.

You could go for the car that was inspired by the original Elan.

Yes, I'm speaking of the Mazda Miata.

Yes, it's girly looking. But it is quite nimble, if not all that fast.
It's got reliabilty out the wazoo.
It's easily modified.
It's plentiful. (Not all that many Elans were made, and not a lot of those are surviving in this country).
Many good Miatas fall under the $6,000 threshold you've set.

 

[Gil]

[oops! Double post.

 

[a6m5]

I'd check out the Kia Elan.

Too bad it wasn't sold here.

What's next? GM in financial trouble sells plans of Corvette to Hyundai?

Same body though - you could just change out the badges.

Picking up women with your car isn't easy: "I drive a Mercedes. It's like a BMW, only less reliable." That worked on my wife.

 

[Duke]

Plus, the last iteration of the lovely Lotus Elan was a front-driver and the build quality was spotty. Colin would not have been proud.

As opposed to the original generation, which was a rear-driver and the build quality was spotty...

 

[Gil]

As opposed to the original generation, which was a rear-driver and the build quality was spotty...

Well there was that little detail...

As an aside, I don't know how you feel about Road & Track magazine, but Peter Egan's Side Glances this month speaks about the Lotus that he is restoring. He calls the frame "disposable".

Egan is the reason I read R & T, at least sporadically.
He's in to cars, motorcycles, planes, and guitars.

 

[Duke]

Actually, I love the old Elans, and when I get time to just goof around in GT4, I'm going to spend time sightseeing the Ring in one.

 

[1X83Z]

What's next? GM in financial trouble sells plans of Corvette to Hyundai?

Hey man - Kia was paying big for the thing, and all Lotus had to do was give up the body - the suspension tuning and engine were retained. So Kia stuck in some ****ty four-cylinder called "ULTRA POWER" (which beats the hell out of VTEC) and the car did 0-60 in 9.5sec.

Then a few years later, Lotus was bought out by a company famous for buying fifteen-year-old Mitsubishi shells and selling them to Malaysians. So the lesson? They should've kept the Elan for themselves.

 

[a6m5]

Hey man - Kia was paying big for the thing, and all Lotus had to do was give up the body - the suspension tuning and engine were retained. So Kia stuck in some ****ty four-cylinder called "ULTRA POWER" (which beats the hell out of VTEC) and the car did 0-60 in 9.5sec.

Then a few years later, Lotus was bought out by a company famous for buying fifteen-year-old Mitsubishi shells and selling them to Malaysians. So the lesson? They should've kept the Elan for themselves.

Oh. I think the site I read from said that whole plan was sold to Kia, but I guess they've been mistaken if Kia put their own motor in it. Either way, it's pretty bizzare.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Same body though - you could just change out the badges.

Picking up women with your car isn't easy: "I drive a Mercedes. It's like a BMW, only less reliable." That worked on my wife.

Lotus badges are fiendishly expensive. Like £100 each for centre-cap ones.

 

[1X83Z]

Oh. I think the site I read from said that whole plan was sold to Kia, but I guess they've been mistaken if Kia put their own motor in it. Either way, it's pretty bizzare.

I don't remember all the details - I'm not sure whose motor it was. But I remember reading the Kia version was slower, and I've seen the picture of the Kia with the "ULTRA POWER" motor, so I think Kia used their own engine. I know they used their own suspension.

Lotus badges are fiendishly expensive. Like £100 each for centre-cap ones.

You could always steal, or you could just shave off all the badges and forget about it. The wheels remained the same for both the Lotus and the Kia.

 

[a6m5]

I don't remember all the details - I'm not sure whose motor it was. But I remember reading the Kia version was slower, and I've seen the picture of the Kia with the "ULTRA POWER" motor, so I think Kia used their own engine. I know they used their own suspension.

If anything, Kia should've been buying the design of the Lotus suspension, not the "looks" of the car. Kia's a phony! 👎

 

[1X83Z]

I think I've called the car one of the ten best-looking vehicles ever manufactured, and if I haven't, I am now.

That adds it to the company of the 1993-1995 Mazda RX-7, Volvo C70 coupe, Ferrari 456, 1988-1992 Mazda RX-7 convertible, and new Audi A4.

 

[a6m5]

I think I've called the car one of the ten best-looking vehicles ever manufactured, and if I haven't, I am now.

Seriously though, Elise or original Elan, even Esprit would've scored higher in my book. I even like the look of the Europa better(I know, I know, don't start it now. ). Hey, I just noticed. Do all Lotus cars start with "E"? Boy, this is worse than Ford SUVs.

That adds it to the company of the 1993-1995 Mazda RX-7, Volvo C70 coupe, Ferrari 456, 1988-1992 Mazda RX-7 convertible, and new Audi A4.

I love all three gens of RX-7s, but if the '93 -'95 had better looking taillights, I'd agree with you there. I liked the older A4 design better.

 

[1X83Z]

Most Lotuses start with E. Someone made a thread about that a while ago and someone else came up with some non-E Lotuses. Anyone can design a car like the Esprit: low, two seats, aggressive, whatever. To be truly beautiful it must straight look good. One thing I've noticed is I usually know too much about cars to separate their styling from their other traits. I'm told the last-generation Mitsubishi Galant, which I guess was 1999-2003, is a good-looking car, but all I see when I look at it is a trashy V6, poor sales, bad trim levels, poor spec, unreliability. So it's a big jump when I can call a car beautiful, because it means I've separated the styling from the car. you know? I ramble when it's late.

 

[Duke]

You obviously separate the styling from the car, because the snout of the new Audis are pants.