Well Bought

Lotus Elan M100

Let’s hear it for the latter-day Elan

Yes, let’s, because the M100 Elan very much continued the philosophy of the earlier car. OK, it’s a bit bigger (certainly in terms of width) but no-one could really accuse the later car of being unnecessarily fl abby. It was wellequipped, too – Lotus recognised that even die-hard buyers wouldn’t say no to a bit more comfort.

It was the only Lotus in Barons’s sale

Indeed it was, and while it may have been the sole example, it made up for that with its condition. This example looked good even from a reasonable distance and there weren’t really any disappointments up close. The Silk Red paint was straight and deep, the door shuts were straight, the large bumpers devoid of bumps or scratches and the interior was pretty good too, because by now Lotus, despite often rocky periods, had got to grips with build quality. The alloy wheels were very smart, too.

The all-important history

Ah yes, the history. The odometer showed 99,100 miles and the service book, Barons noted, was stamped up to 81,000 miles – a substantial portion of the mileage. It was stored for some time (the exact time wasn’t noted in the catalogue) having been subject to a 2006 insurance claim. It had a DVLA inspection in 2015 following a re-build that the auctioneer says was ‘eye’ watering’. That degree of tear-inducing was the result of £10,000 being spent on, among other things, a replacement gearbox and complete stainless steel exhaust system, as well as having the electrics and turbocharger sorted out. The cambelt had been replaced twice since 2015 (a sure sign of an on-the-ball owner) and new suspension fi tted, but there was more – a full re-paint was carried out (45 were in this colour) and the interior refurbished. The result was highly appealing and in better order than most.

It was just under the lower estimate

Agreed, but in this case it wasn’t about the estimate, but the amount of money that had been spent recently and just how good this Elan was for the money spent. All too often, any examples in auction are tired, scruffy and invariably don’t have much in the way of history. This one did, and yes, it had been subject to an insurance claim. But after a seriously expensive rebuild (compare costs to the sum that bought the car) it was clear that the buyer was getting a very good deal with this one.