Buy your Lotus Esprit right now and watch its value rise, advises Russ Smith. Plus: should you cash in on your Triumph Spitfire’s healthy current worth?
Russ Smith on the Spridget being left in the Spitfire’s wake, and Lotus Esprit Turbos finally having their day
The last three sales of 2016 saw the year out at idle rather than full chat. H&H’S Chateau Impney auction topped the rankings, despite a pretty ordinary 66.3% of cars selling. Barons sold 61%, but has to be pleased because this was one of its better results for the year, aided by an improved range of offerings, though still too many secondhand Mercs. Surprisingly it was Bonhams’ Olympia sale that took the lowest step of the podium with just 59.3% of classics sold. This was its ‘second division’ sale, with the cream kept for the Bond Street sale held a few days earlier, but it was still a large and diverse catalogue. Despite a few good results, like £51,750 for an Austin-healey 100 BN1, it was a sale lacking in excitement, with most lots selling within estimate.
Things remain unpredictable, and maybe this was a case of tail- off after too many auctions packed into a short space of the wrong time. The first UK sale of 2017 takes place at Anglia Car Auctions just after this issue comes out, so it will be interesting to see whether the seasonal break has refueled buyers’ desires and wallets.
MG Midget/austin-healey Sprite
The Spridget has come to my notice more for what it’s not doing, at least at the moment. Midgets and Spitfires have virtually mirrored each other’s fortunes and prices since the term ‘classic car’ was coined.
Until recently, that is, when the values of pre-1970 Spitfires curiously took off. They’re now sitting at about 20% above those of equivalent MGS and AustinHealeys, so before equilibrium is restored this is probably a good time to be selling old Spitfires, or shopping for really good early Midgets – the price differences of mediocre example are so far less marked.
Lotus Esprit Turbo
With buyers constantly looking for any sporty classic that’s lagging behind the market and looking affordable, it was inevitable that attention would at some point turn to the Esprit Turbo. Well now it’s happening, with auction sales starting to top the £20k mark and dealer asking prices already there.
But it isn’t too late to join the party because you can still turn up cars offered privately by owners who are behind the curve and asking 2015 prices. We’ve seen several late-eighties low-milers offered recently for £17-18k, and if the dealers don’t beat you to them, those are cars likely to already be worth £20,000-plus. In fact I’ll stick my neck out and say the Esprit’s day has come. Buy now because they’ll be worth even more by Christmas.