Inherited Car Dilemma?

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I have Inherited the above car 1960 Lotus Elite from my late father. Fucking love the car sat in it since I was tiny, wishing to drive it. Had it in Garage now for 2 years wondering what to do with it. worked out it would would cost lot of money I don't have to get it sorted. Now someone has offered me 9k for it and will return it to its former glory, which would be great for it as i don't want it just to rot.

So do I wait til i may get money and sort it in memory of the old man or sell it to someone who will do it up. thing is 9k don't mean shit compared to sentimental worth..? but don't want it to rot in a garage....

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These old rides can be a nightmare.... Does it have a 24mm seatpost? Swiss threading?

If it were me, i would keep it and restore when able.

tough, you probably know what you want to do though. start planning the resto!

have u tried going on any car forums, often you can do a lot of the work yourself, do lots of research and you can find parts cheap on places like ebay etc... and through forums. DONT GET RID OF IT, but DO get a heater in the garage and start working on it.

you will love it when it is complete.

have u tried going on any car forums, often you can do a lot of the work yourself, do lots of research and you can find parts cheap on places like ebay etc... and through forums. DONT GET RID OF IT, but DO get a heater in the garage and start working on it.

you will love it when it is complete.

yeah!

I cannot stress how much you will regret it, and how much you will love it when u finish it, yeah it may take a couple of years, but imagine the first time you drive it, and imagine what it would mean to you.

have u tried going on any car forums, often you can do a lot of the work yourself, do lots of research and you can find parts cheap on places like ebay etc... and through forums. DONT GET RID OF IT, but DO get a heater in the garage and start working on it.

you will love it when it is complete.

Cheers, Got in touch with some Lotus Club about the whole thing-but bit weary about being a member of a geeky forum... ; )

yeah some of them will be geeks but they will also understand and help you.

I cannot stress how much you will regret it.

1+, there won't be a single car in the world than this one that have the biggest sentimental attachment.

True, don't cost me nothing where it is-might chuck a quid on the lotto saturday, take more than a rainbow set of allen keys mind ; )

this should show what these are worth:

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/classic_cars.php?keyword=elite&make=29&category=&region=&advert_type=&price=&era=&Search.x=0&Search.y=0&Search=Display+Filtered+Adverts

Something like this would make me fucking chuffed. A vision to go for. cheers

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Go have a drink on the Sir Henry Johnson (pub boat moored in Royal Victoria Docks) the landlord is Peter Chilvers who is a legend, invented windsurfing. Anyway he used to be an engineer for Lotus, probably helped build it! Buy him a pint and I'm sure he'll give you some advice.

P.s. Side note - all the profits of the pub go to the local kids watersports centre, so you get pissed for a good cause.

Elites are really clever cars - a Glassfibre monocoque, Coventry Climax engine. The classic example of the Lotus philosophy of light, clever cars. And this one is more than just a car to you. don't sell it.

In that state it probably looks like a daunting task, but it can't rust, and the components will all be off regular cars, so it won't be that big a job to restore. My advice is to get it running, do whatever fixes will make it roadworthy, then use it. It will be light on fuel, the tax will be free, and insurance virtually nothing, so it might make a cheap runaround. Cars are better off being used. Don't bother about a full restoration or anything. As you drive it, note down things that need fixing, and make a list. Tackle jobs on the list, rather than getting daunted. Then if you do get the money to restore it you'll be starting off from a better position.

That is indeed a beautiful car. Depends how much 9K means to you right now I guess

Don't sell it, I guarantee 2 years down the road you will deeply regret it. Someone will have restored it and want to sell it back to you for 20k. Personally I would rather let it rot in my possession than loose something of such sentimental value.

That is a lovely car. If you have any faint interest in restoring it that would be the way forward. If you can afford to garage then its a no brainer!

I bought my first car when I was 15 in 1978. It cost me £80, I paid 40 and my dad paid 40. It was a 1960 Ford Anglia. It sat in my dads garage for about 3 years until I passed my test at which time it got put back on the road. Over the 3 years I played around with it and grew to love it more and more. Learnt a lot about how cars worked and made a few mess ups as far as stripping engines and losing parts go. Two years after getting it back on the road I sold it to get a better car, and have now spent the last 25 years hoping to come accross it again. Moral is be far sighted, if you like the car even the slightest bit don't sell it. If you were being offered £150 for it you would keep it, don't let the 9k cloud your judgement.

keep it in a garage, and slowly restore it, even if it takes you 10 years it will be well worth it.

having owned and restored/modified cars (and bicycles) i can see both sides.

first of all, if you are going to restore it, do it properly. doing half assed bits, will end up costing you more time and effort. unfortunately this takes time and £££'s, however this is the best way to re-coup any ££'s if you want to sell in the future. the car should increase tremendously in value if restored properly.

if life is in the way and you can't deal with it, then sell it. too many people are hoarders, keeping shit locked away, just in case they may restore or find it useful. in reality, sometimes this is not the case and you have to let it go. fair enough, there are memory's, but no-one can take those away from you. car is material.

Again I have restored cars so you can imagine that I thinks it's a great idea that you do it and enjoy the project and love it.

HOWEVER. Having also failed projects, where I have started but have quit during the build I know how hard it can be. You have to be devoted, think of it like a second job and be willing to get down and dirty, sweaty, lose skin all in the middle of winter. Rather than take your mates up on that offer to go to the pub. You also have to have an almost bottomless pit of money to do it right, there are costs at every single stage. Even when you are doing things yourself.

If you think will struggle to do that I'd suggest that you sell it because as hard as seeing someone else drive round in the completed car it would be worse than it rotting into a pile of parts because you didn't have the time, energy or money. But make sure you shop around for a price, rather than taking the first offer if you did sell.

If you go to restore, good luck mate! I hope she's the car of your dreams.

keep it in a garage, and slowly restore it, even if it takes you 10 years it will be well worth it.

Yep if you don't have the skills slowly learn them.

There is a good short (10 week one evening a week) car restoration course on at Warthamstow college. It won't make you an expert but gives you an idea of what to do. Speaking to the instructor there he said some people some back every term just so they can use the tools and get the advice. You could try and find something like that near you.

I agree with both Dale (probably a first) and Fazered.

I've owned a special edition Mini Cooper for the past 7 years, only 1050 ever made. Back in the day I'd spend all weekend tinkering with it. Since I got married (5 years next month, I can't wait until I can start saying the 'you get less for murder' gags) it's just been jammed in the garage, slowly rotting away. Half of me says "keep it", half says "sell it to someone who'll look after it properly", and the other half says "get rid of it, it's a stupid Noddy car". Not quite the same situation as yours, but still a decision to be made about a car that means an awful lot to both of us.

If you decide to restore it, you will have to fit the original parts, if not it will totally devalue the car. I don't know what your financial situation is, if it's healthy then go for it!

PS This post probably won't even help you. Sorry.

thing is, even if you do restore it to prime condition, you will be too paranoid to drive it :(

The dilemma's easy no?