Lotus Elan SE Turbo M100 - Black With Red Leather Interior

Hi, thanks for looking. Before I start, this will be a long advert as I like to put as much detail as possible when selling my cars. I hate it when a seller just gives a couple of sentences for something of such high value.

Regrettably for sale is my 1992 Lotus Elan (M100) SE Turbo in black with full red leather interior. It is in fantastic condition for its age and coming up to 30 years old. I am looking towards purchasing a house and although I absolutely love this car unfortunately it does need to go to help towards my deposit. I am a genuine seller and my one and only hobby is cars so I wouldn't sell anything I wouldn't buy myself. I have owned the car since the start of April 2020 so was my eBay Lockdown purchase! I am happy to spend the day showing you the car if you like, I have a jack and tools available should you want to take the wheels off etc and have a good look around. I have received the V5 back from the DVLA so it is not on my "Tom" plate anymore - the reg is J319 UEC. The car is from a non smoking and no pet household. The engine is nice and smooth and so is the gearbox, clutch is nice, it brakes well, steering is good and the handling is brilliant - I think a few well known people have said it is still one of the best handling front wheel drive cars to date!

I have spoken with the previous owner who restored the car and he has helped clarify a few things: The original plate was J460 BRA, he removed this plate to put on his Cobra and gave the car J319 UEC which is the plate the car will be sold with. The seats are out of a Daihatsu Copen and are in lovely condition and really finish off the car - when he restored the car the original seats were beyond repair (as are a lot of the original seats after almost 30 years!). Also, the roof seals have been replaced recently and are "Jamies roof seals" to which I have been told they are a far superior design to the original Lotus ones - there are a few videos on YouTube that show the quality of them.

The car drives, handles and brakes very well even by todays standard. It drives nice and straight and doesn't pull to either side - although the steering wheel is a couple of degrees off centre which if I get chance I will sort out. I have replaced lots of little bits that bugged me, luckily a lot of parts were originally sourced from GM so a fair few 80's and 90's Astra, Cavalier etc bits fit this car which are still easily available cheaply.

There is a massive folder full of service and repair history and receipts, it is one of the most looked after cars I have ever owned. I think there are a few invoices / service stamps missing, but when I purchased the car it had lovely golden coloured oil so it was evident it had been done recently. This car has a relatively low mileage compared to some Elans and is lovely to drive. It is currently on 99,894 miles but will most likely go up a bit while the weather is nice! The last MOT was a straight pass after the headlight alignment was done so there are no advisories and is now due on 8th December 2021. The car has only covered 140 miles since the last MOT so I would pretty confidently say it will be another easy pass this time round too. There are 2 ignition keys along with 3 door/boot keys. It was first registered on 26th February 1992 which makes it one of the last ones before they stopped producing them in July 1992 before the S2 came out in 1994. Only around 3800 were produced so it is very unlikely that you'll see another on the road which makes this a rare car. At the time of writing only 460 are reported to be "on the road" in the latest info on HowManyLeft which makes them rarer than a Ferrari 458 Spider!

I usually like to modify my cars, however I have tried to keep this as standard as possible. The only obvious change from looking at it is the radio (Kenwood unit with CD/USB etc) and I believe the Piper exhaust is an addition too even though it looks very much like the standard one. I have also fitted a turbo bleed valve to increase the turbo pressure slightly, it feels much quicker but is also safe to use as the ECU does cut the power if it's set too high. I've set it about half way from normal to the maximum the car would allow just for peace of mind for reliability. However, it is a simple 5 minute job to remove this if you wish.

Good bits that are often bad on these cars:

-The hood seals… they are impossible to find and if you do find them they are incredibly expensive… but luckily these ones are in great shape! One has a small tear which has been repaired but are otherwise in perfect condition and most importantly – no leaks!

-The rear wishbones usually rot away – this car has had the S2 rear wishbones fitted at great expense so this will be another major thing off your mind!

-Headlights go up and down as intended – I rebuilt both of the motors a week after purchasing as the one had stripped the teeth as Lotus used plastic gears for some reason.

-Everything works. All lights, electronics, gauges, electric windows, heated electric mirrors, central locking, radiator fans etc all work as intended.

-In my ownership it has always been garaged, covered over and put on a trickle charger when not in use. When it has been in use it has been warmed up and cooled down correctly along with a wash and dry before putting away.

-The rear light lenses and front indicator lenses are prone to cracking and are seemingly impossible to find and these too are all in fantastic condition.

-Original alloy wheels which are in great condition, all hold air perfectly fine and have nice new tyres on.

-No rips or damage to the seats, all mechanisms work fine.

-     I have replaced two of the three gauges in the dash (the volt meter one was already new). They are common for the black gauge face cracking which when the lights are on at night looks awful. It was very difficult finding them and even tried contacting the original manufacturers VDO with no luck. However, I believe I picked up the very last ever brand new oil pressure gauge and they now all look fantastic - it took 6 months to find them though!

Service History in the original book:

14/10/1992 – 6,572 miles – A Service.

25/05/1993 – 11,931 miles – B Service.

21/04/1994 – 17,816 miles – A Service.

03/11/1994 – 24,001 miles – B Service.

28/02/1996 – 28,057 miles – A + C Service.

19/09/1997 – 36,112 miles – B Service.

06/10/1998 – 41,730 miles – A Service.

22/06/1999 – 48,145 miles – B Service.

01/06/2001 – 61,751 miles – B + C + Cambelt Service.

20/05/2008 – 87,520 miles – B Service.

Other service / repair history / receipts:

Full suspension rebuild including S2 rear wishbones in December 2005 – almost £3000!

Oil receipt for July 2013.

GAZ rear shocks and springs with full setup in August 2013.

New Piper exhaust system, new radiator fans and brake system overhaul in April 2014.

New injectors fitted in April 2017.

Oil receipt for June 2017.

New sump, ball joints, brake hoses, heater control valve, heater pump, A Post seals and service in June 2017.

New Cam Angle Hall Sensor – July 2018.

***Cambelt change on 28/11/2018 at 98,388 miles*** Only 1600 miles ago! ***

Full respray in February 2019.

In my Ownership:

New air filter (Pipercross) in April 2020.

New uprated speakers (both doors and behind seats) in April 2020.

New wiper and indicator stalks along with new window buttons in April 2020.

New Bosch S4 Battery in May 2020.

New front bumper splitter (custom made) in July 2020.

Oil change service on 31/09/2020 at 99,700 miles.

New upper ball joints, CV Boot, refurbished front shocks + springs and lower ball joints in November 2020.

New turbo boost gauge in November 2020.

New Federal semi slick tyres fitted in January 2021.

Front and rear brake overhaul – new sliders etc with the correct red grease in March 2021.

Refurbished rear anti roll bar with new bushes installed in March 2021 (not in the pictures).

Oil change service on 20/03/2021 at 99,981 miles (3 miles ago!)

I did also fit new front brake pads but can't seem to find the receipt – although I did keep the old brake pads which still had plenty of life in them. I also have a front set of dimpled and grooved discs which will be included, I did fit them but they were noticeably louder so I put the standard ones back on which didn't need replacing in the first place but I can't stop myself sometimes! I also purchased 4 new genuine wheel centres but again can't find the receipt. There are bound to be other stuff I've bought for it too so will have another look through the emails to find the receipts.

Issues / bad points:

Every car has them and as this is nearly 30 years old there are a couple of things.

-There is a little exhaust leak, this causes a whistle noise when at around 5k+ revs – I did unbolt the exhaust centre pipe and pushed it in a little more and it did help a lot (was happening at 3k+ revs) but it's still there in the high revs. Hasn't really bothered me as I tend not to go over 4k anyway as the turbo helps pull the car along very well.

-There are a few small cracks in the paint, as it's a fibreglass body this is inevitable – however since I have owned the car it has not deteriorated in any way and is only on edges so not in the middle of a panel or anything obvious.

-The handbrake isn't the best, it does hold on a hill like in the photos and did pass the brake test on the last MOT so it may either just be a Lotus thing or I'm just too used to the electronic parking brake on my work car!

-The hood itself was apparently changed in the mid 2000's – although I can't find any evidence of this. There was a small tear in the common place where the mechanism rubs, this has had a small repair which seems to be good and blends in well.

-There is a tiny oil leak which seems to be coming from the rocker cover seal on the right-hand side at the top, this has accounted for 8 spots on the floor over the past 15 months which I'd say is nothing major.

I have done as much as I can with the car to bring it back up to a nice standard – it's not a show car by any means but it is nicely presented classic that is only going up in value. It is cheap to insure too, fully comp for me (28 years old, 8 years no claims) is only around £180 per year. The new fuel coming out later this year is not compatible with these cars so the premium unleaded will need to be used (BP Ultimate, Tesco Momentum or Shell V-Power etc). I always use this fuel in my cars (except work car) as I do find a small difference in performance and I know it's better for the engine too.

I am happy to take as many photos and videos of the car, including cold/hot starts etc and send them on Whatsapp. Viewing is welcome, but I must ask for proof of insurance if you'd like to test drive as I've had an issue in the past.I am mostly free on evenings and weekends and am happy to pick you up from a train station if travelling by train. The car is located at my home in South Birmingham.

I feel I have priced this right given the current market and the condition of the car, but I am open to all serious offers.

If you are new to the Lotus Elan M100 I would strongly suggest joining the Lotus Elan Central forum as there is lots of advice, guides and information to help with the ownership of these cars.

Thanks for looking and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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