1991 Lotus Elan M100 Convertible 2-Door 1.6L

I have owned this car for 8 1/2 years, nd it kills me to sell it, ut my wife passed away last month and I need the money to pay funeral expenses. I will get back into Lotus ownership later, ut that's another thing. Once you drive a Lotus, ou will always want to have one. Because of my situation, am willing to take a hit on price and accept less than I normally would, o don't be shy and make your offer. Even if you think it's ridiculously low, hat's the worst that can happen? The Buy-it-now price is already well below value. I have included the NADA book valuation in the pictures.

If you think Lotus cars havethe reputation of being in the shop all the time, his is not that kind of Lotus. Will it have its quirks? Yes. The M100 Elan has an Isuzu drivetrain, uned and modified by Lotus engineers, f course. You get Japanese reliability with this car. As for the cost of ownership? Well, irst of all, eople will think you paid waaaaaay more for this car than you did, nd will think it's a lot newer than it is. I usually just let them think those things. I won't say how much I paid for it, ut I will tell you how much it has cost to own (not including gas and insurance, hich isn't expensive, nd it gets over 30 mpg on the highway at 80mph). All of the modifications, pgrades, nd repairs I have done in 8 1/2 years work out to about $80/month. That's a pretty affordable car payment. Also, he repairs I had to do included one pretty expensive one that was totally my fault, nd included two interior re-trims (didn't like the way the first one turned out, nd the leather/suede used didn't hold up well either, o you should expect owning to cost you a lot less. Also, his car has long since past the point where it depreciates. Like I said, ot going to tell you what I paid for it, ut if I weren't in a hurry, could sell it for more than I bought it for, ven though it's now 8 1/2 years older and has twice the miles on it.

The Autocheck History Report shows an accident in 2009 with slight damage. Although is says it was a collision with another vehicle, t was not. There is a small Japanese Maple tree just behind the turnaround in our driveway. One night I was pulling out and forgot it was there. I bumped into it on the left rear bumper and corner of the spoiler, ausing slight damage to the paint only. I had a small deductible on my insurance, o I had it repaired at a local shop. That's why it was reported. I have no idea why it was reported as a collision with another vehicle, nd there is no trace whatsoever of the damage or the repair.

There are a couple of things you will want to take care of (I would, ut I don't have time) to make this car near-perfect. As it is, have been using it as my daily driver, nd taking it to British car shows. I would not hesitate to hop in and drive the car coast-to-coast right now. I have included a screenshot from SJ Sportscars' website parts ordering page which shows all the parts needed to make everything perfect (prices are in GBP), nd those parts are all available (shipping isn't included in that image). Because I need to sell quickly and because there are the things I am listing that are still needed to make the car near perfect, y BIN price is $4,000 lower than I would otherwise ask. My loss is your gain.

Remember, his is a 25 year old, and-built exotic sports car. There were only a total of 559 of these cars imported, nd only the 1991 model year. You will probably never see another one on any road you're on. Why drive a dime-a-dozen MX5,or Boxster, hen you can drive something that really turns heads? It will not be perfect,and a blast to drive.The things I'm telling you the car needs fixed are to make it near-perfect. It is 100% reliable and extremely drivable as-is. It is, o this day, he best handling FWD production car ever built.

I have included a lot of pictures. There is only one blemish on the body that I know of, hich is in the center of the front bumper, n the groove. It is only visible very close up, nd included in the pictures. I don't know what happened to the car there, ecause it was that way when I bought it. My guess is that a previous owner bumped intosomething at low speed (probably parking) and cracked the paint. It looks like it was a DIY repair, ut like I said, ou have to get down on your knees and get very close to see it. Personally, f I were keeping the car, nd really wanted it to be perfect, might take it to a body shop and get the front bumper repainted, ut from ten feet away, ou can't even see it.

There is some rust on the right lower rear wishbone (pictured). I had intended to replace both rear wishbones on several occasions with stainless steel ones that were being custom madefor LotusElanCentral group buys, ost recently this past Summer, ut those group buys fell through each time.

Shortly after I bought the car I inspected the shift cables, ased on advice from reading on LotusElanCentral. The OEM cables had plastic fittings and, ure enough, ne of them was cracked and wasn't going to hold much longer. I bought a set of AB cables through LEC. They weren't a perfect fit, ut all I had at that point. (There are others available now through LEC that are better, nd SJ Sportscars has a very affordable replacement/upgrade set available too) With those cables installed, he automatic centering feature of the shifter went away and never came back. It made the shifting a bit rougher (It was very smooth before the cable change), nd made finding the right gear something that takes a few days of driving the car to get used to. Once I was used to it, t almost never bothered me again. The only part that ever really bugged me is that sometimes it takes a few tries to get it into reverse. I think/hope replacing the cables will correct that. It's actually possible that I got the cables twisted around each other in the tunnel, nd untwisting them may clear it all up. I just haven't ever had the spare time to try it, nd now I really don't have time.

Like allM100s, hen it rains, ou will get a little wet. However, am including a complete set of new roof seals, inus the header rail seal (available from SJ Sportscars - see picture - or from Dave Bean Engineering), hich should completely fix the problem, nce they're installed and the windows are adjusted for the new seals. Speaking of the windows, wo things there. First, he outer glass seals need to be replaced (SJ Sportscars, ot expensive). Second, oth windows need the sliders lubricated. (I am also including in the sale enough new sliders and clips to replace any that may need replacing.) Until that is done, he driver's window is a little slow moving and sometimes gets a little crooked when closing, hich causes it to stick. All you have to do is grab it and straighten it out to unstick it. These things were never an emergency for me to fix, ince I have almost never driven it on rainy days in the last three years.

If you aren't familiar with the M100 Elan, heck out the Wikipedia page for basic information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Elan

There is a wonderful resource for everything you could ever need to know, nd all the help/information you could ever need: http://www.lotuselancentral.com

I have always done service/oil changes at more frequent intervals than listed in the owners' manual, nd always used Mobil1 synthetic oil. The most recent service was done in April 2015 (see below).

I love this car more than any car I've ever owned, nd I will miss it. I hope whoever buys it loves it as much as I have.

Please don't hesitate to ask questions.

Here's a little extra. Click the youtube link to listen to the exhaust note. This car has a really nice, eep sound, ven at Idle. (the little bit of squeaking in the background is the AC belt. It squeaks a little when it's wet).https://youtu.be/gNef2bchLTQ

Timing Belt, ransmission Service, il/Fliter, new Spark Plugs/Leads, ight Lower Control Arm, ight Upper/Lower Balljoints, V Boots

May 2015:

Interior Re-trim, Upgraded Front Brakes Saab/Vectra modification. (calipers off of a Saab 9-3 and front discs from a Subaru Outback), verest chip.

Other Modifications/Upgrades:

AB Shift Cables. High performance injectors made by RC Engineering in California. Custom Metal Monkey dial faces and LED lighting Alpine iDA-001 head unit (no CD player, Pod connection in glovebox) directly controls iPod.--Requires older iPod. iPod Touch 2nd Edition is included. Alpine 5-channel AMP in the trunk. 8" Subwoofer in the hood stowage area behind seats. Shower cape will go with the car. Hankook Ventus tires mounted in December 2013 andhave less than 8,000 miles on them, re perfect.

TOMTOM One GPS is hardwired and will go with the car. Maps current 2014. Everything stock I ever removed, still have and it will go with the car.

Spares/Parts that will go with the car:

New A-pillar seals, new Falling pillar seals, new Intermediate seals, new Butterfly clips and sliders for windows

Parts/Repairs Needed:

Header Rail seal (about $400 from Dave Bean or SJ Sportscars)

R/H Lower Rear Wishbone has some rust. (See Picture) It looks worse in the picture because most of the hole you see was a mounting hole for that little white plastic clip you see on the brake line.

Shifting needs to be cleaned up. May just be cables.

Windows need sliders installed and lubed (All parts included)