The Lotus Grand Tourers

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1991-LOTUS-EX ... 3641.l6368




Nice car , very tempted !

Odd that its got the older style leather seats and trim. Cant be original if its a post Celebration car.

Some strange dates in the handbook.

Date of purchase: 2-8-91
Dealer's Stamp: 2-8-91
PDI: 1-8-91
1st A service 31/1/91 2932 miles
2nd B Service 5/5/92 3887 miles

edit: wrong 1st service date

don't see anything in the car or documents to raise doubts about its authenticity.

Date of purchase 2nd August 1991
First Service 31 January 1991

Maybe an error with the first service date (should be 1992 as I first entered it)

ChrisJ wrote:Date of purchase 2nd August 1991
First Service 31 January 1991

Maybe an error with the first service date (should be 1992 as I first entered it)

Could it not be a factory car initially - serviced by them. Then later sold at a discount to a punter as a low mileage example?

ChrisJ wrote:Date of purchase 2nd August 1991
First Service 31 January 1991

Maybe an error with the first service date (should be 1992 as I first entered it)

First month of any new year is always written last year until the grey matter wakes up after all the booze.

The first 8 or so years have good record but the there is a 13 year gap to the next record. Why? Coul be all sorts of explanations including odometer switching, laid-up (no mention), exported/imported. Must be worth checking out before bidding. Particularly with that degradation on the cam covers. Like to think it genuine given it looks ok. Sadly have personally been bitten in the past by perhaps 'selective' description. Hey-ho. It does look good though!!

there is a very good one on ebay but the price is at the top end.

shaunw wrote:Odd that its got the older style leather seats and trim. Cant be original if its a post Celebration car.

It's an interesting one. It is obviously the last 1991MY car built, after the celebrations, and presumably they hadn't decided to carry the perforated leather trim over to the next cars at that point. Maybe they weren't even going to build any more.

kkv444v wrote:

shaunw wrote:Odd that its got the older style leather seats and trim. Cant be original if its a post Celebration car.

It's an interesting one. It is obviously the last 1991MY car built, after the celebrations, and presumably they hadn't decided to carry the perforated leather trim over to the next cars at that point. Maybe they weren't even going to build any more.

Could be. Maybe it was only MY 92 cars that had perforated leather then. I thought that all post Celebration models had the newer style interior.The perforated leather looks so much better IMHO.

shaunw wrote:

kkv444v wrote:

shaunw wrote:Odd that its got the older style leather seats and trim. Cant be original if its a post Celebration car.

It's an interesting one. It is obviously the last 1991MY car built, after the celebrations, and presumably they hadn't decided to carry the perforated leather trim over to the next cars at that point. Maybe they weren't even going to build any more.

Could be. Maybe it was only MY 92 cars that had perforated leather then. I thought that all post Celebration models had the newer style interior.The perforated leather looks so much better IMHO.

The car is a pre-Celebration model as indicated by the style of the seats.
I am pretty sure that all post Celebration cars had the perforated leather (there weren't very many of them as production had almost stopped.)

Forgot to add that around the early 1990s Excels were sticking in dealer's showrooms and some new ones were over a year old when registered.

The car is actually post-celebration as evidenced by its chassis number. There were 34 cars built after the Hethels, this being the first (and the only one being a 91MY).

kkv444v wrote:The car is actually post-celebration as evidenced by its chassis number. There were 34 cars built after the Hethels, this being the first (and the only one being a 91MY).

The chassis number is one after the last allocated to the Celebrations.
When a block of 40 numbers was allocated to the Celebrations Lotus were still building non-Celebration models (if not many).
Without confirmation from Andy Graham, the sequence of manufacture is open to debate.

As you say there were 34 chassis numbers after the the last Celebration, and if this is the only 91MY car in that sequence it follows that since 16 were manufactured in 1992, 17 92MY cars were made in 1991.

In specification it is a pre-Celebration car with an interior style the same as the Excel I owned in the late 80s.

I see it hasn't met the reserve, but if/when it comes up again check the service history if you are interested. The current owner, in 4 years of ownership, has done one (self) service, with no mention of the cambelt! The history is vague with a big gap between 1999 and 2012.

Andy told me earlier in the year that he had no record of this chassis number! I have asked him to comment on this 'new' information.

By the way, there were fifteen cars built (completed) in 1992, and eighteen 92MY cars built in 1991, totalling 33.