Demented British Car Guys - Do Not Click Here

[Knestis]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&viewitem=&item=270279436641

:happy204:

K

[JeffYoung]

Sweet Haysoos it is the best race car ever!

I am attracted like the fly to the bug zapper......

But why am I not surprised that it says:

LOTUS ESPRIT S2 CLASSIC RACE CAR (never raced)

[iambhooper]

Whack whack WhAcKy cage!

That car looks like it's been a shelf and a play purty for every kid in the family

[Knestis]

Did you read the part about "200 miles...?"

K

[JeffYoung]

Yeah, that's pretty good. That means, since that is an S2, that the car was BUILT as a race car, probably right off the lot. Nice move!

The real gem in the description is that the only actual running appearance it made was in "the early 90s" in a "town parade."

[quadzjr]

very intersting... I guess cages have come a long way in 30 years.

[JeffYoung]

Ron and I know that engine well. It MIGHT make 150 whp maxed out, compression, cams, etc. Maybe.

An ITA Integra is faster. Seriously.

[Ron Earp]

Kirk, are you nuts??? Don't post that stuff while Jeff is around. He has like 9 cars at his house now!

Never raced and it ain't gonna race either.

Used to have an Esprit. Mine was a pretty good car. Caging one would be HARD! It only has the metal backbone to bolt too - the rest of the car is all glass and hangs off and over this structure.

I love this line:

Recently a friend that lives in the racing world gave an opinion that the value of this car in its present condition might be 25K to 30K

That will sell it for sure.

[mrjones2]

Holy head mangling head rest!

Everytime I read these far fetched auctions, I think "well good luck with that" :)

Kendall

[Wreckerboy]

"Demented British Car Guys"

Isn't that somewhat redundant?

[d15b7]

holy crap! someone hand me a gun, so i can just shoot myself in the foot and get it over with! i just put that on my 'watch list' on ebay! :blink:

waaaay back in the day, i bought a 1985 Turbo Esprit which had 9k miles on it; bought it from the original owner, in 1991. a lady had purchased it, and drove it for about a year; had so many little problems keeping it running that she just left it on her farm, in a barn. and then i came along.......

i bought it for $18k (had to borrow half from my dad!!!!). i had it running and driving inside of two weeks... it had a 2.2 Turbo motor, with twin Dellorto 45 carbs; the turbo was a Garrett, and it blew thru a special aluminum plenum dealy into the carbs. when it was running and tuned right it flat out FLEW! the car was pretty light (i think under 2500 lbs, if i remember). car made around 215 hp, but when it came up on the pipe, it simply flew!!!

of course, i had tons of niggling electronic problems, which i was all the time working on. but man, when it was polished up, and you were driving it somewhere; well, you had all the eyes in the neighborhood fixed on you! and it was a total chick magnet; they'd literally walk up and say 'hi'....

i auto-xed it a few times, just to see what it was like; it was mega boost laggy, then huge power and monster oversteer/opposite lock city! really fun, but not much good classed in SS..... i eventually sold it and bought a Super Seven racecar; but man o man, i miss it sometimes!

mine was red in color with a buckskin interior. i hate that yellow color of the S2 on ebay, but it sure would make a interesting and different vintage racer..... hmmmmm!

now where's that gun?

todd
#11 PTE Ford Probenstien

[JeffYoung]

93.5 Esprit SE here. 268 hp, chipped and exhaust probably 300. Fast as stink a straight line, comfortable cruiser at 100 mph. Felt like it would break every time you nailed it........Nice car, enjoyed it, glad it's gone.

Can't imagine trying to race one.....

[d15b7]

Can't imagine trying to race one.....

instead your race car of choice is a Triumph ??? :D

todd

[lawtonglenn]

The first car I bought brand new was a Triumph.

There I was, with a freshly minted college
degree, zooming around in the Spitfire at what
felt like Mach 2, but was really only 35mph.

Great car. Could touch the ground from the
driver's seat, 45 degrees of negative camber
in the rear, and the wind in my hair.

Of course, in the 32k miles that I had it, two
"computers" had to be replaced after leaving
me stranded twice, and I sheared the splines
off the rear axles three times....and countless
other niggling problems that are to be expected
of a brand new car, right?

It was beautiful though, shiney maroon with a gold
stripe, so nice looking that the VW dealer was
duped into giving me quite a deal trading it for
a just released 83 GTI.....now THAT was a car!

[dickita15]

Of course, in the 32k miles that I had it, two
"computers" had to be replaced after leaving
me stranded twice,


What, did the beads fall off the little rods.:D
Having been a British car guy just after they invented the wheel the concept of computers in British cars scares the crap out of me.:eek:

[JeffYoung]

Computers in Spitfires? You mean the round relay things under the passenger dash that "controL' the lights and smoke a lot?

[GBugg]

Now you've done it... a long stream of "my favorite Brit Car stories"! :-D

Brit Car Lesson #212: When cruising the country roads in your 67 Spit, always keep a water bottle in the boot. Otherwise you'll have to dig through a campground trash can looking for a used McD's cup to dip water from the stream into the radiator.

Brit Car Lesson #213: Make sure McD's cup doesn't leak too badly. Otherwise the excess watering of the front end could cause a short in the horn wiring. The wiring will smoke badly, but not burst into flames - regarless of what the impressed girlfried says or how loudly she says it. (She must have been impressed. We've been married for 20 years now!!)

I can provide similar lessons learned from a 59 TR-3, a 58 AH 100/6, a 73 MG Midget, ... ahhhhh.... the good old days! :-)

[quadzjr]

Now you've done it... a long stream of "my favorite Brit Car stories"! :-D

Brit Car Lesson #212: When cruising the country roads in your 67 Spit, always keep a water bottle in the boot. Otherwise you'll have to dig through a campground trash can looking for a used McD's cup to dip water from the stream into the radiator.

Brit Car Lesson #213: Make sure McD's cup doesn't leak too badly. Otherwise the excess watering of the front end could cause a short in the horn wiring. The wiring will smoke badly, but not burst into flames - regarless of what the impressed girlfried says or how loudly she says it. (She must have been impressed. We've been married for 20 years now!!)

I can provide similar lessons learned from a 59 TR-3, a 58 AH 100/6, a 73 MG Midget, ... ahhhhh.... the good old days! :-)


after working on those cars.. It is incridble how simple the honda seems to be.

I don't know about all the rules.. but I had a printed shirt that said something along the lines off..

Lucas electronics.... Factory installed Theft prevention system.

[Wreckerboy]

Computers in Brit cars?

Just remember, if the British had invented the microchip they would have found a way to make it leak oil.

[lawtonglenn]

Computers in Spitfires? You mean the round relay things under the passenger dash that "controL' the lights and smoke a lot?

hehe....I think you've got it!...but it was rectangular
I think....lots of beer under the bridge since then...

[Z3_GoCar]

Just yesterday I saw a maron spitfire with gold decals on the side. It looked like it was showroom new.

When Lucus decided to get in the bussiness of making hovers (vacumes for the yanks), theirs was the only product that didn't SUCK. :rolleyes:

James

[lawtonglenn]

...

When Lucus decided to get in the bussiness of making hovers (vacumes for the yanks), theirs was the only product that didn't SUCK. :rolleyes:

James

and the reason the Brits drink warm beer ... Lucas refrigerators

[dickita15]

and the reason the Brits drink warm beer ... Lucas refrigerators
You mean the same company that invented intermittent wipers, self dimming headlights and four way flashers.

[d15b7]

since i couldn't find a loaded gun, i placed a bid on the damn thing! luckily for me, i was outbid again already....

i'm going to try not to bid anymore on it now!

todd

PS i wonder if it will break $10k?

[GKR_17]

Revised yesterday... buy it now price of (wait for it)...... $75K!!!!!:blink:

I guess a guy can dream. Reserve not met at $6755.14

[Z3_GoCar]

Revised yesterday... buy it now price of (wait for it)...... $75K!!!!!:blink:

I guess a guy can dream. Reserve not met at $6755.14

But.... he was told it was worth at least $25-$30K :blink:

Maybe that's really $25.00-$30,000 then it's in the ball-park:D

BTW, wasn't this one of Bond's cars? Yeah "The Spy Who Loved Me" I guess that's the future of a "Bond" car.

[lateapex911]

Revised yesterday... buy it now price of (wait for it)...... $75K!!!!!:blink:

I guess a guy can dream. Reserve not met at $6755.14


Well, we've found someone who is truly stupid!
He'd be better off playing the lottery. He has a slim to none chance there....
Idiot...:blink:

[d15b7]

i bid up to $6400; whew; i'm glad i lost! :happy204:

todd

[quadzjr]

i bid up to $6400; whew; i'm glad i lost! :happy204:

todd

I am confused

If you were glad to lose.. then why did you bid on the car in the first place... twice? :blink:

[d15b7]

I am confused

If you were glad to lose.. then why did you bid on the car in the first place... twice? :blink:

doesn't the title say it all????? i'm a demented british car guy! heck, i already have a british car thats out of commission (for the last 6 years!). and i have two perfectly serviceable japanese racecars, both of which are running and competing!

todd

PS the british car in question is a lotus super seven, in case you are wondering.

[quadzjr]

I understand now. You can look cool in front of your friends with the lotus while secretly loving the honda under the car cover in the garage.

[dickita15]

Kind of like having a hot wife and an ugly mistress

[quadzjr]

If you think of it that way... why have the mistress?

[lateapex911]

Cuz, while the wife may be hot, she's cold and uncooperative, while the mistress puts out, because she has to compensate.


(A guy I knew years ago, who was admittedly a bit odd, tried to only date blonds who were "average at best" looking with small boobs. He said he had found that they were always willing to "go the extra mile" so to speak, to make up for their perceived shortcomings. Well whatever works, I guess, LOL)

[Knestis]

But wait - just when you thought it was safe to have a positive bank balance...

http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/lotus/1203373850/1203373850pp.htm

http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/lotus/1203373850/1203373850pa.jpg

Or if you really want to go nuts...

http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/lotus/1136692496/1136692496ss.htm

http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/lotus/1136692496/1136692496pb.jpg

K

[JeffYoung]

Now, that X180R shell I actually considered......and fortunately had a moment of rationality and avoided like the plague.

That one has been kicking around in "Lotus land" for a while. It's a 4th shell, never assembled or raced apparently, to the Doc Bundy Esprits that won World Challenge or whatever it was in the early 90s. Pretty cool car, and possibly even actually raceable...........

[d15b7]

oh, yeah, baby.... i remember watching the doc bundy x180r lotus racing; doesn't even seem that long ago!!! a really neato car.... i've never seen the 2nd car, that gt300 esprit; stats look impressive, except for the '1100 lbs weight'; that has to be a misprint -- maybe it means 1100 kgs? i'd kill to own/drive an esprit on track someday!

todd

[Ron Earp]

and possibly even actually raceable...........

No it isn't.

Mine was just a ticking time bomb waiting to self destruct. While I liked the car and it was reliable with respect to starting and running, I've never owned a car that would come up with so many novel ways to malfunction. Like one headlight popping up, one window not going down, one fuel door not opening, getting locked inside with no way out, and so on.

I think a previous owner had already let the smoke out of it thus causing the issues.

[lateapex911]

Usually Kirk is much better than I at parsing extraneous words from his writing, but I'm afraid he failed here:

"Demented British Car Guys"...........


;)

[GBugg]

"Demented British Car Guys" - I think it's hereditary.

My dad always told me that all the MGs and Triumphs sitting on the side of the road were dropped from heaven as a gift. The first person that could make one run got to take it home.

Don't see too many of those gifts any more, but I keep looking...

[lateapex911]

"Demented British Car Guys" - I think it's hereditary.

My dad always told me that all the MGs and Triumphs sitting on the side of the road were dropped from heaven as a gift. The first person that could make one run got to take it home.

Don't see too many of those gifts any more, but I keep looking...

My Father always told me it was a TEST, and if you even stopped, you failed, LOL. Run away!

[JeffYoung]

Demented British Car Guys: please send two of your kind over to my house to fail this test. I have two of these lost little souls, both sorta running, for you to take home. Please. I beg you.