Now whilst I realise i require considerable help… This is not the issue I am faced with here
Oh learned and fellow Exigers please help to get this straight in my mind, what to do?
Try to sell my S2 complete as is to fund the purchase of a really nice S1 Exige I have found, and then turn into the car I want
Try to sell my S2 returned to reasonably standard then sell it and all the removed bits to fund the purchase of a really nice S1 Exige I have found, and then turn into the car I want
If so, I was a little surprised at the asking price initially - but when you read the description of the huge amount of extras your car comes with, the price made sense.
What wasn’t 100% clear is whether all the standard parts will be included in the sale? You seem to allude to that, but not list them separately?
However, personally I always feel that a standard car would appeal to a larger audience (certainly from a financial point of view, and also appealing to those that are deterred by upgrades, or the reasoning behind why the car has had any). But returning yours to standard would obviously have some costly challenges what with the charge cooler element if I’m correct?
Perhaps offer a half way house? Leave the motor/drivetrain upgrades, but return the cosmetic items to standard (seats, sill covers, etc…)
It sounds as though your heart is set on a change, so I say go for it, and I’d personally approach it from a ‘return to standard’ (or as near to standard as possible) point of view.
Try to sell my S2 returned to reasonably standard then sell it and all the removed bits to fund the purchase of a really nice S1 Exige I have found, and then turn into the car I want…
Yup . This is the way to maximise sale proceeds
Yes your are right it is my car, and yes all the old parts do come with it, I might not have been very clear in the advert I will redo it to make it slightly clearer.
As you say it is a lot of money and of probably little interest to people already on here which is why I hadn’t put the link up here.
I’ve just recouped 5 K in bits off mine… so when I sell the car it will owe me so much less than it otherwise would.
In truth I think I’ll actually get more for it than I paid 5 years ago !
The guy selling has the time constraint, I can own both cars at once for a few months. Worst way is to re sell the S1 before my drop dead date for needing the investment money.
As for Angelsey, I will have a car to take on track, just won’t be sure what it will be…
A small engine swop to something with a touch more power and slightly less fragile (with a route to go back) and to use the same way I use my current S2 track days and fun
You know what it is like though I doubt I could leave it alone though, but everything would always be reversible.
You could always rebody an Elise and Honda or Audi it , I can see you replacing most of it with carbon anyway , not sure how reversable the engine swaps are and at what cost .
If your planning to keep the S1 then it doesn’t really matter I suppose , shame about the S2 though , nice car .
my 2p worth… You seem to already have the car you wanted in the modded S2, could you keep it, sell all surplus stuff and anything else to raise enough to but S1 and keep it standard as others seem to advise too?
So can you pull all the plugs and have both?, does it have to be either or?
There appears to be a lot of “nostalgic reverence” around for the S1 with VHPD - mainly by non S1 owning peeps. On one hand I can fully understand this, as originality counts a lot for some folk.
But the stark reality in my own experience is that the S1 in VHPD guise was very flawed, if used as intended ie a road car which is also regularly used on track. The “conversion” market would never have taken off the way it did in the early 2000’s if the original car had delivered on both performance & reliability. I’ve driven my car circa 40k miles with VHPD, & circa 60k post conversion including circa 30 VHPD trackdays, & circa 60 Honda’d trackdays, with absolutely no post conversion regrets.
This post is not intended to have a prod at anyone, or their choice/preference, just my own opinion with the benefit of 12 years from new ownership, & a fair number of road miles/trackdays behind me.
On the other hand, would anyone buy a classic Ferrari/Porsche/Lambo/Lotus/etc with a non original engine fitted? I guess its down to what you want and trying to achieve.
If it were me, I’d be looking for the legiest, cheapest non Category Elise, and doing as Moomin suggests. If an S1 Exige is now 25k ish and up, you can buy an Elise for 8ish. Main difference is body and wheels, chances are that everything else is going to be upgraded anyway. 17k buys a lot of wheels, wheels and paint! Even the newest Exige is 12 plus years old, so chances are that you are going to be changing bushes, bearings, powdercoat, etc on either of them.
That is why I asked the question I did early in the thread. If going to track it ‘flat’ then get a cheaper S1 example and Honda it, but if not then I’d be putting my money into a good/mint VHPD and over maintaining it to return on the investment at some point.
I plan a fully reversible conversion, enjoyment heritage and investment, I will not sell the K Series, I have had chances to buy a ready converted Elige I just don’t want one I want an Exige warts and all
