1991 Lotus Elan SE Turbo

This 1991 manual RHD Lotus Elan SE Turbo has just 30,331 miles on the clock and has had one family owner from new.

You may have guessed from the registration that her name was Julia.

Ten years ago, on the occasion of its 2013 MoT, it had covered 28,536 miles.

So, as you’ve no doubt discerned, this car has had a fairly stress-free and gentle life and has been used sparingly.

It has been kept in a heated garage or in an aerated bubble in a garage for its entire life.

It has recently had £1,969 worth of servicing, re-commissioning, repair and maintenance work carried out on it by Hexagon Modern Classics of London, having been laid up for a while previously.

It has also recently had a few blemishes professionally attended to by Chips Away.

It is now being sold by the owner’s son.

As far as we can see, the car is in pretty good condition all round.

The fibre-glass bodywork is really very good and there are no dents, creases or dinks of any significance to report.

The shut lines and panel gaps are consistent and even.

The green paintwork has held up fairly well, too, although the car has picked up the entirely standard amount of minor scratches, stone chips and scuffs you’d expect to find on a 1991 vehicle.

The wheels have some kerbing in evidence and there are a few scratches to be seen – but nothing a decent refurbishment couldn’t sort out.

There are a few scuffs, scratches and stone chips around the front valance and, to a lesser extent, on the ‘nose’ of the car.

There are some scuffs and stone chips on the sills and the rear bumper, and some light scratches on the driver’s door and the boot lid.

The car’s black fabric hood looks very decent and its condition is far more a reflection of the car’s low mileage than its age.

The lights, lenses, badging, trim and other exterior fixtures and fittings all seem to be in good order.

The condition of the interior is very much a match for its exterior counterpart.

In other words, it’s good in parts, less so in others, and needs some remedial attention here and there.

Overall though, it’s really pretty reasonable and the upholstery has withstood both use and the passage of time with notable fortitude for the most part.

The black leather upholstery with blue/red/grey check fabric inserts looks very good, in our opinion.

While it appears to be free of any splits, holes or tears, there is some wear to the door-side bolster at the base of the backrest on the driver’s seat.

There is a section of carpet missing from the base of the driver’s door card and, on the passenger side, the check fabric is coming away from the door card at one corner.

There are some scuffs and marks at the rear of the driver’s seat headrest.

The paint has flaked off the metal grab plate on the shoulder of the passenger seat and the space vacated by the paint has now been occupied by some surface rust.

Elsewhere, the carpets and mats are decent and the dashboard, centre console, instruments and dials all look to be in fine fettle.

The boot is good.

The engine bay looks as you would hope to find in a car that’s yet to advance much beyond 30,000 miles. Everything appears to be in its right and proper place.

The car’s MoT certificate is valid until 25.6.24.

It comes with a service book containing some earlier stamps, an owner’s manual, a breakdown of the work carried out recently by Hexagon and, of course, a current V5.

Please note that important additional paperwork has now been added to the gallery, including the original purchase order and invoice and many servicing invoices.

We think this is good, low mileage, one family owner example of both the model and the marque, and we know that it’s recently had considerable money spent on it getting it back into optimal mechanical condition.

We estimate this car will reach anywhere between £12,000 - £15,000.

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