1986 Lotus Excel SE

This Lotus Excel belonged to the current owner’s father, an ex-army colonel, who bought it three months after it was first registered, from Malmesbury Specialist Cars in Wiltshire, a Lotus dealer near him. It’s likely this car was their demonstrator, and the Excel still has their sticker in the back window. MSC maintained the car for the colonel for many years, and he kept the car in very good order, sparing no expense, replacing tyres and carrying out the many required maintenance items (there’s a huge file of paperwork with the car).

The colonel kept the Excel garaged overnight at his house in Worcestershire, so it spent very little time outside in bad weather. It was his main vehicle for about 12 years (which is when most of the mileage was done).

The colonel was an interesting character who became something of a local notable in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. He bought the Lotus when he was 60, when he was the town clerk for Tewkesbury Parish Council, five years after retiring from the British Army. He was always known as ‘Colonel Bill’, right up to his death at the age of 92. Colonel Bill liked to drive all his cars fast, including this Lotus – it was the last of his sports cars, which also included an Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV, a Peerless and a Triumph TR2.

The current owner says, ‘The Lotus is still an exciting car to drive. Providing you use the manual choke the car will start first time but the engine needs to warm up properly to idle smoothly. Internally the roof lining has some mould and could be replaced. Most of the blue leather is in excellent condition, apart from on the dashboard under the windscreen, where it is split.’

The Excel’s still original paintwork is generally very good, but there are some scratches on the nearside front bumper and wing, and the offside front bumper. Additionally the wheels are a little tired looking.

Some of the Lotus graphics at the rear of the car have lost their colour, and the paintwork near the numberplate on the rear bumper is cracked.

The engine bay could really do with a spruce up as most of the paint has peeled away from the engine, with only the odd patch of Lotus red remaining on the alloy unit. The ancillaries could also do with a refurb, although these are cosmetic faults as the car runs well and the engine is sound, having been rebuilt sometime in the last 20,000 miles.

The windscreen is delaminating at the very offside bottom corner, but this is purely a cosmetic issue.

The grey cloth trim inside this Lotus is grubby and a bit scruffy. It could do with a thorough clean, and the door panel areas would benefit from retensioning to remove the slight sag in the cloth.

The headlining has unfortunately not survived well and needs replacing. The blue leather areas of trim are generally quite good but the area under the windscreen is torn and peeling, and the trim on the top of the instrument pod needs replacing.

Things are happier under here as by now Lotus were galvanizing Excel chassis, making them very durable in the process. With a recent MoT, all the suspension, steering and brakes have been overhauled where necessary and the car is ready to drive.

The colonel would turn up to council meetings in this eye-catching silver sports car and be rather proud of the very short time he had taken to get from his house to the meeting. Needless to say he was sometimes stopped by the police and would defend himself vigorously against their claims of excessive speed – and would often get off the charge. He drove himself and his wife everywhere in the Excel – down to Cornwall for the annual summer holiday, or up to Scotland and over to see the current owner, his son, in Reading. He covered 100,000 miles in about the first 10 years of owning the car.

From the late 1990s he drove the Lotus less, as he developed back problems, and became less agile. Like other Lotuses you have to be rather flexible to get into and out of the car, and that became more difficult for him after the age of 70. He finally took the car off the road when he was 82 in 2008. The vehicle then remained in the garage at the house in Worcestershire until about a year after his death in 2017. By that time the Excel had not been driven for more than 10 years.

His son inherited the car from him (so it has only had two private owners since being bought from MSC) and brought the Lotus back to his house in Reading in late 2018. The battery and tyres were flat and he had no idea what other problems it might have. But he wanted to get the car back into a driveable state, so that he could sell it and someone else could have some fun from the car that had brought his Dad a lot of pleasure. (He owns an Elise and doesn’t have garage space for the Excel).

Although it was not exactly a barn find it was definitely a project. His local privately-owned motor workshop, Northcourt Garage had the car for about three months, and returned it to roadworthy condition (see attached expenses which detail the extensive electrical and other work). The tyres were also replaced with the correct specialist tyres and these have had very little wear since. Northcourt Garage has MoT’d the car three times now, most recently in July 2021.

Accompanying the car are many invoices, old MoTs and tax discs, plus the original bill of sake and handbook. Highlights include:

First registered to Malmesbury Specialist Cars on 1 January 1986. Original purchase receipt included.

Sold to Col W Blakemore on 1 April 1986 for £18,430 (mileage then was 1,973).

Involved in a minor RTA in July 1991 (letter and photos), damaging front bumper.

Major engine overhaul in 1991 – £2000

Major service in 1994 – £1026.

Serviced annually or sometimes every 6 months through till it was SORN.

New water pump in 1996 £200.

Completed 100,000 miles by about November 1997 (according to the log book).

Cherished number plate 1 WHB bought in September 1997.

Major engine overhaul in November 1997 (invoice for £6109 dated 17/12/97).

Number plate 1 WHB put on retention on 21 March 2008.

Last MOT mileage pre-SORN 11,714 (second-time around).

Declared SORN 19 June 2008.

Stayed off road, stored in a garage until it was revived in January 2019.

MoT’d after £4k of work including new timing belt 3 Jan 2019, mileage 11,738.

The current odometer reading is 12,100, most recent MOT on 9/7/2021. Of course as mentioned man times already the true mileage is 100,000 more than that.

A very original Excel – and the desirable SE model with improved running gear and performance. A great opportunity to acquire an MoT’d classic Lotus that an enthusiastic new owner could easily improve with some interior cosmetic work.

Our estimate for this car is £5,000 - £8,000.

Viewing is always encouraged and as stated this car is located at THE MARKET headquarters near Abingdon; we are open Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm and to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.