1989 Lotus EXCEL

In the care of the vendor for the past couple of years, this lovely Lotus Excel might have been built on the 20th of July 1988 but it didn’t get registered until the 13th of April 1989. 

The vendor is the fifth registered keeper, the others being: Lotus in the care of Mr Paul Bing, who had it as a company car from new until April 1990 and 19,596 miles; Mr Rob Bates, who owned it between April 1990 and the 12th of August 2014 and 40,200 miles; ‘Mark’ who lived in Bolsover and owned it from August 2014 until sometime in 2018 and 40,405 miles; Mr John Frost, a friend of ‘Mark’, who kept the car between July 2018 and January 2019 before selling it to the vendor in January 2019 when the odometer was reading 41,133 miles (or 63,461 ‘true’ miles).

Only being very reluctantly sold to fund his Lotus Elise S1 habit, the Excel is mechanically sound with only very light patination to the coachwork. Dry-stored, the vendor drove it here, a journey it completed without missing a beat.

The Excel is finished in Champagne Gold metallic, Lotus paint code A58. This is confirmed by the Certificate of Provenance the firm provided, a document that also confirms that this colour was the 6th rarest of the 15 offered in 1988. It was also the last Excel built out of four that year in Champagne Gold, and the last of only two built with this trim and colour combination.

Statistics aside, the bodywork looks terrific but then the bonnet has only just been repainted, a four-figure job that doubtless livened up its already very good coachwork no end.

Paint aside, just take a look at the door shutlines; almost mm-perfect, you’d probably mistake the bodywork for metal if you didn’t know any better. It really is a remarkably well-preserved example of the breed and far better than most we see, almost all of which betray their resin structure with wobbly panels and indifferent alignment, neither of which feature here.

The 16-inch Lotus alloy wheels are in great shape including the boot-mounted spare. The four ones in use are shod with matching 205/50ZR16 tyres too, all of which still have good tread.

As we will never tire of explaining, our experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

Mind you, that said, given the tyres do date back to 2012 we can see the car’s new owner might like to replace them in order to fully enjoy that legendary chassis. (Without wanting to sound like you-know-who, some say that the Excel is the best car Lotus ever built #justsaying…)

Other faults? Well, aside from the inevitable stonechips and minor marks, there is a scratch on the bumper as well as has hairline cracks to the paint from what was presumably a small tap; some slight cracking at the rear of the roof; both buttresses’ have hairline cracks; there is some tiny, barely visible, bubbling to the top of the boot lid; some degradation to the door mirror casings; and some delamination to the corners and edges of both the front and rear screens. Mind you, given that they are believed to be the original glass, you might like to follow the vendor’s lead and maintain the car’s originality for as long as possible. The vehicle was also fitted with electric mirrors but are unfortunately non functioning.

Still, none of that is going to be unduly onerous – and better news comes with the fact that the headlamps rise and fall as they should, which isn’t something you can always take for granted with an old Lotus.

The half mink leather and beige cloth interior is supported by a Sand nylon carpet and Limestone headlining, facts confirmed by the Certificate of Provenance. (I know we’re banging on about it, but it’s a nice touch, don’t you think?)

There are some nice bits of wooden veneer in there too, plus wooden latch handles for the front seats, and a ‘personal Design Giugiaro’ three-spoke leather steering wheel complete with 1980’s red stitching.

It’s all in great shape including the seats, which are still firm and supportive. Impressively, even the padded leather dashboard, which almost invariably dries out and cracks in the sun, is fresh and supple - but then it might not surprise you to learn that the vendor has always used a sunscreen when he’s parked it outside in the sun…

Currently fitted with decent but age-inappropriate Pioneer headunit, the Lotus also comes with a period Clarion E920 radio-cassette player. This will need fitting, something the included owner’s manual should help with. Interestingly, the car left the factory with only a pre-radio fitting kit - and, on an even better note, the Excel still features its Lotus-branded JVC speakers; there’s tidy for you. It be noted that although the vendor advertise the unit as fully working, the owner never actually fitted it.

Faults? Well, given that Lotus has never been known for the robustness of its interiors, the fact that the only glaring fault is that the leather on the gearknob is beginning to fray is remarkable. What makes that even funnier is that you can still buy brand-new replacements – from your local Toyota dealer…

NB: While the odometer reads 43,765 miles, it was replaced at 19,596 miles, something Lotus has confirmed.

Said to be “mechanically sound” by its owner, the Lotus has been fettled by LotusBits, Wallis & Sons, and Bob Ranscombe in recent years. The most recent work includes:

• 05.02.2019 and 41,242 miles – an oil and filter change, an oil pressure test (70psi cold and 45psi hot), an offside front brake hose and pipe, a repair to two split rubber bobbins, and two track-rod-end rubbers fitted by Wallis & Sons at a cost of almost £600

• 23.05.2019 and 41579 indicated miles/61175 actual miles – a new cambelt and tensioner bearing plus a new balljoint, to balance the carburettors, and miscellaneous other fettling by Lotusbits at a cost of £1,224

• 26.07.2019 and 41,965 miles – a reconditioned wiper motor on the nearside by Wallis & Sons at a cost of £158

• 26.09.2019 and 42285 indicated miles/61881 actual miles  – to repaint bonnet and rebuild the differential by Lotusbits at a cost of £2,496

• 07.10.2019 and 42,388 miles – to free off brakes by G.P. Motors Ltd at a cost of £111

• 14.02.2020 and 42807 miles – a comprehensive service by Ranscombe Cars Limited at a cost of £1,332

The vendor drove it to us from his home near Cambridge without any issues, proving that a well-maintained Lotus can be as reliable as any other car of the same age. He’s covered a couple of thousand miles in it and has found it to be “fantastic” and “extremely reliable”. He also singles the engine and exhaust notes out for praise, saying that his Excel makes a “great noise”.

We’ve also taken it for a brief test drive and found that it does what it should when it should, and makes a great noise into the bargain, all of which we’re chalking up to a win.

By the way, if you’re looking for an insight into the owner’s attitude towards his classic cars, then please note the written record in which he documents every single journey he’s ever undertaken in it, journeys that included a run down to Castle Coombe from Cambridge, a trip the Lotus undertook “without missing a beat” and “very comfortably”.

The engine bay is very nicely finished and clean. A fastidious owner might want to paint the radiator expansion tank but there’s little in there that couldn’t be remedied in a lazy Sunday morning.

The underside looks to be solid, clean, and undamaged.

The Lotus’s MOT certificate, which is valid until July 2021, was gained without a single advisory point. It has a number of expired MOT certificates plus a sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years.

It also has a Lotus Certificate of Provenance, an owner’s handbook and wallet plus two sets of keys.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained to a very good standard.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

We yield to no-one in our admiration for Lotus; and yet, while we admire Colin Chapman’s legacy and the Norfolk-firm’s ability to weave magic from the humblest of mechanical components, we’d also be the first to admit that the company’s somewhat lackadaisical attitude towards build quality does sometimes make it hard to put your money where your mouth is.

Unless, of course, you buy one that’s been not only put together properly but maintained in the same manner. A car, in other words, like this Toyota-inspired Excel SE.

Running beautifully and looking wonderful, the combination of a composite body and a galvanized chassis means that rust isn’t an issue, either. Plus, mirrors aside, the electrics all seem to be being wrangled in the conventional manner – and that’s not a sentence we get to write very often. It really is a stunning vindication of the firm’s engineering integrity and shows that most ne’er-do-well examples are generally that way because of poor maintenance than anything else.

All of which means that our guide price of somewhere between £8,000 and £12,000 seems like chump-change. Yes, we know that then same sum would buy you a ratty, unloved, and abused Elise, but which would you rather have?

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; 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’.