OV9

As an aside, I saw on a FB group that Will Blackham said he had fallen out of love with cars, which shocked me a bit TBH. He sold me my car, and seems like a nice guy. Anyone know what happened?

@duncs500 No idea about Will other than my earlier comment on retiral.

Bloke I bought my VXR8 from was a specialist trader in performance/exotic stuff. He had various Ferrari/Lambo/Porsche in-stock at the same time. Told me that being a trader had killed his love for cars - had driven almost everything he'd ever desired, and he couldn't enjoy owning anything as every car was always for sale for the right price. He didn't really see them as cars any more - just business assets to be traded.

He gave up on trading cars back in 2023 from coversations on SELOC but was doing some work with some dealers I believe?
Jon Seal seems to have taken the mantle for being the Lotus specialist these days, and he's incredibly competitive on pricing, to be fair!

Also, regarding the Lotus purchase - I forgot that Exiges pre-2017 will be £750/year with the forthcoming increase - which is mental. The same, I believe as @mik 's SR, but the Evora 400 just sneaks into the £430/year bracket.

£750/year on a second car is a tough pill to swallow - especially when a year or so later you'll only be paying £180!

Paging

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16CF1u ... tid=wwXIfr

He’s already liked it Scott - I was going to point it out but realised he’d seen it. Looks lovely. I’m intrigued at how Evora values are standing up.

Silver cars are very middling to me - the safe bet. However, that looks incredible.

I suspect the £60k comes from the ultra-low mileage, but it's too close to Emira money, and it's value is too dependant on that mileage staying low (IMO).

That Red Exige 350 mentioned earlier sold pretty much instantly that Jon had, and has 5 people waiting if for any reason it falls though as well I think he went too cheap with that.

Edit also, this:
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/17873185
came back up for sale. I'd be interested to know why it did, as they sold it 2 months ago, but that is perfect. I'd find the extra £2k despite the mileage!

Matty wrote: Fri Mar 14, 2025 6:47 pm
Edit also, this:
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/17873185
came back up for sale. I'd be interested to know why it did, as they sold it 2 months ago, but that is perfect. I'd find the extra £2k despite the mileage!

Oof!

At £60k I’d be looking at GT4’s.

It just seems that all these options live in a weird bracket where the good ones step on each other toes and theres always a conflict of “if i’m spending all that on a top condition xxx then id rather have the xxx” Vs “i’m spending lots of money so i don’t want a cheap one that i won’t like as much”…

1st world problems and all that!!

Rich B wrote: Fri Mar 14, 2025 8:44 pm It just seems that all these options live in a weird bracket where the good ones step on each other toes and theres always a conflict of “if i’m spending all that on a top condition xxx then id rather have the xxx” Vs “i’m spending lots of money so i don’t want a cheap one that i won’t like as much”…

1st world problems and all that!!

The problem I’ve got with the Elise is that I need to spend significantly more to upgrade to something faster/better. Only thing I’d entertain would be a GT4 or an exige V6.

scotta wrote: Fri Mar 14, 2025 8:39 pm At £60k I’d be looking at GT4’s.

Matt doesn’t do Porsches, IIRC. Is that right Matt? Or are GT cars an exclusion?

Are GT4s £60k - hat seems pretty good value tbh - in my head i thought they were sticking in the £80k bracket.

Rich, the Evora/Emira overlap still makes no sense to me - but there will also be an element of 'budget creep' if it means getting the one you really want, opposed to saving a bit and feeling like you've short changed yourself....I've been there, and regretted it a few times.

I'm not a modern Porsche fan (prefer 964/993 era), but like Scott for £60k the GT4 is incredibly tempting. I suspect however, the running costs of a GT4 would be significantly higher than a mechanically simpler Evora. Alas, don't have £60k so largely moot

Manual GT4 for <£50k
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 3079853395

Matty wrote: Fri Mar 14, 2025 9:11 pm Rich, the Evora/Emira overlap still makes no sense to me - but there will also be an element of 'budget creep' if it means getting the one you really want, opposed to saving a bit and feeling like you've short changed yourself....I've been there, and regretted it a few times.

Yep, not an easy task to find that sweet spot!

The 718 GT4 goes down to £65k on Auto Trader. So there’s not a lot of price difference between that and a 981. I think the cheapest 718s are probably where the value lies. Moot point if Matt isn’t spending that.

Jobbo wrote: Fri Mar 14, 2025 9:35 pm Moot point if Matt isn’t spending that.

I'm always happy to discuss investments, donations or crowdfunding.

Paging again.

https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/201 ... -exige-s-2

I know the first owner through lotus circles. Seen the car in the flesh. Stunning with the orange paintwork.

Do note however that the AC isn’t working according to the Ad. Further note that’s a big job to fix. Clam off ect.