Lotus Elise?

Looked seriously into buying one of these (and an exige). The engine was likely blown to oil starvation. Factory, they have two oil cooler lines that run to the front and between the two coolers in the front. They're soft lines and poorly crimped...sometimes the connectors blow off and instant engine failure.

They're cool cars, but between the fiberglass body that only comes off in 4 pieces (so no small body repairs, only extremely expensive ones), the oil line problems and the sheer impracticality of it...I had to pass.

 

well, did you get it?

 

Get it but don't rebuild or replace the engine with the stock one. Take it to John Hennessey and have them turn it into a Hennessey Venom GT

 

Same deal here man! But I don't have to wait until I'm done school haha. I'm doing a 5 year business program at Northeastern in Boston, and you can do 1-3 co-ops (each 6 months long, make about $15k each time). I'm probably going do to two. $30k is a nice chunk of change to be able to drop on a car while still in university! Only going into first year next year, so I haven plenty of time to decide what to buy.

Currently debating between an S2000, R32/R33 GT-R, 350Z, Impreza 2.5RS coupe (and doing an STI swap), or FD RX7. I'd look for a 4th gen Supra but they are just about impossible to find in original condition if you want a Turbocharged Targa-top manual transmission car. Same thing for a 300ZX turbo.

 

To pick up a good condition NSX $40k would already be extremely cheap. I doubt $30k would be in decent condition

 

i saw Bam Margera blow by me on the Pa turnpike in a green Lotus.....i looked right at him in his bug eyes

 

Going by ebay prices it wouldn't be impossible to pick up a good looking one for $30k, even $25k looks reasonable.

I wouldn't really want an NSX, not yet at least. They look awesome, handle amazing (from what I've read), though they lack a little in straight line speed. Even with a relatively "normal" Honda engine in them, I imagine that maintenance would still be expensive - never looked into it though. Insurance would be killer for one of those though.

Well up in Canada it's a different story, (almost) anything older than 15 years is fully legal! There are quite a few GT-Rs up here already, if not going through an import broker to get the perfect car isn't too hard. It's also a way to get a RHD 4th gen Supra Turbo, FD RX7, or 300zx TT. I guess due to the current Japanese dollar right now, the conversion rates are insane, plus the availability of cars from Japan right now is probably questionable.

If I was to drop $38,000 on an original Supra like that, I'd feel awful driving it though. A car like that will probably be sitting in a garage for the rest of it's life haha.

Here are a few GT-Rs that I drooled over a few minutes ago... lol

http://www.rightdrive.ca/inventory_cars/view/238

http://www.rightdrive.ca/inventory_cars/view/235

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...yline-GTR-r32-nismo-BUY-ME-W0QQAdIdZ279508831

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...ne-R32-Gunmetal-Grey-Coupe-W0QQAdIdZ228404538

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-cars-trucks-1992-Nissan-Skyline-GTR-W0QQAdIdZ277709908

But yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll stick to my list above when car shopping in a few years. S2000, R32/R33 GT-R, 350Z, Impreza 2.5RS coupe (w/ STI swap), or FD RX7. Doubt I'll go with ANOTHER STI, one is enough. Though I have always loved the GD STIs (04-07). Plenty of time to think about it though!

 

I have your NSX below. I need the space in my garage. Its almost still new, still has the plastic on the door sills, and less than 10k miles.

 

Auction ends this friday at noon, I offered 12k so we'll see what happens..i have already called around and found it fairly easy to find a replacement engine. Haven't seen too many people checking it out, i figure most people looking are just looking at it because it's such a rare car for our area

 

I'm guessing it'll sell for 18-22k. But I do hope I'm wrong and you get it.

 

yeah i imagine it going for more then that, but i dont have a ton of cash to be throwing into a car with a blown engine. we'll see though!