Autocar UK – 28 August 2019

Where does a keen driver on a budget

find their Lotus kicks? We found this

8 0 k- m i l e 1 9 9 5 E l a n S 2. N o wo r d o n i t s

history, but check for faulty injectors

causing rough running, the glassfibre

body for repairs, a warped hood

frame and the underside for scrapes.

The 1 Series M Coupé was welcomed

with open arms, not least by Autocar,

which praised its back-to-basics

feel, epic performance and overall

handling feel. Our find is a BMW

approved used 2012/12-reg manual

with 60,000 miles.

It doesn’t seem much for a 2003 DB7

V12 with a claimed full history. The

seller says it’s running beautifully, but

we’d check for misfires, frail hoses,

gearbox coolant leaks, worn brakes,

rust, a malfunctioning air-con system

and sticky power windows.

Pick-ups weren’t always overblown

Dodge RAM lookie-likies. The Sierra-

based P100, launched in 1987, was a

more modest and honest affair. This

one’s a 1992 K-reg with 98,000 miles

that seems to have avoided hard

labour and appears in fine condition.

KEENLY

PRICED

COUPE

NOT YOUR

AVE RAGE

NISSAN

BUY THEM

BEFORE WE DO

WILD CARD

t’s a constant source

of amazement that the

company that trots out

the Micra and Pulsar

is the same one that fashions the

mighty GT-R. It arrived in the UK

i n 2 0 0 9 c o s t i n g f r om £ 57, 0 0 0, but

today’s updated and more powerful

version starts at £82,000.

All this makes the 50,000-mile

2009 Black Edition we saw for sale

at £ 32 ,99 0 v e r y t e mp t i n g i nde e d.

It has every service accounted

for, mo s t p e r for me d b y le a d i n g

specialist Litchfield. Being a Black

Edition, it has powered seats , a

Bose sound system and automatic

headlights. Any worries about how

it’s been driven can be addressed by

t a k i n g it t o a n of f ic i a l Ni s s a n GT-R

performance centre, which, for about

£60, will interrogate its software.

Within a few days, its darkest secrets

w i l l d r op t h r ou g h y ou r le t t e rb ox.

Its solid maintenance record

suggests all should be well, but while

we’re waiting for the performance

report, we’d be keen to check

for f lywheel shaft bearing noise

emanating from the bell housing

behind the engine. The thought that

it’ll need new cam chains in 20,000

miles at a cost of around £2000 will

occupy our attention, too.

We won’t be unduly worried about

transmission noise on the test drive

• “they all do that, sir” – but we

will check that the dampers aren’t

weeping and that the inner shoulders

of the tyres aren’t worn.

The paint chips easily, in turn

causing rust spots to erupt, but the

biggest concern regarding bodywork,

in addition to crash repairs, is that

the bonnet isn’t misaligned. It’s a

single-use, pedestrian-friendly item

that costs up to £10,000 to replace.

JOHN EVANS

I

Nissan GT-R £ 3 2,9 90

Ford P 100

£ 3995

Aston Martin DB 7

5 .9 V12 coupé £ 16 ,0 00

Lotus Elan S2 1.6 LE

£ 7500

BMW 1M

£ 35 ,3 17

MILE-

MUNCHEN

M-CAR

LOTUS

WITH REAL

ELAN

74 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 28 AUGUST 2019