Questions on JPS Barn Find

[Fotog]

Richard (and Fotog) is mistaken about the brake drums of the JPS. They are the same as on any Special. I think their confusion lies in the fact that the TC Special has wider drums than the TC (non-special) but the JPS is merely a black 5-speed.

Yes, you're right about that (my confusion)!

[Fotog]

I'll just weigh in to say you'll probably get a lot more giggles out of driving the Europa than the truck.  But it's your call, and have fun no matter what you decide!

[HoraceM22]

Reading your thoughts as to what to do with your find, I thought I'd give you a couple of points to think about regarding costs
As the owner of a black "JPS" coloured TCS, can I offer a few words from the UK.
Restoring a car over here (by a restorer, if you cannot do the work yourself) is a VERY costly way of achieving your desire, buying the finished article is much more cost effective. You'll never get your money back.

I've had mine for a year or so and as bought it looked great, with great paint, new interior, wiring, ashtray etc. A local guy who has restored a couple of twincams and now does S1 Esprits said "It's about a 95% car, really good". I made a few minor mods to it, got the brakes working to my liking etc, and I'm just about to refit the engine after doing a rebuild at 92k miles, due to it being a bit smelly, not smokey, just smelly with the windows open . (zero/zero on the crank, new valves, guides, a new liner and a 0.010" re-bore to +0.030" pistons etc.). Probably about GBP £2,500

During my investigation into its massive history file it dawned on me that the previous but one owner to me hadn't spent any money at all. After contacting him he said he had indeed spent a fair bit and gave me details of the restoring garage who did the work, starting with a new chassis,  etc.

Now to the figures, this guy bought the car for GBP £40,000, and it had already been "restored" by its previous owner with the new paint, wiring etc having been done, and did look great. However, he felt that there was something wrong with how it drove, took it to HIS restoring garage and said "Put it right". They did and gave him a bill for another £45,000!
The car was sold a couple of years later to my seller who I bought it from for £34,000

So, I have a car which has cost me, say £37k but has had over £50k spent on it in the last 10 years apart from purchase costs.

[ivygreen]

Thank you for your thoughts, Horace. Believe me, I’m all too aware of restoration costs vs. completed value. Unfortunately for me, I love the process of building them even more than owning/driving them, and I am afflicted with the curse of, “If I don’t save this, who will?”

I’ll include some photos of my current folly for context…

[BDA]

... I love the process of building them even more than owning/driving them, and I am afflicted with the curse of, “If I don’t save this, who will?”

I'd say, you've got it bad!! And if the latter pictures are "after" pictures, I really hope you do take on this project!

[ivygreen]

I'd say, you've got it bad!! And if the latter pictures are "after" pictures, I really hope you do take on this project!

Well, they're the "during" pictures, but thank you.

Miles to go before I sleep....

[Fotog]

Mmmmm!  That floor pan!
Impressively tidy workspace.  I think it's so that you are familiar with cars.

[ivygreen]

I think it's so that you are familiar with cars.

I am. I've done more than my share, but I can't leave well enough alone.

Hey Fotog, I just realized you're in Huntington Valley. I'm in Hilltown Township, Bucks. That Mustang in my pictures was driven to Penn State Ogontz every day from '82 to '84 - with a stop sign as a driver's side floorboard. I was a political prisoner of DC for 35 years, but now I'm back in the Commonwealth, where I belong.

[jbcollier]

100% for sure, a real JPS restored to original will be worth more in the long run.  If future value is important, then restore it to stock.

That said, two other thoughts:

- It's your car, do what you want, damn the expense and later loss.  That's what I did and, 20K kilometres later, I'm very happy.  Sound financial investment?  Absolutely not.

- This is not the Europa you wanted.  Are you are going to sink thousands of $$$ and hundreds of hours into something you didn't really want?  S2 Europas are not hard to find.  Sell this one and put the money and effort into what you actually want.

[Richard48Y]

I agree the S2 has the cleaner lines and is more faithful to the original vision.
The Renault Wedge engine is not all that powerful but these are surgical precision cars, not brute force Cobras.
A Renault TS/Cross-Flow can be built to exceed JPS Twin-Cam power levels for MUCH less expense than a TC.
And still keep the all aluminum weight advantage.
No water pump woes or short valve train life as TC's are known for.
Wet sleeve so no concern about oversize bores reaching a limit, just pop in new cylinders.
Parts availability is actually good, just a bit inconvenient with possible language barriers.
To me the lesser resale value is not a problem, the investment is also less.
The time to restore is about the same.
Rough S2's can be had pretty cheap, occasionally for free.
Lots of dreamers offering them too, maybe cash would wake some of them to reality.

Your TC has an advantage in that you already have it, an S2 has the advantages I mention above.
All up to you.

[Dreamer]

100% for sure, a real JPS restored to original will be worth more in the long run.  If future value is important, then restore it to stock.
< snip >

Why should it be worth more? What constitutes a “real JPS” Europa? Something more than a stick on plastic number that would dictate such a higher price? I understand that people ask more and some get more but why? As BDA shows in the info he received from Andy Graham there is no tangible difference between a so called JPS Europa and a standard black TCS.

[314159td]

+1 to everything Richard has said already, I've been bugging a few twin cam owners that have done full/partial mechanical restorations. Still worth the squeeze to them, but seeing the work they have to do on (and to deal with) the TC engine vs my Renault wedge head build, this definitely feels like a more sustainable option with similarly outlined upgrade paths. TC engine parts will always have a Lotus tax, where the Renaults are just random french family cars with several decades of production.

I can pick up the Renault block with one hand, absolutely not on a twin cam. That's enough of a selling point for me in the garage.

If you want an S2, get the S2. We see enough of these still that I don't think you'd regret passing on it.

[BDA]

You'd have to ask the appraisers and the buyers. Apparently, the fact that there were a limited number of them makes a difference to some people.

At the time of the announcement for the JPS edition, the base TCS list price was $6200 and the 5-speed tranny was an extra $240. The JPS Europa (which was a black Special with the plastic badge was $6500. If it didn't come with tinted glass, there was only a $60 premium for them. Tinted glass cost an extra $84 (for all glass) or $65 (for windshield only) so if the JPS came with tinted glass, the price actually reflected a discount! Also a jPS came with some nice tchotchkes (a rally jacket, a pair of cuff links, and a key fob). I don't understand the pricing. The expected higher resale price of a JPS was a selling feature. Also interesting is that the list price of a black Europa with pinstripes was a $200 option!

For those interested in the history of prices, availability, dealer issues, options, etc., here are scans of the dealer newsletter (https://www.lotuscorps.org/literature/1971-74_lotus_dealer_news.pdf). I did not realize that they are actually searchable till just now!