Registration - C410 ULD

Chassis No. - SCC089912GHD12036

M.O.T. - April 2024

Odometer - 98,188

‘C410 ULD’ has remained within the same family for over 20 years. It is currently 90 percent of the way through an extensive recommissioning programme that has seen c.£12,000 invested in the engine alone. In addition, the cooling, steering and braking systems have all been refurbished, the fuel tank replaced and the alloy wheels re-shod with a fresh set of Toyo tyres. Always dry stored, it is now considered by the vendor to have an ‘excellent’ engine, ‘good’ five-speed manual transmission and fibreglass bodywork, and ‘average’ blue paintwork and cream leather upholstery. The Lotus is now being offered for sale complete with Panasonic audio system, history file containing detail of the service record and a selection of other paperwork, plus a current MOT certificate valid to April 13. The odometer currently stands at 98,202 miles.

The two-door, four-seat Excel was the first product of the short term marriage between Lotus and Toyota and was manufactured from 1982 to 1992. It was based on the design of the Eclat, which in turn had been a development of the Elite II. Among the Toyota items that made the Excel a better car than its predecessor were its: slick five-speed manual gearbox, clutch, differential, drive shafts, ventilated disc brakes, wheels and even the flush fitting door handles. Toyota cannot be credited with all the improvements, however. The Lotus-designed body for example benefited from hours of testing in the MIRA wind tunnel, and boasted a 0.32 drag coefficient against the 0.356 of the Eclat. Arguably the most significant of the many mechanical changes concerned the rear suspension, where a more conventional wide-based wishbone and short upper link replaced the Eclat’s Chapman strut. The interior had more rear seat headroom and improved facia and a marked reduction in noise, vibration and harshness. The power source was little changed and was Lotus’s own 912 slant-four cylinder 2174cc all-alloy DOHC unit that, in Excel guise, produced 160bhp – sufficient to power the newcomer to 60mph in c.7.1 seconds and on to a top speed of over 130mph. Some 113 Excels are apparently currently registered in the UK.

In summary:

• Has remained within the same family for the last 20 years-plus
• The subject of a comprehensive recommissioning programme
• Comes complete with history and long MOT