The birth of LotusRescue

[johnpwalsh]

Well today has been a significant day in my life of involvement with Lotus cars as a long time hobby.

As many of you know, over the years I have found a fair few car's in odd locations across the UK and taken them back from, in many cases the brink of the grim reaper, the crusher. So today after an unrepeatable offer from a fellow enthusiast, I am about to launch a new venture which will of course be Lotus.

Now you may think, what next, well we all have heard the stories of a car tucked away in a shed, a barn, a garage, a garden, in fact over the past few year's I have rescued many which have turned out to be bloody good car's and most had been left due to loss of storage, enthusiasm, finance or impending divorce.

Well these last 8 months of unemployment has given me the opportunity to seek out and see more car's in various precarious location's than I would have thought possible. So another Lotus enthusiast who wishes to remain silent has given me the fantastic opportunity of finding, cajoling, dragging these poor unfortunate things of beauty home.

LotusRescue hope to offer the following services.

1/ Search out a car, rescue it and offer for sale as a project.

2/ Get the car back up and running with a full report on their requirements prior to selling on to a  fellow enthusiast for restoration.

3/ As above but bring them up to MOT standard.

4/ Source a buyer for a car we have found and give the above options all the way to full refurbishment.

As an enthusiast and having carried a fair bit or work on our favored toy's, there is nothing worse than hearing of a car stashed away somewhere, get all the details, go find it then find its either a complete basket case, or the current owner can only see pound sign's through rose tinted glasses

Our intention is to try and take all the hours of work and miles traveled out of the future owner's time and provide a service which will the save hassle.

Discussion are about to take place on setting up a web site which will show cars that have passed through to date and what we will have on offer.

Initially this will be on a part time basis, but will hopefully increase as business increases. Premises are under review at the moment to ensure they are suitable for storage and repair of any toys purchased.

We currently know of 10 car's available for rescue which I will be listing once confirmed that I can 100% guarantee we can obtain.

Initially it will be Lotus focused but I also know of a couple of other marques which are available, for example, a Triumph Mayflower and a MK 11 Ford Capri.

What are your thought's guy's, do you think it will work in today's current financial climate. Do you think we maybe up against to many of the bigger guns.

All replies will be taken into consideration.

Thanks in advance for any response.

 

John.

 

The Elan posted will shortly be on her way to her new. That will be the first of two car's next week.

 

[Timjgor90]

I think this is a great idea and venture,

theres no better person i know than your good self to take on such a task and just shows your true love and respect for the lotus marque.

theres nothing better than seeing cars rescued and put back on the road, I think it's a great idea of combining business and what started off as a hobby, and when all said and done if nothing else will have some great cars back on the road which would have just rotted away then ultimately death by the big crusher 

hope it goes from strength to strength in the new year ????

 

[Choppa]

Superb idea, good luck with the new venture, and looking forward to lots of interesting posts over the next few months as things progress

[PhilW]

I can't comment on whether it will work in today's climate as I just am not knowledgeable enough but probably if you also consider some other carefully chosen marques then probably you have every chance. 

Whatever I absolutely wish you very best of luck.

[Barrykearley]

 massive encouragement from me @johnpwalsh

course it's viable.... it's all down to price/costs and it's a great time to start up. I'm sure you can get the balance right

looking forward to seeing the positive developments on this one ?

[eclat22]

Best of luck with it John, 

all the best Dan

[johnpwalsh]

Well we will see how much the sphincter muscle twitches over the next few months, but so far nothing but positive comments and 1 inquiry for a possible project. And again, all due to a fellow TLF man, this forum, as I have said before, never fails to amaze me.

[johnpwalsh]

59 minutes ago, PhilW said:

I can't comment on whether it will work in today's climate as I just am not knowledgeable enough but probably if you also consider some other carefully chosen marques then probably you have every chance. 

Whatever I absolutely wish you very best of luck.

Hi Phil and thanks for your comments. Other marques are being considered as it might be detrimental to cut your own feet as it were but as for search and find it will be mainly focused on Lotus. Whenever we find something of interest we will post it as someone may want to take it on but dont want to turn into another barn find type thing as you can see on FB for example.

[LOTUSMAN33]

John

All the best with this exciting venture, I am really looking forward like most in seeing you make a great success out of it.

Dave  

[cbclotus]

As above John ....Great idea good luck I am sure you will make it work.Mike

[ramjet]

You're Scottish aren't you John?

So S is for Save now?

All the best for it and hope it all goes really well.

[Stuart Monument]

Great idea John. I was only speaking to a fellow TLF'er earlier today who has an Esprit and now wants another one as a project. 

That seems to be a very common thing on this forum. None of us are happy with one car. 

Keep up the good hunting. Always keen to hear of what you have found. 

[ramjet]

Some really unique cars may come out of this.

[eeyoreish]

Sound really exciting. Good luck from me!

[johnpwalsh]

11 hours ago, Stuart Monument said:

Great idea John. I was only speaking to a fellow TLF'er earlier today who has an Esprit and now wants another one as a project. 

That seems to be a very common thing on this forum. None of us are happy with one car. 

Keep up the good hunting. Always keen to hear of what you have found. 

First on the list for the next one Stuart. Fingers crossed all goes well for you over the next few days. we will be thinking of you and the family.

10 hours ago, ramjet said:

Some really unique cars may come out of this.

hi Micheal. All the best to you and Liz for Christmas and hope you have a fantastic new year with the new career. Already have wind of a few crackers including an original Lotus 7 said to be one of the first built. I now know it's location, so the digging starts but I recon it wont a be cheap.

[cbclotus]

Hi John. G car NA s3 for me please .i love the na s3s....Should of kept my last one 87 hc.needed restoring.I thought you could go into a car project job business.Glad you are ....Good on you  Mike

[johnpwalsh]

Looks like S3 N/A's are becoming favorite cars for now , while previously everyone wanted a Turbo. The G car's are certainly looking favorite for now. I know of one Stephens and one G turbo and a couple of early Elites, condition unknown at the moment as I have to get a good look at them but what I have seen they certainly look worth saving. One in Red and one in Brown. Also an Elite shell on a half decent chassis and a separate shell in Blue/Silver, an Eclat in Yellow with a second early Eclat that would be a very good source of spares as it's complete but in a bit of a mess, again in Yellow.

[cbclotus]

All Right John Any esprit considered lol....I think  They made approx 750 na s3s I will take anyone of them .Mike

[silverfrost]

Fantastic news John  

Wish you all the luck in the world and could not think of anyone better to do it. 

 

I am sure it will do well as its a great idea and done by a true lotus enthusiast 

It will be like a big treasure hunt with pictures and updates to boot.

Will make a fantastic thread on the forums also !

Awesome news coold not be more happier for you mate 

[andmac]

Best of luck with your new venture John. I think there will be a place in the market for you, the hardest part of purchasing a Lotus is finding one in the first place.

Given your enthusiasm for all things Lotus I am sure you will make a success of this.

Merry Christmas and all the best for the future.

Andy

 

 

[johnpwalsh]

Thanks Andy. Coming from someone who has already purchased one of my finds, that means a lot in many way's as it also says that you are happy with the Excel I found for you. Still cant believe that absolutely stunning spot you found to build your home on the banks of Loch Ness. It must be one of the best delivery addresses Wendy and I have ever been to, and one of the few we were in a hurry to come back from. I hope the wife wasn't to shocked to come home and find another Lotus parked in the drive. And if you ever want to move the S2, you know where to come too.

All the best to you and the family for Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

[C8RKH]

All the very best John, I hope, but also I am sure, that this will be a huge success for you.

Your word is your bond and integrity more than anything will make you a huge success. Couple that with your enthusiasm, knowledge and hands on approach how can you fail.

I hope one day to be a customer. All the very best wishes John.

[franjipane]

Hi John great to hear you're getting into this, makes a lot of sense.

If you hear of a S1, S2 or S2.2 give me a shout

[USAndretti42]

Great news, John. Tocus seems to do well restoring Lotus in the Netherlands. A note of caution, though, we had another member who, some time ago, did a great job of restoring his Esprit.  Buoyed by this, he set up a restoration business and several members entrusted their cars with him. However, he took in too many cars and couldn't cope so remember to pace yourself. Do that, enjoy it and, I'm sure, success will come.

[NedaSay]

This sounds like an awesome new venture, very best of luck.