Brand New 1980 Lotus Sunbeam Goes to Auction, Only 193 Miles

YAHOO AUTOS

                    

By Zach Doell           

 

 

While there’s a handful of things that get vintage motorheads revved up, few feelings eclipse the prospect of stumbling onto an old classic car that’s never been used. It’s a sensation akin to un-boxing a Christmas gift that has been lost to the closet for three decades.
And for attendees at the upcoming Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, beginning November 14^th in the UK, it might as well be Christmas morning.

This is a brand new 1980 Talbot Lotus Sunbeam, set to go up for auction at the Birmingham show, and no, that wasn’t a misprint. It is essentially a 34-year-old brand new car. According to the folks at Silverstone Auctions, the current owner discovered the Sunbeam hot hatch amidst a large private car collection in Italy, and get this – it only has 193 miles on the clock.

The car – dressed in Embassy Black with silver striping – has never been registered, never modified, and most likely boasts the lowest original mileage of any Sunbeam Lotus in the world. That originality sounds a bit hard to believe, but the pictures say it all.

Underneath the hood, the engine bay looks factory fresh. The body looks unblemished and entirely rust-free. And the interior shot shows no wear at all, in fact, there are probably more footprints on the moon than in the foot wells of this decades-old Talbot.

The Lotus Sunbeam evolved from Chrysler’s ambition for Group 4 rallying success in the late ‘70s. As such, Chrysler put Lotus on the job, and the firm delivered handily. Lotus took the body of a Sunbeam 1.6GLS and dropped in a 2.2-liter 16-valve four-cylinder, mated to a five-speed ZF gearbox. It developed 150-horsepower in road-going form and in rally-guise would go on to win the 1980 Lombard RAC.

Despite this car’s unfathomably low mileage, the current owner gave it a full mechanical tune-up, replacing belts, fluids and filters, now claimed as in perfect running order.

Members of the Internet, you have the rare opportunity to become the first registered owner of a brand new ‘80s Lotus hot hatchback…in left hand drive. Estimated to gavel at around £28,000 ($45,000), Colin Chapman would want you to have it.