GTA V6 Turbo Advice / Introduction

Hi all,

Familiar story here; financial reasoning has got the better of me and looking to get out of an E30 M3 and into an Alpine. Having had 6 years with rebuilds, chasing air fuel ratios (and never quite solving the head gasket issue) I feel ready for the dizzy heights / lows of GTA ownership.

Having given the classifieds a fairly decent hammering this week the cars seem decent value just now. What i'm really interested in is a Le Mans edition (quelle surprise). £10.5k seems fantastic value for the car that sold on here last year. Clear that trying to find one of the 25 over here is going to be very tricky, just wondered or knew of anyone that had been to france to find one and bring back?

This caught my eye if it is indeed genuine:

http://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/675599494.htm

Blown head gasket, wrong wheels etc etc (am I completely bonkers?)

Open to heckling / advice / recommendations on operating budget / availability / price / specialists etc

Welcome.

Well you've come to the right place. If you're really set on a Le Mans, it's worth considering that beneath it all, it's just a GTA Turbo in a party frock. Engine is the same (actually a bit down on power owing to the cat but a lot of people remove that and it's low comp so boost can then be upped anyway) but other than that it's really pretty much a turbo with bodykit and some nice wheels.

Hence you could buy a turbo and convert it as has been done by Rupert and a few others - viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7024

The kit's not overly expensive and then it can be painted in whatever colour you choose, whereas Le Mans are all burgundy (with one or two resprays out there)

It's an option. The only other thing to note really is that since the Le Mans have always retained their value better you tend to perhaps find that they're in better condition (?) but certainly not a given.

Hi & Welcome

That car you are tempted by is indeed an 1987 GTA Turbo in the party frock!

At 17000 euros with those problems it is not a steal in my opinion, you could do as Darren suggests and build your own from a strong clean car bought from over here at a much lower price. Clee of RATS fame has something to base it on at the moment see: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7112

Then get your body kit, fit it yourself or ask one of the guys on here who undertake work then get the paint done by Andy up Yorkshire way.

By the way it was my Le Mans that went for £10500 last year, and on the surface it seemed like a very nice car but once the new owner Tom had the work done before it went over to OZ rot was discovered that I did not know existed.

So for my tuppence, if you go for a genuine Le Mans be sure to have it inspected first, (I did with 03 but the rot still appeared), especially if you are doing big money. If you plan to build your own then as long as you start with a sound car, Clee could help here and may be able to source a car that is clean or do the work required, (see his many threads about suspension turret repairs), you should get there in the end.

Yep its a copy.... not far from me its near ikea and the airport in Lyon....

Hi Darren / Paul

Thanks for the warm welcome. Appreciate your input re 'party frock' , it still astounds me that residuals of the E30 EVO 2 & 3 continue to rise considering the negligible differences and performance 'gains' compared to the standard models.

How much would you expect to see a mint burgundy car go for today? It appears in your opinion that they are similar to the V6 turbo models, was this reflected in your sale price Paul? Has it arrived at a point where most, if not all, of the cars have driven negating the x,xxx mileage original time warp example that demands mega £?

I did think that blue mock-up was silly money considering the issues, it appears that back home the french market commands big money for the home grown talent - rather emulating RS over here? Had this romantic idea of restoring a proper Le Mans and nailing it down to Le Sarthe..

Two cars i've seen -

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/ ... ar/1113627

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/ ... 89/2570501

Known cars here? I guess the age would have affected what the mileage hasn't but appears a decent place to start re donor should this be the chosen path. Sounds like I need to have a word with your man Clee..

[BIG_MVS]

Welcome.

Firstly how much do you want to spend all in for a Le Mans? £10500 is entry level for a genuine Le Mans really. I know £15k bought the last one for sale that Miles now has (a lovely example and bargain really) and another is "loosely" for sale in North Wales for £20k so I guess you are heading towards E30 M3 money?

The white GTA turbo you have listed has been for sale for about 4-5 years. Don't know it to be honest.

The ATMO for £7750 is again lovely but won't help you re-creating your Le Mans as it's a non turbo.

Your best bet is probably to buy one of Clee's GTA Turbo's which are sorted underneath then get a Le Mans kit grafted on. Finding a set of Le Mans rims will be your main issue though as they fetch 2-3000 Euro on the Continent when they eventually come for sale.

What about the A610 does that not float your boat?

http://www.pistonheads.com/roadtests/do ... 26&i=29942

Prepared to stretch to £12k for a car with good provenance. Part - restoration / low owners / preventative maintenance etc etc

Having said that even after finding something appropriate it then has to go to the specialist, who then finds issues b and c when you only popped the car in for A etc etc. In an ideal situation the car is known structurally and mechanically to plot the progression from there.The A610 has appeal but not within budget unfortunately. Well not that one anyway..

I can source some wheels from an old BMW contact in Germany hopefully.

What's the situation regarding differentials - are there donor's / parts available? Please say there is something available...

[stephendell]

What's the situation regarding differentials - are there donor's / parts available? Please say there is something available...

Do you mean gearbox parts?

If so yes then no problem you can buy a new quaife or gripper for reasonable money. £750-£1000

Yes mate,
You can buy the le-mans panels from Richard Walsh in Ireland.
Or plenty of French firms, as a kit or individual panels.

Dave

buy a base model from lee at RATS and get him to restore it he's your best bet he done plenty others and you'll end up with a well sorted car plus you can pick and choose your build spec for engine etc.... fieldhouse paint job to finish it, you won't be disappointed with the end results.

Ola .
I have two base models that would fit the bill .The most likely candidate would be the red early one .I've just finished refurb on all the running gear ,engine and box back together and on frame but not going in until next week after the open day .
Also have a later crossbolt engine or two lying about ,one ready to build ,lower compression ,higher lft etc .

https://www.facebook.com/events/1435241263410946/


viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7056

Best to give me a call or call in if you're not far away .

buy a base model from lee at RATS and get him to restore it he's your best bet he done plenty others and you'll end up with a well sorted car plus you can pick and choose your build spec for engine etc.... fieldhouse paint job to finish it, you won't be disappointed with the end results.

Just like I said

I also have a solid gta shell ...Atmo but easy enough to convert to EFI .I've done it before .
That would be the ' super cheap' option for a base car but would still need all the rest doing .
I have all the parts required to put one together from scratch in whatever spec .Shell is solid apart from one rear wheelarch pocket that I have replacement for .Front end is semi stripped .

The white GTA turbo you have listed has been for sale for about 4-5 years. Don't know it to be honest.

The ATMO for £7750 is again lovely but won't help you re-creating your Le Mans as it's a non turbo.

Both of these cars have what appears to be nice tidy body work. Do you need to pay for this if you are going to fit a kit and repaint it? I think not.

The £10.5k price for 03 when I sold her was to reflect the bodywork that needed doing and that it was winter, plus cars were not really selling at the time. Prices for a minter? Well how much do you want to pay? I suspect those with a mint Le Mans know exactly what they have and they are mint because the owners spent a long time looking for and LOVE their cars. Therefore it would require a shed load of money to secure one, that or sudden financial issues for the owner.

The truth of the matter is I would still have 03 if I had somewhere to store it and had the money to have the work done. As it was at the time I had 5 cars, two in the double garage, one in a heavy weight 6m x 3m gazebo, one under a tarpaulin and the other one, my daily drive on the driveway next to the wife's Clio!

Plus her indoors wanted a new kitchen!!!! She's still waiting for that!!

I viewed and drove the white GTA over 18 months ago, and they'd had it a while then! Perhaps tells you something?