Discussion
quote:Eh? surely not. The R16 engine was mounted longitudinally, with the gearbox in front of engine. Chapman rotated it by 180 degrees for the Europa. Cheers, AdrianR
Renault had just launched the front wheel drive Renault 16, complete with a transversely mounted 4 cylinder, 1470cc engine.
oops 
First thanks for talking about this misloved Lotus.
I would have some comments to do concerning the text :
-"1964 saw the birth..."
It was the birth of the idea, but the birth of the car (the public launch) happened in december 1966, which is not written in the article.
-"Five hundreds cars went to France initially"
Not only to France but to the whole European Continental market.
- "The S2 also had its rear buttresses lowered slightly to improve rearward vision"
NO, the S2 had the same rear buttresses than the S1. It was only the Twin Cams that had lowered buttresses.
- "A large capacity engine was supplied but the 1565cc was smothered to 80bhp for the US spec cars"
The 1565cc engine was only mounted on the US cars, European S2s always had the 1470cc engine. (unless some tuners had put the 1565cc engine in the S2, but not the factory.)
-Also, it lacks the 74 Twin Cam models in the Type Description table.
Daniel HERRERO - EUROPE S2 1968 - 54/0724
running the Europa Register :
http://perso.club-internet.fr/dherrero
I had one of the first 'Twin Cams' on the road.
The car was announced on the 16th October 1971, the first day of the Motor Show at Earls Court. I went down to my local Lotus dealer Bell & Colville at East Horsley on the Saturday and had a test drive. We struck a deal on part exchanging my MGB and they delivered my Europa on the Wednesday, in component form this was to get around the purchase tax. Total on the road price £1,702 inc. Brand Lotus Wheels. I bolted everything together over the next few days and drove down to my local pub the following Sunday lunch time.
I had the car for 14 years using it most days. On selling the car one of my sons was most upset although he was seven at the time.
A year ago he purchased one on eBay that turned out to be only 2 weeks younger than mine, he has since been totally rebuilding it and hopes to have it back on the road by the end of the year.
The car was announced on the 16th October 1971, the first day of the Motor Show at Earls Court. I went down to my local Lotus dealer Bell & Colville at East Horsley on the Saturday and had a test drive. We struck a deal on part exchanging my MGB and they delivered my Europa on the Wednesday, in component form this was to get around the purchase tax. Total on the road price £1,702 inc. Brand Lotus Wheels. I bolted everything together over the next few days and drove down to my local pub the following Sunday lunch time.
I had the car for 14 years using it most days. On selling the car one of my sons was most upset although he was seven at the time.
A year ago he purchased one on eBay that turned out to be only 2 weeks younger than mine, he has since been totally rebuilding it and hopes to have it back on the road by the end of the year.
I just read the Europa bio. That was clean! When I picked up my S2 at Snetterton in July of 1969, they were pushing them out of the factory so fast I got Lotus Yellow paint on my hands when I checked out the engine. And just before I shipped it home it was recalled for headlight height adjustment. When I went to the factory to pick it up, I almost vomited. A pair of S shaped extenders had been added to the headlight openings raising them enough to get into the US. I was told that what happened to them when I got home was my business. Thank goodness. I only wish I hadn't tossed them after removal. They'd be worth something today.
Sam_68 said:
adrianr said:
Chapman rotated it by 180 degrees for the Europa.
Chapman didn't need to rotate it by 180 degrees...it was a longitudinal installation in the Renaults.
180 degrees swapped the engine and the gearbox... both are longitudinal, but in one the gearbox is infront of the engine, and.. you get the idea.
I purchased a Europa S2 in 1981, had it when I got married. It was black but I had the sills painted silver and the gold coach lines put on, it looked a treat. I hit a deep puddle on a county road at 80 mph, the front tyres lost total traction and I did a 720 degree spin straight up the middle of the road, nothing coming the other way, boy was I lucky. Sold it in 1982 to Doctor from Hertfordshire who wanted to race it. Been married 25 years next year and just purchased another Lotus, don’t want a repeat of the spin though!!
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