Thinking about a Lotus Europa.
Discussion
Being relatively green around the gills when it comes to many mechanical issues I was wondering if anybody could lend advise on the acquiring of a/an (?) Europa (70's model). I currently drive a Caterham and it's great, but the Europa is a shape that I have always liked. What I would really like to know is rough ball park figures for buying these old beauties; and how much stress I am likely to incur in keeping it going! I would also be very interested in what I might need to look out for when hunting.
Any help would be much appreciated and well heeded.
Any help would be much appreciated and well heeded.
Are you thinking of a Renault engined or Lotus Twin Cam engined version?
The latter are very much more expensive to buy, but much quicker than a standard Renault engined version and, ironically, the parts for the Lotus engine are much easier to find these days than for the mundane Renault unit. Lots of the Renault engined cars have been tuned or modified, though - some with Renault Fuego Turbo engines and gearboxes. Nobody seems to worry too much about non-standard modifications on the Renault engined cars, but the values of Twin Cams (driven by the Japanese market) are such that you probably wouldn't want to hack one about, these days.
Some spares are getting hard to come by, but all the critical stuff is still available, provided you aren't a stickler for originality. The conventional wisdom is to avoid Series 1 cars at any cost, because the chassis is bonded in rather than bolted on (so very difficult to replace)and the ventilation system doesn't work (windows are fixed - it relies on the front luggage compartment to form a pressurised 'plenum chamber', which is all very well so long as you are moving and haven't blocked it up with luggage!). They do look very pretty, though, with the 'breadvan' butresses and the fixed windows (so nice and clean - no quarterlight frames). Series 2 cars still have the butresses, but have wind-up windows and various other improvements.
They are fairly simple and cheap to work on, but you need to take great care to check that the chassis is in good order unless you have budgeted for a replacement. They tend to eat rear suspension components and are very sensitive to the suspension being in good order and geometry properly set-up, but a good one will handle very well.
HOWEVER... ride and handling are the complete opposite of a modern Caterham. In comparison to the Caterham, a Europa will feel very light and floaty, with relatively soft suspension.
Oh... and the gearchange is almost universally lousy, especially in comparison to a good Caterham.
The aerodynamics are astonishing... the thing that sticks in my memory from when I first drove one was that you can wind the window down at 60mph and there's no wind roar or buffeting at all... just a very gentle, whispering draught!
The most important source of spares and information in this country is Banks Europa, though Paul Matty and Spyder Engineering do some useful stuff, too.
If you want something with more modern performance, the Banks 47 and 62 conversions can be excellent, but whether tehre is enough Lotus left in them to call them a proper Europa is open to debate!
Is there anything specific you would like to know?
The latter are very much more expensive to buy, but much quicker than a standard Renault engined version and, ironically, the parts for the Lotus engine are much easier to find these days than for the mundane Renault unit. Lots of the Renault engined cars have been tuned or modified, though - some with Renault Fuego Turbo engines and gearboxes. Nobody seems to worry too much about non-standard modifications on the Renault engined cars, but the values of Twin Cams (driven by the Japanese market) are such that you probably wouldn't want to hack one about, these days.
Some spares are getting hard to come by, but all the critical stuff is still available, provided you aren't a stickler for originality. The conventional wisdom is to avoid Series 1 cars at any cost, because the chassis is bonded in rather than bolted on (so very difficult to replace)and the ventilation system doesn't work (windows are fixed - it relies on the front luggage compartment to form a pressurised 'plenum chamber', which is all very well so long as you are moving and haven't blocked it up with luggage!). They do look very pretty, though, with the 'breadvan' butresses and the fixed windows (so nice and clean - no quarterlight frames). Series 2 cars still have the butresses, but have wind-up windows and various other improvements.
They are fairly simple and cheap to work on, but you need to take great care to check that the chassis is in good order unless you have budgeted for a replacement. They tend to eat rear suspension components and are very sensitive to the suspension being in good order and geometry properly set-up, but a good one will handle very well.
HOWEVER... ride and handling are the complete opposite of a modern Caterham. In comparison to the Caterham, a Europa will feel very light and floaty, with relatively soft suspension.
Oh... and the gearchange is almost universally lousy, especially in comparison to a good Caterham.
The aerodynamics are astonishing... the thing that sticks in my memory from when I first drove one was that you can wind the window down at 60mph and there's no wind roar or buffeting at all... just a very gentle, whispering draught!
The most important source of spares and information in this country is Banks Europa, though Paul Matty and Spyder Engineering do some useful stuff, too.
If you want something with more modern performance, the Banks 47 and 62 conversions can be excellent, but whether tehre is enough Lotus left in them to call them a proper Europa is open to debate!
Is there anything specific you would like to know?
First off I would like to apologise for the tardiness of this reply. Have been off-line for quite a while and have only just got back from a short holiday. Whilst on this little trip my current car excelled itself very impressively and I have now come to the sentimentally charged conclusion that outing it would be an outrage. A huge thankyou for all the info though, and rest assured that the idea of a Europa hasn't disappeared completely - a Banks model is still lingering up there somewhere.
Thanks again.
Thanks again.
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