Dinkel writes about a Lotus Europa TC
Discussion
A blast from the past indeed, I had a Lagoon Blue TC Special for a year or 2 in the early 90's & never saw another on the road in all that time.
I'll probably get burnt at the stake or strapped to the ducking stool but I quite fancy one with a Bike engine, failing that the Red Top 2L 16v ones looked fun. (I'm sure there is a vid clip going about when it was on Top Gear years ago - Bright Yellow If I remember right)
Co.
I'll probably get burnt at the stake or strapped to the ducking stool but I quite fancy one with a Bike engine, failing that the Red Top 2L 16v ones looked fun. (I'm sure there is a vid clip going about when it was on Top Gear years ago - Bright Yellow If I remember right)
Co.
dinkel said:
Anyone that was lucky enough to have a passenger ride with Ronnie is a very, very lucky person.Many thanks for the story & pictures Dink.
Twincam16 said:
Andrew Noakes said:
dinkel said:
I guess in the UK there must be lots?
Don't see them as often as Elans, though they made about as many.The Japanese are fanatical about them - much more so than the Elan, which was the opposite of the situation here (though rarity is now making prices climb on UK Twin Cams, too).
The most striking thing I noticed about the Europa the first time I drove one was the aerodynamics - there was a complete absence of wind roar or disturbance when you wound the windows down, which was a bit spooky, really.
Nice cars, but the rear suspension is a bit over-stressed (they eat UJ's and you occasionally see them with rear negative camber of comic proportions as a combination of this and chassis distortion). And the gearchange is horrible unless it's in perfect condition and adjustment...
I owned a 3 year old S2 back in 1974/75, and ran it for eight years or so - Reg XJU 700J. Originally sand beige, I had it resprayed red.
Fantastic roadholding and quite a turn of speed for its day, especially with the Else Weber and inlet manifold conversion I fitted.
The S2 was certainly available in GB for at least 3 or 4 years, I think it was the S1 that was only available in europe.
Thanks for the wrtite up, brought back some happy motoring memories.
Fantastic roadholding and quite a turn of speed for its day, especially with the Else Weber and inlet manifold conversion I fitted.
The S2 was certainly available in GB for at least 3 or 4 years, I think it was the S1 that was only available in europe.
Thanks for the wrtite up, brought back some happy motoring memories.
skeggysteve said:
dinkel said:
Anyone that was lucky enough to have a passenger ride with Ronnie is a very, very lucky person.Many thanks for the story & pictures Dink.
"Peterson was without doubt the best at stepping into any car and getting the most out of it no matter how it was set-up. When it comes to the modern F1 car then I would rate Peterson, Andretti, Clark and Fittipaldi as being most likely to be unbeatable."
Looking through some old photos of my dad's at the weekend and he has a stunner of Jackie Oliver stood next to his works 47 at Croft in 1968. Dad was 15 at the time and attending with my grandfather. There were three works 47s in Gold Leaf livery racing that day, but they were all vanquished by Frank Gardner's T70. Oh, to have been there myself...
Edited to add a couple of shots from the 2009 Oulton Park Gold Cup. Car failed to start the Guards Trophy, sadly.
Edited to add a couple of shots from the 2009 Oulton Park Gold Cup. Car failed to start the Guards Trophy, sadly.
Edited by chevronb37 on Monday 3rd January 09:13
I love the Europa - I have done since I was a kid when a neighbour of my aunt in Twickenham owned one.
It seemed unimaginably exotic to me, moreso than a neighbour's ageing E-Type and certainly moreso than the sit up and beg Elan.
It always looked great to me and I never understood why it was so much less popular than the Elan - perhaps it's all in the driving. Certainly, lookswise, the Europa makes the Elan look toylike.
M
PS the references to Ronnie Peterson doing demonstration laps reminds me of the time I did some laps with Adam Carroll (Ok, not quite an F1 God like Peterson, but not through lack of talent compared with most of his contemparies) of Silverstone in an Elise.
It seemed unimaginably exotic to me, moreso than a neighbour's ageing E-Type and certainly moreso than the sit up and beg Elan.
It always looked great to me and I never understood why it was so much less popular than the Elan - perhaps it's all in the driving. Certainly, lookswise, the Europa makes the Elan look toylike.
M
PS the references to Ronnie Peterson doing demonstration laps reminds me of the time I did some laps with Adam Carroll (Ok, not quite an F1 God like Peterson, but not through lack of talent compared with most of his contemparies) of Silverstone in an Elise.
Edited by marcosgt on Monday 3rd January 09:03
Sam_68 said:
Twincam16 said:
Andrew Noakes said:
dinkel said:
I guess in the UK there must be lots?
Don't see them as often as Elans, though they made about as many.The Japanese are fanatical about them - much more so than the Elan, which was the opposite of the situation here (though rarity is now making prices climb on UK Twin Cams, too).
The most striking thing I noticed about the Europa the first time I drove one was the aerodynamics - there was a complete absence of wind roar or disturbance when you wound the windows down, which was a bit spooky, really.
Nice cars, but the rear suspension is a bit over-stressed (they eat UJ's and you occasionally see them with rear negative camber of comic proportions as a combination of this and chassis distortion). And the gearchange is horrible unless it's in perfect condition and adjustment...
Along with UJ's my one wore out the rear shaft hub splines & made it rear wheel steer - not fun !
Gear change esp reverse was indeed horrible, in fact reverse was a like a backwards arm wrestle
& it had electric windows, not bad for 1973
I'm sure you keep reviving this thread just to wind me up towards getting another Lotus! If only they had something on sale with the character and performance of the earlier cars. By the way, that one seems to have the steering wheel on the "wrong" side, according to conventional PH wisdom....
Steve!
Nice one:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3477161.htm
This looks like it:
http://www.automobilia.fr/Lotus-Europa-Twin-Cam
Elanbulance:
http://lotusenthusiast.net/2009/07/rare-1-of-2-lot...
Nice one:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3477161.htm
This looks like it:
http://www.automobilia.fr/Lotus-Europa-Twin-Cam
Elanbulance:
http://lotusenthusiast.net/2009/07/rare-1-of-2-lot...
I love those Europa's
also that lovely green one, a very nice example, does he still owns it? I see it was 2005?
I was thinking about a nice S2/S3 type 74 the later models with the lower deck
and then put in some tuned zetec 2.0 with around 230<>260hp jummie me thinks.
but first I have to find out how they sit, how it feels behind the wheels.
the earlier types are lighter but I prefer the later models.
A while back I saw a lovely Europa S2/S3 from a ex F1 driver...for not much (LHD also)
nice colour too and a friendly price...oooo wish I had more money and more garage's
also that lovely green one, a very nice example, does he still owns it? I see it was 2005?
I was thinking about a nice S2/S3 type 74 the later models with the lower deck
and then put in some tuned zetec 2.0 with around 230<>260hp jummie me thinks.
but first I have to find out how they sit, how it feels behind the wheels.
the earlier types are lighter but I prefer the later models.
A while back I saw a lovely Europa S2/S3 from a ex F1 driver...for not much (LHD also)
nice colour too and a friendly price...oooo wish I had more money and more garage's
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