Lotus Europa 1966-1975 & tuning & conversions etc

Lotus Europa 1966-1975 & tuning & conversions etc

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GTRene

Original Poster:

16,367 posts

223 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
its nice to see what is possible and or what others do.
when they designed the car they did it with was possible those days, nowadays you can make things better and I don't mean put a bigger engine in it.

Those days they also were bounded by money and what they could get, for example the gearbox/diff stuff etc, those days it was a bit harder to get some or the best parts or to keep the car for a reasonable price.

I believe they also were in the race for the car that later became the GT40
so maybe they also had a bigger engine in mind if they would get it?

it all depends what you would like to do with the car and or for what purposes, that team also made some V8 race cars I believe? also very light stuff.

personally I like as new originals and I'm also a fan of conversions or other big upgrades so that the car feels also good/great in modern times, but keep the classic looks as much as possible.

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 14th February 2014
quotequote all
Money was and is always an issue in the design and engineering of cars, but even for someone as proverbially careful with money as Colin Chapman was, money was not the sole issue.

"Colin Chapman, Inside the Innovator" by Karl Lundvigsen, and "Colin Chapman, Lotus Engineering" by Hugh Haskell are well worth a look if you haven't read them, although of course much of the focus there is on the racing cars.

P5Nij

675 posts

171 months

Friday 21st February 2014
quotequote all
BV, I'd agree with you on the power / weight thing being the essence of a Lotus, but I have to say I've always loved the looks of GKN 47D, there's something about this particular car which is even more '60s than standard Europas to my (biased!) mince pies... the fabulous colour, the way it sits on the ground, those mad bloddy spinners on the deep dish wheels...













Me want...

V8 FOU

2,970 posts

146 months

Friday 28th February 2014
quotequote all
I get the point BV. But Shirley, a Zetec (with BDA style cam cover like mine) is a much better bet than the Twin Cam? More power and more reliability. Much cheaper if it goes bang too.

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 28th February 2014
quotequote all
I disagree. A well sorted twin cam with a pair of Dellortos is lovely, and suits the car. I also prefer a Lotus chassis to a Spyder chassis.

The GKN car is cool, however. Very Gerry Anderson.

P5Nij

675 posts

171 months

Friday 28th February 2014
quotequote all
Breadvan72 said:
The GKN car is cool, however. Very Gerry Anderson.
Those last three words sum up why I like certain cars of the period so much, they look almost toylike in a way and are usually a little bit 'far out'... the rear end view of the Europa in particular has this in spades, even more so when it's a Series 1 or 2 that's been lowered...





I'd best stop right there before I end up in a heap on the floor...

EDIT! oops, the lime green beast isn't an S1 or S2 is it!



Edited by P5Nij on Friday 28th February 12:53

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 28th February 2014
quotequote all
I almost bought a lime Twin Cam that was very like the one pictured, if not that actual car, but in the event I didn't. Annoyingly, I got out of Europa World just as the prices started to go loony, so getting back into Europa World will cost me a bit, but I hope I will do it one day.

GTRene

Original Poster:

16,367 posts

223 months

Friday 28th February 2014
quotequote all
the sort like the lime green with the fins 'off' are called Type 74 I believe I call most of those without those 'fins' or S3 biggrin

S1 is the one with fins like the first series, the S2 can be found in both types, or at least they name them that way, so I call the later types S3 or type 74

here also some info>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Europa

Dorchester

82 posts

164 months

Friday 28th February 2014
quotequote all
There was also the GS Europa - lot of chat & pics here: http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f120/lotus-europa-...


anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 28th February 2014
quotequote all
Gerry Anderson again (the Spectrum Patrol Car from Captain Scarlet):-



P5Nij

675 posts

171 months

Friday 28th February 2014
quotequote all
Instant childhood flashbacks to that BV, fantastic... !

I've noticed that prices of good Europas seem to very a lot, one or two £10k cars are hanging around the for sale ads for months on end, mind you, so are the £30k examples! God in heaven why do I want one so much...?


anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 28th February 2014
quotequote all
Because they are ace, that's why. One of the most underrated sports cars in EVAH.

GTRene

Original Poster:

16,367 posts

223 months

Friday 28th February 2014
quotequote all
indeed, I also noticed that, I also think al lot are 'undervalued' for now, I guess they could be worth more in the future.
They have a fantastic name/brand and lightweight, good roadholding and some race past I believe.

but they seem not to be that high noticed some way...I do not really understand why not, they have all/most to be/become great classic sport cars.

Like this car, was for sale end 2013 I believe, it was the ex car from a old formula 1 driver >
Joe Gartner ehemaliger Formel1 Fahrer, they were asking 19.000,-euro which I thought was not much for this
original car with that history.












anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 28th February 2014
quotequote all
The gearboxes (or at least the shonky long linkages) let the Europa down. Apart from that, it's lerrrrrvely.

GTRene

Original Poster:

16,367 posts

223 months

Friday 28th February 2014
quotequote all
indeed, or better to say, I've read about that in the books,they could not give those TC the power of the Lotus Elan TC because of the gearbox...it could not handle that...and that only 20hp or so more biggrin

those days it was hard to get good mid engine gearboxes, no Internet etc biggrin

nowadays you could shop a lot more for that, also engine wise, have a lot pictures on my PC with Zetec conversions, forgot what gearboxes they use though...but some with 200 or 240hp I guess its not those old gearboxes biggrin

GTRene

Original Poster:

16,367 posts

223 months

Friday 28th February 2014
quotequote all
like say this one, great example and nice headers>

http://bringatrailer.com/2011/09/02/zetec-swapped-...





nice exhaust pipes and tires too




P5Nij

675 posts

171 months

Saturday 1st March 2014
quotequote all
Lovely stuff.... should my numbers ever come up big time I'd be straight off to Paul Matty by the M42 or Mr.Banks' gaff oop the North to have a nice little chat about building my perfect Europa (the journey itself would naturally be done in the fabbo Interceptor I'd have bought beforehand). The little chat would consist of me thrusting a photo of the GKN car into said guru's sticky mitts and saying ''here you squire, can you build me one that looks like this please chief?''.

Nursie nursie where are you....?


Dorchester

82 posts

164 months

Sunday 2nd March 2014
quotequote all
Think that you'll find quite a few bods are going for the Renault Fuego (NG3) gearbox. I believe that it will take a little more bhp.
I had Spyder modify their tubular spaceframe chassis way back in 1985/6 when I built my Europa. I was told by Spyder that it was the first.
By the bye, my car was road tested by Sports Car Monthly and they said this about the chassis and gearchange "A live but light steering, with feel and precision the like of which hasn't been seen outside of a pukka racing chassis gives the Lotus-Ferrari brilliant handling..." "The Fuego change is much better than the Europa's and only the slots just millimetres apart for the five-plus-reverse ratios caused the odd wrong selection; the change itself was crisp and second only to the MR2's in the mid-engined precision stakes." (I never have had a wrong selection but then I am used to the car :-))
So you CAN get the Europa change to be much better than standard!

olia

76 posts

178 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
quotequote all
would love a banks europa
any idea how many have been built? why do they favour the vauxhall engine?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hK8Wl99Rk4

Edited by olia on Wednesday 12th March 10:50

GTRene

Original Poster:

16,367 posts

223 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
quotequote all
sounds great.

the banks cars like type 62 are great looking me thinks, they also use more sorts engines, also V6 and even V8 I believe, but how many were made I don't know.
There is a banks car on sale but its the narrow version 47 or so, the yellow one.