Skin and Bones - 1974 Lotus Europa

This passage in the Europa technical manual is immediately followed by the section about replacing the chassis, and how it can't be repaired. You can't sum up the Lotus engineering philosophy much better than that. They weren't fragile, exactly, but the Lotus owner had to know what he was getting into.

So now let's get the obligatory discussion about how it looks out of the way, and then we can all get on with our lives: It's funny-looking. It's flat in a .29 coefficient of drag way. It's weird in a way that reminds you that the designer, Lotus chief engineer Ron Hickman, was working on Lotus's Ford GT40 proposal when he sketched it out. That's right, if things had worked out a little differently, Europas, in their trademark blue and orange livery, might be million-dollar collectibles today. This was a shape with a very simple purpose: Get through the air, fast. They made a couple of concessions for the need to hold a person inside, and maybe cover some stuff up, but if you're looking for Figoni et Falaschi coachbuilding, you're missing the point. O.K., it's not the kind of beauty that doesn't hurt your eyes, but the thing up and goes, so who cares?

Fine leather interior with wonking big JPS seatback emblems.

We often hear questions along the lines of, "With a car as beautiful as the Elite around, why develop that thing in the first place?" The Europa wasn't a replacement for the Elite, that's why. Lotus's Colin Chapman wanted a replacement for the immortal Lotus 7 roadster, a light, simple, dedicated road racing car. Chapman envisaged it a continental Lotus, a very real translation of sports car racing for the open road.

Centered on a Lotus Elan-derived central backbone chassis, development extended over several years, as Chapman and company searched for an appropriate drivetrain. He found it at the Paris Motor Show, in the form of the new front-wheel-drive Renault 16's alloy 1,470cc inline-four and four-speed. Something about that configuration struck him as perfect for a mid-engined vehicle, and sure enough, with the engine turned 90 degrees and final drive reversed, it fit the Y-shaped rear frame.

Earlier types have large sail panels from B-pillar back to end of trunk lid

They reached an agreement, and Renault sold Lotus a hi-po, c. 80hp version (up 50 percent over the stock Renault) for the Series 1 Europa. Underneath, Lotus used a version of Triumph's outstanding, ubiquitous double-wishbone front suspension, with hubs and Girling brake discs from the Vitesse/GT6, and modified Elan (née Triumph) steering gear.

Chapman wanted the Europa to be a car that didn't require a race shop to repair or maintain, but Lotus bonded the fiberglass body to the pressed-steel frame for stiffness. Countless owners since have found this the scourge of the model, as it can't be removed without destroying it, and the main shell is one enormous blow-molded piece of often-indifferent quality. The compound curve shape fixed the side windows in place, and they developed a ventilation system via hoses from a sealed front luggage compartment. Effective, but the journey during which something went wrong was a descent into hell.

The Elan was still selling well in the U.K. and U.S.A., so the Series 1 Type 46 Europa was only sold in mainland Europe. An initial shipment of 500 cars was delivered to France, and some 644 are recorded as having been produced.

It was funky, slippery, wonderful--and slow. With only 80hp and a four-speed, it was aero enough to make 115 mph, but by the time you got there, the sun had exploded and a giant cockroach issued your speeding ticket. Even today, there are sightings of ancient graybeards on the autobahn with their foot on the floor. Eighty horsepower. That's why, every year on his birthday, Europa owners all over the world light a single turn signal for Lotus's Mike Kimberly.

Lotus upgraded the Europa in 1968, introducing the Type 54 Series 2, whose major improvement was a removable body shell. Aside from some minor tweaks to the bodywork, operating windows and a greatly improved (and slightly larger) interior, the car was almost unchanged, the R16 engine wheezing up to 82hp. They graced the U.S. market with a 1,565cc Type 65 "Federal" version, smogged down to 80hp. Most notably, Lotus jacked up the front end some two inches to meet headlamp height regulations. American owners have been jacking the awkward-looking result back down ever since.

Owner Andy Tomaszewski

Renault forced Lotus's hand in 1970, when they discontinued the powerplant. They'd always held onto the best stuff, thinking that a home-market 120hp version would make the Europa into Alpine competition, and engineer Mike Kimberly had been chafing at the idea that there was 50 percent more horsepower available, not just at Renault, but from the racing variant's twin-cam. Even as Renault was pulling out, he was hard at work adapting the race engine for the street.

Renault still supplied the four-speed transaxle, so Lotus held the Twin Cam's (as 1971's Type 74 was known) LF/105 1,558cc four to 105hp. The look was obviously Europa, but the exterior was largely new, with a profile that lasted through the final sales in 1975. Lotus sold around 1,600 in two years, with profits that emboldened them to pursue the ultimate variant, the "Big Valve" Europa Special. The same 1,558cc engine realized its full potential, with 126 horsepower and a new Renault five-speed transaxle. Zero-60 times, already under seven seconds for the Twin Cam, headed down toward six seconds, top speed up toward 125, with all the handling goodness of previous models.

Andy Tomaszewski's 1974 Twin Cam Special is one of these, in John Player Special livery commemorating Lotus's F1 championships. It actually started out as a ridiculously rare Roman Purple car, but the previous owner had painted it in black and gold JPS livery, and honestly, would you paint it purple?

It came as something better than a basket case, "but the car had sat for a while," said Andy. "She needed some TLC...I needed to fix the transmission and brakes to make the car driveable, then basically rebuilt all the mechanicals over the following five years."

In addition to the paint, she came with a Lotus Elan Weber head and 40DCOE carburetors in place of the factory Zenith-Strombergs. Andy, an inveterate tinkerer, has gradually made other upgrades and modifications to suit his driving style over the 15 or so years he's owned it. Most obviously, he dropped the front end almost two inches to match the European car's ride height, but has also built himself a custom exhaust header, replaced the front discs with 10-inch Elan discs, machined himself an adjustable rear lateral link and had engine work done. None of that made it any bigger, though.

L. J. K. Setright reported in the February 1967 Car that he visited the factory and found "the designers and development engineers are all little men, trim and bantam-sized like Chapman himself." It's the single greatest bar to Europa ownership: No one over 5'10" need apply.

As per Andy's instructions, we brought driving shoes for our drive...he should have told us to wear our small feet. The engine is about eight inches behind your head, the road is knuckle-draggingly close...our left foot brushed the brake. Thankfully, the steering wheel was at a good distance, and after a banzai familiarization drive by Andy, we were off.

Our first 15 minutes behind the wheel was an exercise in frustration. The combination of a long, long mechanical linkage to the end of the transaxle at the back of the car, and a gearshift pattern we couldn't wrap our minds around, meant we utterly failed to change gears well. Hey, at least we admit it. However, we had more than 15 minutes, and eventually realized that third gear was there, and first was there, and we could concentrate on, you know, driving.

The ride was outstanding, well-damped but communicative, and Andy says that before he started beefing up the suspension, it verged on plush. It stays flat, the close pedals allow for easy heel and toe--if you know where your right hand is supposed to go--and the engine note is pure English four-cylinder perfection. The tiny front end does mean you'd better be doing leg presses if you plan to be in a collision (Andy has air horns for anti-Escalade purposes), but also allows you to put the front end exactly where you want it, in an I-think-I'd-like-to-pass-between-those-two-leaves sense. When he was driving and gave it the boot, the biggest surprise was the real kick in the back it delivers. Two people in it add another 15 percent to the weight, so the thing's a real screamer with just one--we have to think that Andy's punched-out version might duck into the high five-second range.

Not only did the original Twin Cam make the Special possible, it gave Lotus the resources to launch their first supercar, the Esprit, just a few years later. Without it, they would not today be one of a tiny number of British carmakers to survive into the 21st century. And as we all know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. "I have found this car very desirable since I first saw it when I was around 12 years old," said Andy. "When the open road is available, you can carve through the twisties...and it takes hours to wipe the smile off your face." We know we're still grinning today.

Andy Tomaszewski had his first interior assembled by a local upholsterer, in vinyl at his recommendation. "Shortly after the work was done, I had left the car out on a warm day," he said. "When I returned to the car, much of the adhesive the upholsterer had used had released. I took the car back, and they reapplied the adhesive, but the same failure happened."

So he did the obvious thing: purchased a commercial sewing machine and went to work. After an initial template, "I made the commitment by seam ripping the seats, console, etc., to make patterns."

"Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome, and the best thing is the adhesive I used doesn't release in the heat but probably depleted the ozone a little more."

Owner's Story

It's the closest thing to driving a Formula Ford race car on the street...the handling and performance always bring a smile to your face when spirited driving is safe. I also find the lines of the car very beautiful.

When I was 12, my brother and cousin would let me tag along to autocrosses with them, and there were a couple of Europas that would show up and pretty much beat everything else in their class every weekend. I already liked the shape of the car, and this just further endeared it to me.

Early Lotus cars are not for everyone. They are drivers' cars, fragile and lacking luxuries that most people expect today. If you want a true sports car and enjoy driving, then there isn't a better marque around.

-Andy Tomaszewski

What to Pay

1974 Lotus Europa Twin Cam Special

Low: $6,000

Avg: $8,000

High: $20,000

Club Scene

Lotus, Ltd.

P.O. Box L

College Park, Maryland 20741

301-982-4054

www.lotuscarclub.org

Dues: $35; Membership: 1,500

Pros & Cons

Pros

Blistering speed

Absurd roadholding

Greatest of the variants

Cons

Starting to get pricey

Best view out is from the driver's seat

Assuming you can get into it

SPECIFICATIONS

ENGINE

Type: Cast-iron DOHC inline-four, alloy head, solid skirt alloy pistons, hemispherical combustion chambers

Displacement: 1,558cc (95.06-cu.in.) stock/1,756cc actual

Bore X stroke: 82.55 x 72.75 stock/87.65 X 72.75 mm actual

Compression ratio: 10.3:1

Horsepower @ rpm: 126 @ 6,500

Torque @ rpm: 113-lbs.ft. @ 5,500

Main bearings: 5

Fuel system: Twin Weber 40 DCOE sidedraft

Ignition system: 12-volt, Pertronix pointless, AC Delco 35-amp alternator, Lucas M.35 J starter

Lubrication system: Gear driven, full pressure eccentric lobe

Exhaust system: Single, four-into-one header

TRANSMISSION

Type: Renault 365 five-speed manual

Ratios: 1st 3.61:1

2nd: 2.33:1

3rd: 1.61:1

4th: 1.21:1

5th: 0.87:1

Reverse: 3.08:1

DIFFERENTIAL

Type: Renault, hypoid final drive

Ratio: 3.78:1

STEERING

Type: Rack and pinion

Turns, lock-to-lock: 2.7

Turning circle: 41 feet

BRAKES

Type: Girling hydraulic

Front: 9.5-inch disc (stock)/10-inch disc (actual)

Rear: 8.0 X 1.5-inch drum

CHASSIS & BODY

Construction: Fiberglass layup over sheet steel backbone

Body style: Two-passenger coupe

Layout: Rear mid engine, rear-wheel drive

SUSPENSION

Front: Independent; unequal length A-arms, Spax adjustable coil-over shocks, anti-sway bar

Rear: Independent; Chapman struts, coil-over Spax adjustable shocks, adjustable lateral links

Wheels: American Racing forged four-lug

Front/rear: 14 X 6 inches

Tires: Dunlop D60 radial

Front/rear: 180/60-14

WEIGHTS & MEASURES

Wheelbase: 92 inches

Overall length: 157.5 inches

Overall width: 64.5 inches

Overall height: 42.5 inches

Front track: 53.5 inches

Rear track: 53 inches

Shipping weight: 1,513 pounds

CAPACITIES

Crankcase: 7 quarts

Cooling system: 11.5 quarts

Fuel tank: 15 gallons

Transmission: 3.6 pints

CALCULATED DATA

Bhp per cc: 12.37

Weight per bhp: 12.01 pounds

Weight per c.i.d.: 15.92 pounds

PERFORMANCE

0-60 mph: 6.6 seconds

¼ mile ET: 14.9 seconds

Top speed: 123 mph

(Source: Motor)

PRICE

Base Price: $7,400