Lotus - the name evokes not only strong emotions but reality: Lotus is about the pure art of speed and handling on four wheels. The company was founded by British engineering genius, Colin Chapman. Our featured car is the Lotus Europa, the world’s first mass-production mid-engined car. We found this 1970 example at the last MacLean’s Bridge meet actually held at MacLean’s Bridge, south of Brisbane in 2010.
Having driven many contemporary Lotus cars I am a huge fan. The handling of these vehicles is simply extraordinary as any Lotus owner will soon tell you. When you drive a Lotus you know you’re alive. This performance makes up for the lack of luggage space, difficulty getting in and out of the car, as well as the discomfort while riding in these low-slung machines. Lotus has always been a car of extreme compromise. This goes back to Chapman’s philosophy and his view of automotive design, `Simplify, then add lightness.’
The Lotus Europa was built by Lotus Cars from 1966 to 1975. They were an odd-looking car back then and in that respect nothing has changed. With this weirdness comes a body that slips through the air with a drag co-efficient of just 0.29 - extremely good, even by today’s standards. All Lotus cars have one thing in common. They are minimalist, apart from streamlining and suspension.
Europa is based on a steel chassis and uses a fibreglass moulded body. The original Europa was based on a car developed to compete for Henry Ford II’s contract for a Le Mans race car. Apparently Ford and Chapman had a falling out with Chapman wanting to use the Lotus name and Ford ... obviously wanting the Ford name. Ford were paying the bills so the outcome was predictable.
Being a mid-engined car the Europa had a head start over almost any other road car in engineering development. Lotus and Chapman were past masters at building mid-engined cars in the early 1960s with legends like Stirling Moss and Jim Clark steering Lotus 18 cars to Gran Prix wins at Monaco and in the US. This expertise and experience flowed through to Europa.
The love-it-or-hate-it shape came from the director of Lotus Engineering, Ron Hickman in 1963 as part of the work on the Ford GT 40 Le Mans project. Instead of wearing a Ford badge the concept became a replacement for the Lotus 7, a car, which, in hindsight, could never be replaced. It is still going strong. The Series 1 Europa was delivered in France in early 1967. France was a logical place to launch the car as the Europa used a familiar driveline: a modified version of the Renault 16, four cylinder in-line 1470cc engine. This was linked to a four speed manual transmission. This powerplant put out 61 kW compared to 39 kW from the standard Renault variant.
Europa tipped the scales at just 610 kg ensuring Chapman’s ‘added lightness’ philosophy held true. These first Europas are rare animals with just under 300 being produced. They featured fixed side windows, no covers on the internal sides of the doors and an aluminium dashboard. Later Series 1A and 1B had side windows that could be removed, a wooden dash, and internal door panels that could be removed to store the windows.
The Series 2 - like our featured car - was released in 1968 and used the same Renault engine and, for Lotus, had gone somewhat up-market. The windows were electric, the seats could adjusted, there was a new interior, and the dash timber was polished. Perhaps the most significant change though could not be seen. On previous models the Europa’s body was fixed to the steel chassis by resin. It was a repair nightmare. From the Series 2 on the body was fixed by bolts allowing the body and chassis to be separated for repairs to the mechanicals.
From a design aspect time has treated the Europa well. It is still a stunning looking car that will turn heads if your are lucky enough to see one on the road, or like we did in a stable of Lotus classics on display at MacLean’s Bridge.
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