Lotus
tried to kill off the Lotus 7 with the type 46 Europa, which was meant to replace
it. The Lotus Europa
Lotus
tried to kill off the Lotus 7 with the type 46 Europa, which was meant to replace
it.
The
car therefore had to be cheap, relatively simple mechanically
and one which could be maintained and serviced at non-franchised
dealerships.
The
biggest problem was which engine to use ? Although they would like to have used
the Ford 105E, there was no transaxle available at the time suitable for their
mid engine configuration. Lotus were worried about using the Hillman Imp engine,
the unreliability was affecting Lotus's reputation.
In
1965 Renault launched the '16', it was front wheel drive, with the gearbox in
front of the engine, all the designers at Lotus had to do was to turn
it around !
The
modern light alloy engine gave 59bhp in standard form, but Renault tuned the
engine for Lotus and increased the output to 82bhp.
To
keep costs down, the body shell was designed around Ford Anglia bumpers, and the
rear engine/transaxle layout gave excellent weight distribution and also leant
itself to a low body line.
The
'bread van' rear end design was inspired from Ferrari's 250 GT, and rear
visibility was provided by a small window styled from the 250 GTO.
The
extensive wind tunnel work lowered the drag factor to 0.29, this helped the
relatively low power output from the Renault engine.
Starting
in February 1967, the first 500 Europa's went to France, then the American
market was exploited.
A
redesigned series 2 was introduced in April 1968, the body work was now bolted
to the chassis rather than bonded, and it now sported reclining seats, electric
windows and a wooden dashboard. This model was then sold on the home market in 1969, at £1275
in kit form and £1667 fully assembled.
In
1971 the Europa Twin Cam was launched, an inch longer to allow for the extra
weight of the new engine and the cockpit floor lowered.
Now
it was a true high performance car, and it was comfortable as well.
The
final Europa's, the Europa Specials, took advantage of a stronger 5-speed
gearbox and the fitting of Lotus's big valve twin cam engine.
This new configuration boosted the output power to 126bhp.
Production
finally ceased in 1974, after 9887 examples had been produced.