Lotus Europa – A lightweight performer

LOTUS
EUROPA

An Anglo-French project by Lotus

IT IS IN HAVING THE ENGINE AFT THAT THE EUROPA IS SO SPECIAL

Introduced in 1966, the Lotus Europa was a truly forward-thinking car. It was a car capable of both track performance and everyday road use, with its mid-mounted engine, the Europa took established Lotus design principles for Britain’s first mid-engined sports car.

LOTUS INGENUITY

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The intention was that the first 500 cars would all be left-hand-drive and sold in France but demand for the Europa from within the UK saw right-hand-drive cars being delivered to UK customers eager to buy into the bold new style of Lotus in early 1967.

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A VISION OF THE FUTURE

The Lotus Europa translated the design and engineering breakthroughs of Grand Prix cars into an enticing roadcar package. At the time of its conception in the mid-1960s, almost no road vehicles had adopted the track-proven mid-engine configuration. Colin Chapman believed this engine layout would elevate the Europa’s performance while improving structural integrity and reducing costs for the driver.

AN ICONIC LINEAGE

The Lotus Europa used a backbone chassis which cradled the engine behind the driver compartment. This provided a lightweight yet rigid structure. All major components could be attached to this structure so keeping mass low. As a result, the Europa was very light – tipping the scales at just 612kg.

ONE SIZE FITS ALL

To save weight, the Type 46 Europa S1 was fitted with non-adjustable seats – drivers could move the pedals nearer or further away with special tools. By mid-mounting the engine and gearbox, weight distribution was much improved.

EXTRA SPECIAL

Later Europa models would be powered by the same Lotus-Ford Twin-cam used in the Lotus Elan. Available in 4 or 5 speed transmission variants, this engine topped out at 126 horsepower, significantly improving the Europa’s speed and acceleration. The Lotus Europa was made available as a ‘John Player Special’ special edition – featuring the iconic black and gold livery of the Lotus Formula One teams.

EUROPA STATISTICS

Name Lotus Europa Series 1
Lotus Type No: 46
Year of production 1966-1968
Volume Approx. 644
Engine 1,470cc, 4-cylinder
Power output 78bhp
Transmission 4-speed
Weight 612kg

Name Lotus Europa Series 2
Lotus Type No: 54
Year of production 1968-1971
Volume Approx. 2,750
Engine 1,470cc, 4-cylinder
Power output 82bhp
Transmission 4-speed
Weight 703kg

Name Lotus Europa Twin-Cam
Lotus Type No: 74
Year of production 1971-1972
Volume Approx. 1,580
Engine 1,558cc Twin-cam, 4-cylinder
Power output 105bhp
Transmission 4-speed
Weight 720kg

SPECIAL
EDITIONS

LOTUS EUROPA SPECIAL JPS

Introduced in September 1972 many of the first Big-Valve powered Europa Specials cars were liveried to capitalise on the Formula 1 World Championship title that Team Lotus had won that year with John Player Special as sponsors. All built with a 5-speed gearbox, these cars were of course painted black with gold pin stripes matching the livery of the Type 72 GP cars. With a numbered badges fitted to the dashboard they become the first of several Black & Gold commemorative cars from Lotus. Such was the reaction to the new car that the ‘Special’ name and pin stripe scheme (even in colours other than black) remained until the end of Europa production.

LOTUS TYPE 74 EUROPA RACECAR

To realise the obvious competition potential of the basic design of the mid-engined Europa, Lotus was quick to produce the race-bred Type 47 Europa. Fitted with the same 1.6-litre Lotus Twin-cam engine that would feature in the Europa Special, at the Type 47’s first appearance at Brands on Boxing Day 1966, the team’s driver John Miles finished first overall and went on to win a record eight British events in 1967.

LOTUS EUROPA TYPE 47D

Certainly a unique project, the Europa 47D, was a very special one-off luxury sportscar built by Lotus for the GKN / Vandervell group of companies. The 47D began life in early 1967 when Claude Birch, a board director of GKN and Chairman of Vandervell Products, asked Lotus if they would build a V8-powered Lotus Elan. Lotus declined, but the idea evolved into a Type 47-based project that found the name 47D through an unusual route.