I had this exact car and year color, everything. LOVED it. Never had a better handling car. Mine was slightly beefed up. Could do wheelstands. As I am only 5'8", the car felt custom made for me. Added a 12" Momo steering wheel could lock to lock in one sweep. A pistol grip shifter. Never had to remove my hand from the central arm rest. Sold in in Hawaii. After getting paranoid about the height and ABSOLUTELY no crash protection. As they said..."if you get into a crash, might as well bury you in it. 😅 I STILL have good dreams about that car.
I had a TC Europa back in 1975. It was first registered in 1971 and, like most Europas had low mileage 😉. I only had it a few months as it kept going wrong - I got to know the people in the parts department of my local Lotus dealer quite well. It eventually had to go because the crown wheel and pinion broke when changing a drive shaft, the failure of which caused “interesting” handling. A few months after I sold it into the trade I found out it had twice been an insurance write off 🙄. It remains an itch I’d like to scratch but I doubt I could get in one these days 😀
The restoration you had done is to a high standard. I noted you did improve the spec from Twin Cam to Twin Cam Special with some very nice upgrades. Did you also change the exterior color from the original factory finish?
@@edwarddemas5685 Hi, the car is and has always been a 4 Speed Special. It's registered on a K plate because it was imported from the USA. I converted the car to right hand drive when I restored it. The car was painted White when I bought it but was originally Lagoon blue although the trim was originally black and I preferred the Oatmeal. I bought the Europa in bits from Germany where it had been a stalled restoration. Very nice straight car though.
Seeing that license plate on the Twin Cam Europa reminds me of my 1966 Lotus Cortina that I brought to Yorkshire with me in 1969. My plate was AWW 539G. I certainly wish I had that car today. That Europa is marvelous. Thanks for showing it.
1969 I'm being biased, best year, my first car was a Mk Escort 1300GT, 'G' Reg 1969, dad sa8d don't buy it, it's written, year later I scrapped it myself with a 4" angle grinder, oh if we could go back
Thankyou very much, I catch everyone by surprise, but people passion & knowledge speaks for itself, I'm impressed by how the engineers at Lotus positioned the gear linkage, must have been lots of tea & cigarettes when designing these cars
My late father use to autocross a Europa, he put a B.D.A in it, Unfortunately he had a lead right foot, We used to close our eyes when he revved the guts out of it with wheelspin off the line ! 😲 Once going though that thing shifted !
Glad you have Webers (or Dellortos) instead of those horrid Strombergers (yes, I know I mis-spelled that). I have never forgiven Lotus for using those horrid things. I have had a few Europas, and it was one of my favorite cars of all time. It had its' annoying charm ;-)
Beautiful car! I love the Europa!
Are you viewing from Finland? Can I ask you if the Europa is common in Finland in collections
I had this exact car and year color, everything. LOVED it. Never had a better handling car. Mine was slightly beefed up. Could do wheelstands. As I am only 5'8", the car felt custom made for me. Added a 12" Momo steering wheel could lock to lock in one sweep. A pistol grip shifter. Never had to remove my hand from the central arm rest. Sold in in Hawaii. After getting paranoid about the height and ABSOLUTELY no crash protection. As they said..."if you get into a crash, might as well bury you in it. 😅
I STILL have good dreams about that car.
I had a TC Europa back in 1975. It was first registered in 1971 and, like most Europas had low mileage 😉. I only had it a few months as it kept going wrong - I got to know the people in the parts department of my local Lotus dealer quite well. It eventually had to go because the crown wheel and pinion broke when changing a drive shaft, the failure of which caused “interesting” handling. A few months after I sold it into the trade I found out it had twice been an insurance write off 🙄. It remains an itch I’d like to scratch but I doubt I could get in one these days 😀
Rare as hens teeth now, but you gave it a go
Love it. Way better than a German box.
Lol
This is absolutely stunning.
I restored this Europa and sold it to Kent Sports Cars. So glad to see the guy that ended up with it and so glad he loves it.
The restoration you had done is to a high standard. I noted you did improve the spec from Twin Cam to Twin Cam Special with some very nice upgrades. Did you also change the exterior color from the original factory finish?
@@edwarddemas5685 Hi, the car is and has always been a 4 Speed Special. It's registered on a K plate because it was imported from the USA. I converted the car to right hand drive when I restored it. The car was painted White when I bought it but was originally Lagoon blue although the trim was originally black and I preferred the Oatmeal. I bought the Europa in bits from Germany where it had been a stalled restoration. Very nice straight car though.
Hi Bob
I would love to get in touch with you and talk about the Europa I now own.
@@robertsmith9373 hi Bob would love to talk about this Europa
Seeing that license plate on the Twin Cam Europa reminds me of my 1966 Lotus Cortina that I brought to Yorkshire with me in 1969. My plate was AWW 539G. I certainly wish I had that car today. That Europa is marvelous. Thanks for showing it.
1969 I'm being biased, best year, my first car was a Mk Escort 1300GT, 'G' Reg 1969, dad sa8d don't buy it, it's written, year later I scrapped it myself with a 4" angle grinder, oh if we could go back
Fantastic interview by Paul.caught me totally unprepared lol
Thankyou very much, I catch everyone by surprise, but people passion & knowledge speaks for itself, I'm impressed by how the engineers at Lotus positioned the gear linkage, must have been lots of tea & cigarettes when designing these cars
My Dad owned one for 14 years fond memories
A long time to own one car, he must have liked it very much
My late father use to autocross a Europa, he put a B.D.A in it, Unfortunately he had a lead right foot, We used to close our eyes when he revved the guts out of it with wheelspin off the line ! 😲 Once going though that thing shifted !
Lead Right Foot, great term, now that's olde Skool for sure, similar to Lead Boot
Glad you have Webers (or Dellortos) instead of those horrid Strombergers (yes, I know I mis-spelled that). I have never forgiven Lotus for using those horrid things. I have had a few Europas, and it was one of my favorite cars of all time. It had its' annoying charm ;-)
I almost bought one of those in 1974, but just couldn't agree on price. 😪
What did you buy instead? I think looking back, it was another world & prices!
Aren't they great...
Fantastic Car Collection