OT: Lotus Europa, Someone gimme the skinny!!! |
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OT: Lotus Europa, Someone gimme the skinny!!! |
ninefourteener |
Jun 10 2005, 04:23 PM
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#1
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Perfectly Normal Guy :) Group: Members Posts: 1,216 Joined: 3-June 03 From: St. Louis, MO Member No.: 779 |
So I just got back from my vacation to Florida....... Had a blast (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif)
On the way home, while stopping at one of those road-side "jams, jellies, and pecans" places.... I found a classic car dealership and peeked through the window. ........ where I found a car I've seen a thousand pictures of...... but never actually seen one in person...... a 1972 Lotus Europa. Same appeal as the 914.... tiny, nimble, rear engine, 2-seater, etc. Oh yea.... and it looks wild.. like nothing else out there....... much like the way I fell in love with 914s. Plus.... the cost is low.... gotta love that. So...... whats up with these cars? Are they fast? Handle well? reliable? piece of crap? expensive to buy parts? easy to modify? etc. I'd like to hear from anyone thats ever owned or driven one..... and their thoughts. Thanks!!! Matt here's a pic... for those that have no idea what one looks like (not the one I saw) Attached image(s) |
lapuwali |
Jun 14 2005, 08:27 AM
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Not another one! Group: Benefactors Posts: 4,526 Joined: 1-March 04 From: San Mateo, CA Member No.: 1,743 |
They're not trailing arms like the 914 setup. They're a radius rod/lateral link setup as was used on most F1 cars in that period. The lateral links are the halfshafts, which was also a commonly seen item on F1 cars (esp. from Lotus) at that time. The chassis was just an Elan chassis that had been reversed. The engine went in the crook of the Y in both, but it faced rearwards on the Elan, with the propshaft running through the backbone and the diff at the T in the backbone.
Spyder may make those tube backbones now, but I believe it was Banks that offered them originally. There's also a sheet backbone available made of heavier gauge material so it won't crumple quite so easily as the original units did. |