Lotus Europa Collection No. 1

Road tests, track tests, new model reviews, competitor comparisons, owner commentary, specifications, performance data, design and styling articles. pp. 70+ , illustrated #0516

The Lotus Europa is a two door mid-engined GT coupé built by Lotus Cars from 1966 to 1975. In 2006, Lotus began production of a totally new, Lotus Elise-derived design, a mid-engined GT coupé named Europa S.

The original Europa used Lotus founder Colin Chapman’s minimalist steel backbone chassisthat was first used in the Lotus Elan, while also relying on its fibreglass moulded body for structural strength. The Europa was based on a design sketch by Ron Hickman to compete for Henry Ford II’s contract to build a Le Mans race car in the early 1960s.

The Europa was designed and built to be an embodiment of Chapman’s oft-stated philosophy of automotive design: Simplify, then add lightness.”

The four-wheel independent suspension was typical of Chapman’s thinking. The rear suspension was a modified Chapman strut