Photo: screenshot from Youtube
You're not a real car guy if you're not rooting for this fellow, because he had the courage to buy a junkyard dog and love it.
The vehicle in question is a Lotus Europa, built in Norfolk between 1966 and 1975. In mint condition it looks decent, not spectacular. However, this isn't a mint condition car by any stretch of the notion.
The young man who paid $200 for this weird-looking heirloom from half a century ago goes by the name "I Like Sixties Things" and also has a 1969 Chrysler Newport. The Lotus lover says his Europa will be called Twiggy, which is fitting considering this fashion icon started modeling in the late 60s.
Twiggy's slim figure was described as "a new kind of streamlined, androgynous sex appeal", and that kind of holds true for the Lotus as well.
If this really is a 1969 Europa, then it's a Mk2 model, of which only about 4000 were made. The Type 65, also known as the S2 Federal, was born exclusively to be exported to the US. Changes were made to the chassis and suspension while the Renault 16TL 1,565cc engine producing 80 hp was slightly larger than the normal 1,470cc unit.
That engine in this particular Europa needs to be replaced, hopefully with something bigger and more powerful. The chassis is also a little rusty, and the fiberglass body will be a pain in the backside to work with.
However, you know what Colin Chapman always said: "Rust is just nature's weight savings." Mind you, the little Lotus weighs about half as much as a modern-day Golf GTI, so there's not a lot of metal to work with in the first place.
The young man who paid $200 for this weird-looking heirloom from half a century ago goes by the name "I Like Sixties Things" and also has a 1969 Chrysler Newport. The Lotus lover says his Europa will be called Twiggy, which is fitting considering this fashion icon started modeling in the late 60s.
Twiggy's slim figure was described as "a new kind of streamlined, androgynous sex appeal", and that kind of holds true for the Lotus as well.
If this really is a 1969 Europa, then it's a Mk2 model, of which only about 4000 were made. The Type 65, also known as the S2 Federal, was born exclusively to be exported to the US. Changes were made to the chassis and suspension while the Renault 16TL 1,565cc engine producing 80 hp was slightly larger than the normal 1,470cc unit.
That engine in this particular Europa needs to be replaced, hopefully with something bigger and more powerful. The chassis is also a little rusty, and the fiberglass body will be a pain in the backside to work with.
However, you know what Colin Chapman always said: "Rust is just nature's weight savings." Mind you, the little Lotus weighs about half as much as a modern-day Golf GTI, so there's not a lot of metal to work with in the first place.
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