Ahh…the Lotus Europa. Never has such a great car been so amazingly ugly. Add in the black and gold John Player Special color scheme and you have one of the coolest, weirdest things ever.
Notably, this is a twin-cam Europa, which moved away from Renault engines to the highly regarded Lotus (Lotus-Ford) Twin Cam. Whomever gets this car back on the road will be rewarded with an amazing car to drive…once it has been sorted.
The seller provides a ton of text in the ad and is quite frank about the condition and lack of recent usage.
Here’s that funky, pickup-like styling. What’s always hard to tell in pics is just how small and low this car is.
Here’s the odd profile.
And here’s a peek at the (more conventional) front.
Interior is cozy and the seats look supportive. Seats show some wear, but they’ll work fine.
The controls are purposeful and simple. Wood dash is a classy touch.
Here’s the front storage bin.
Yes, the engine is in the middle, where it should be. there’s a bit more storage aft of it. Note the two cam covers and two SU carburettors.
“Twin Cam JPS Europa with 5 speed shift. Bought in 2005 the car required a variety of works performed to make it roadworthy (work and invoices available) Vehicle is solid and was on the road with full Nova Scotia roadworthy safety inspection until 2007. Since then, for various reasons the car has been garaged. The engine, etc, was not inhibited and the car has therefore not been started or driven whilst garaged so requires a full mechanical re-inspection before start-up. Fibre-glass body shows some spider-web crazing and paintwork flaking in a few areas that require attention. The interior is generally good for the age but the seats require restitching at some of the seams and the centre arm rest requires attention as does the walnut fascia over the glove box. In general the bodywork and interior need be renovated to do the car justice and increase its value to that commensurate with a rare model of Europa. Please also refer to photos and ask questions on condition, etc before bidding”
1 General Information and Background.
A rare 1973 John Player Special Limited Edition #128 of 200 in the black and gold JPS Formula 1 Trim complete with Formula 1 winners plaque on the cockpit exterior. To commemorate winning their fifth Formula 1 Trophy Lotus is understood to have decided to make a Limited Edition run of 200 (100 for North America and 100 for Europe) of their new Twin-Cam model Europa in the black and gold JPS racing trim. The initial run had decals added to the dash board of the vehicles (apparently by dealer in the US and not by Lotus themselves) to further distinguish the edition. This Europa JPS is number 128 of 200.
Apparently the demand for the John Player Special trim was so great that Lotus decided it was financially prudent to extend the production line so that in total some 4,700 Twin Cam Europas Type 74 were delivered in the JPS as well as in other colours.
Vehicle is left hand drive.
Our Europa was purchased out of North Carolina in 2005 and upon receipt it was determined that it required considerably more work performed to make it roadworthy than had been anticipated from the on-line description provided. In particular the car required extensive work to the suspension system, steering and safety areas before it could receive a Nova Scotia Government Roadworthy Safety Certificate. Some $3000+ was spent on making the car roadworthy and such detailed descriptions of work performed and invoices will accompany the vehicle or scanned copies can be sent on request .
This work was undertaken by a specialist in British vehicles and in particular sports cars. One of the problems encountered with the car was the ground clearance which even with the suspension fully repaired was not very great. This was solved by obtaining a kit from a Lotus approved supplier in the UK that allowed the clearance to be increased which with new larger tyres allowed a higher ride. Even so no Lotus Europa is designed for back roads or bad road surfaces.
Once the car was on the road driving it was a great pleasure as it sticks to the pavement like a limpet and because of its extreme lightness the twin-cam engine provides excellent performance for a 40 year old vehicle.
According to legend the original Europa was designed by Colin Chapman around his own physique and he was not a large man. Initially he refused to allow any changes to be made to provide greater space and comfort in the cockpit, however, he relented enough so that in the twin-cam model the cockpit area was redesigned to allow more space inside the car and to improve visibility by altering the rear window area. The redesign apparently allows someone over 6 foot tall to drive the car, however, even for smaller persons getting in and out of the vehicle is rather tight.
2 Condition (Additional Information).
The space allowed above for description is fairly limited so the following clarifications are also noted:
· As stated the car, when received in 2005, required considerable work to make her and fully operational and roadworthy. Once complete the car ran and performed well.
· Making her operational and roadworthy did not include renovation on the bodywork and interior which was to be phase II of the restoration activities. The intent was to have the bodywork, in particular, dealt with by fibreglass and paint specialists to try and retain as much of the original JPS paint as possible. The main areas of crazing and paintwork flaking are on the front left wing and around the driver’s door which should be seen from the photos. For the interior the intent was to initially repair the seams and seat sections that required it together with repairing the centre consul and glove box fascia and general tidying up. This unless more extensive works were deemed preferable for ROI.
· Unfortunately due to being assigned overseas for several years followed by a severe illness upon returning home the car was garaged and not driven since 2007. As this was not anticipated the car was not prepared for long term storage (e.g. engine inhibited, etc) and therefore the mechanics will require a full re-inspection before start up.
· The vehicle has hard and soft copies of the Europa Manual, an additional spare wheel (without tyre) and a few other small parts.
3) Sale and Shipping.
The Europa is sold without warranty although inspection and questions are welcome.
Shipping to be the full responsibility of the buyer from the cars presently garaged location in the Metro Halifax area of Nova Scotia. Halifax has good road, rail and sea connections and is home to an Autoport where bonded vehicles are received on import and customs cleared.
The vehicle is therefore sold on an “As is, Where is” basis.
Unless otherwise agreed between the parties, regarding form of payment and time, full payment is required as stated herein.
The vehicle is also for sale locally. Subject to EBay regulations Owner therefore reserves the right to end the auction early unless the reserve price has been met.
On 11-Jun-15 at 11:53:13 EDT, seller added the following information:
ADDIONAL INFORMATION
A number of queries have been received and responded to, two of which may be of general interest to prospective buyers. The queries and responses should have appeared in the Q&A bottom of the listing, however, due to problems with the Q&A System they have not been shown. For good orders sake they are shown below. Unfortunately the photos cannot be added here but can be provided on request.
Response sent Jun-10-15 03.02PM
Hi Thanks for your interest and apologies for the delay in replying but have been busy and only am just getting around to catching up on emails.
As requested I attach some add photos of the engine compartment and interior. If there is anything in particular that you want details or photos of please let me know.
Per the repairs. These were related to problems under the car front section plus other general works on the engine, carbs, electrics, brakes, etc, to make sure she was safe and roadworthy. Per the underside – from checks that the garage undertook it appears that, because of low clearance, the car had run over a large stone or something similar that had damaged the front struts/suspension. This was the main item that caused costs and time particularly in getting spares. It is also the reason we made efforts to raise the clearance. I can scan and attach copies of the work records if you wish. Pls just ask and confirm.
The work was therefore not related to rust or her being in an accident.
I have tried to take some pictures under the car but they were not very successful (1 photo attached) due to access so will try again if you wish.
Best Regards
John
Original Question to fieldcosearch,
Could you send more pictures, particularly of the interior and engine compartment? Were the repairs alluded to in your description required due to accident damage or rust damage? Thanks, Mike.
Response sent Jun-11-15 07.19AM
Hi Many thanks for your interest and enquiry.
Regarding the vehicle’s official designation you are perfectly correct that it is “Europa Special”. I have used the John Player Special term in the description as the generally recognised colloquial term for the Europa Special in the distinctive John Player Special colours that were used on the F1 racing cars and which, in turn, were derived from the black and gold used on the cigarette packets of that name. Hence also your comments per the problems that were starting to arise in the ’70s with tobacco advertising.
Examples of such general colloquial use are found in various publications including the scanned copy attached from “The Lotus Europa – An Enthusiast’s Guide and Pictorial Review” by Robinson and Francis (scanned copy attached).
Nonetheless and as agreed, you are correct that the actual designation should be “Europa Special” and I include this in the Q&A section of the listing to clarify same and put the record straight.
Thanks for raising this description issue.
John
Original Question sent to fieldcosearch,
Why do you call this car a John Player Special when it is in fact a Lotus Europa Special? Although this car sports distinctive JPS black and gold livery, I can find no factory mention of the cars being called by Lotus as John Player Specials. The difference being that the 1970’s Lotus built F1 cars were actually identified as John Player Specials on their chassis plaque with no mention of Lotus in an effort to side step European regulations to eliminate tobacco advertising in motorsport at the time.
