We here at Oddimotive certainly love the Lotus Europa. What could be better than world-class handling and light weight combined with a rev-happy engine and looks best described as “pickup-like”?
What we have here is a very rough Europa that is claimed to be in running condition.
Click for eBay ad
Tucson, AZ
$8,000 with 60 bids and reserve met
12/07/2013 update: SOLD for $8K with 61 bids
Does she help or hurt the ad?
Interior appears to need everything. Note that the ‘model’ apparently refused to sit in it.
Battery still in wrapper? We always thought the Europa storage bin would make a great beer cooler, especially for the many times when this British beast likely wouldn’t start. The Honda Ridgeline has to steal its idea from somewhere…
Twin cam power!
Ad text:
1974 Lotus Europa S3
Motor runs well and trans feels good, first off.
A race car built for the street and already a classic Sports car.
The Lotus Europa was an important car for its time.
This is the almost the last yr made, and has the Ford Twin Cam
motor in it with Mods done by who use to be Cosworth Engineering
in CA back in the late 80s.
ALSO, this car came with 2 pretty rare options:
Air Conditioning and PW power windows !
The story goes the person we got this car from it was his brothers.
His brother owned it in most of the 80s until the mid 90s when
he grew to ill to race it. All gas was drained out and ran out of
the carbs and it was put in under a carport for the last 15+ yrs.
When the actual last owner/driver was using the car it was mostly
for track use. Mini Grand Prix events, road racing, SCCA etc with
little street use. Story has it he had the original motor sent out to
Cosworth in CA at the time and they built the motor to a tune of
about 150hp. Hand written notes in the paperwork from Cosworth
mention this motor has a set of titanium connecting rods in the
motor as part of some of the mods.
Its been in AZ its whole life so even though its a fiberglass body
the car has no rust to speak of anywhere on the floors etc.
About 4950 twin cam Lotus Europas where built between 71-75
There was a wire behind the dash not letting power get to the
starter, so I had to temp run another wire from the igntion
switch back to the starter so it starts with the key.
(hence the white wires youll see inside the interior)
DRIVETRAIN: As mentioned, the best we can tell its the original
motor. If they had matching #s back in the day, not sure, but if
you want me to check somewhere on the block just tell me where
and I will and take pics. The aircleaner is just off temp for the pics
but will come with the car with some other items.
Motor fires right up almost all the time first turn of the key.
No smoke or weird noises from it, but the throw out bearing squeals
a little depending on where your foot is on the clutch. Probably
very dry from sitting. A/C is all there, but not currently functional.
It may not need much.
INTERIOR: The original Tan Leather didnt hold up to the Az sun
and heat all that well. Gauges all seem to be intact and there.
But it needs a good restoration from top to bottom.
Watch the episode of Overhaulin where they did one of these
cars, and maybe get some ideas 🙂
Drivers outter door handle not functional and loose on the door
so it has to be opened from the inside at the moment.
Some of the locks and stuff not installed on the hatches come
with the car but not installed (see pic).
Its very complete for the most part which makes restoring it
much easier for the new owner.
EXTERIOR: Original color I believe was Roman Purple
but in the early 80s the last owner painted it whats left of
its current Orange color. Fiberglass and bumpers overall are
in very good shape. The AZ sun has been hard on the paint
and rubber as you may expect but gives you a place to start
so you can restore it your way. Not sure if all the lights etc
are working but this car is pretty simple by comarison to
most cars.
Suspension: all factory and thats just great for most owners.
These suspensions are a killer design from the factory and
need very little take out racing or just to drive on the street.
I do have some rear camber knuckles that come with the
car so if you want to add more negative camber for track time.
BRAKES, the brakes are not functional at the moment, at
the very least it will need a new brake master, and that should
solve the problem. No parts are damaged or missing there.
This car is 90% rust free Arizona car
Check out ALL the pics below —–>
it may take a full minute for them all to load if you have a
slow connection, so be patient AND looks for the extra schroll
bar on the right side.
Az gets maybe 12″ a yr of rain and Az very dry climate.
more info AFTER the pics etc. There are 100 large pics.
There you have it, probably The BEST represented Lotus’s on Ebay.
Shows you all the good as well as any bad, hope you appreciate them.
We put a lot of time and effort in marketing our cars and it shows.
People wait months for a car this solid to come up for sale
and even if you have to pay shipping to your area, it still beats
paying a body shop to hopefully fix a rusty car for weeks on end.
Having as much as the original steel on a restored car these days
speaks volumes.
Also, if you buy a car thats been “restored”, who knows what sort
of surprises are hidden under new paint or thick undercoating.
People are flipping cars all the time when most of the jobs are
fast, for a quick buck and quality suffers.
Our auctions have NOTHING to hide .
Restore a car like this yourself or locally and you know
exactly what you have in the end.
Email us with ANY questions before you bid please
If you treat yourself to buying one of our vehicles
youll never buy a total rust bucket again from anyone !!
Our Impeccable FEEDBACK speaks for itself.
Doing restoration on this type of project is less labor
intensive which means overall cost is less too !
With less horrid surprises later on.
Dont let auctions with little to no pics try to fool you.
With other auctions, you really dont know what to expect
until you take the car apart. While we go over our cars ALL OVER
with great pics to help making your decision easier.
Along with ANY other questions you may have.
Email me for a quote for shipping.
ARIZONA TITLE IN HAND
I wont end the auction early !!
CAR MUST BE PICKED UP WITHIN 14 days of auctions
END ! we can no longer store cars for anyone !!
Unless other arrangements have been made before auction ends.
Can help with shipping outside the USA too if you need help.
But keep in mind, the car cant ship until you get your title
from us in hand.
This car, you can see clearly what to expect with no surprises
and our Feedback speaks for itself !
EMAIL US WITH ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE !!
Car will obviously ship as an INOP.
IF you need a shipping quote, just email us with your city/state
and Ill find out our best quote for you !!
No problem helping it to the docks if you are shipping overseas .