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John's Online
LOTUS Museum
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TYPE 46
EUROPA
Series 1
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 LOTUS EUROPA
1966 - 1967
Production Sports Car
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Engine: Renault 16 1470cc-----------------------------------------------
Gearbox: Renault 4-speed-----------------------------------------------
Chassis: Central Box-section steel backbone with-----------
fork extensions at the rear, linked by light cross-member-
Front Suspension: unequal-length double wishbones,----
& coil spring / damper units.--------------------------------------------
Rear Suspension: Strut-type, with tubular lower link,-------
upper link formed by fixed-length half-shaft, & coil spring
 & damper units.--------------------------------------------------------------
Wheelbase: 7 ft. 8 in.------------------------------------------------------
Front Track: 4 ft. 5.5 in.--------------------------------------------------
Rear Track: 4 ft. 5 in.------------------------------------------------------
Length: 13 ft. 1.5 in.-------------------------------------------------------
Width: 5ft. 4.5in.------------------------------------------------------------
Weight: 1300 lbs.----------------------------------------------------------
The first truly roadable mid-priced, mid-engined,--
street car produced.-------------------------------------------
A glass-fiber body draped over a steel backbone
chassis with 4 wheel independent suspension.---
These cars were powered by a Lotus modified----
      Renault engine.------------------------------------------------------
Unbelievable handling and roadholding, often----
described by motorcar journalists as the nearest
       thing to a Formula car for the street.------------------------
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Production figures are as follows:--------------------
Series 1:     300 cars
Series 1A: 344 cars

Lotus originally envisioned the Europa as the heir apparent
to the Seven, a view that it abandoned when it tried to break
into the luxury sports car market.----------------------------------------
In it's haste to get the new third generation  Elite car into-----
production, Lotus tried fitting their Ford-based twin-cam-----
engine into the Europa and also changed it's body styling.--
The result was a car that neither handled as well, or looked-
as good as the original Europa.-------------------------------------------
Lotus would have been better off going into full series---------
production of the Type 47, ( with the Ford twin-cam engine ),
or the Type 62,( with the then new 907 twin-cam engine ), -----
which were both successfully developed designs.---------------

The popularity of these cars has not diminished, a fact-
that has been capitalized on by firms such as Spyder,-
Banks Engineering, and various Japanese tuners.-------
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In view of the mistake that Lotus made when --
it sold Caterham the production rights to the  --
 Seven, ( which-has continued to sell well and ----
 has become the most re-produced sports car----
in the world, with at least seven different firms 
copying it, and not paying Lotus any royalties ),-
and the above firms poised to do the same with
the Europa, Lotus should consider re-entering--
 production of the Europa, and beat them to the 
punch.------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Using modern production techniques such as VARI- ----
forming the body shell instead of hand-layering it,--------
stamping the chassis out of heavy gauge aluminum,-----
and using an all aluminum twin-cam engine & 5 speed--
transaxle, Lotus could produce a car in the $10,000.00-
to $15,000.00 range that enthusiasts would love and----
that would blow the doors off of anything else on the--
street, including Lotus' own over- priced Elise !------------
In this day of 'Retro-mobile mania' it is certainly worth--
thinking about.------------------------------------------------------------
Just look how well Mazda is doing with the Miata, a------
more complicated car than the original Elan ever was.--
In spite of it's complexity, Mazda was able to put it into-
production at a price that just about anyone can afford.
If Mazda is able to do it, I certainly think that Lotus can-
put an up-dated and much improved Europa back into-
production.-----------------------------------------------------------------
Anyone out there interested in a 1300 pound car, with a
150 H.P. engine, that gets 40 miles to a gallon of gas,-----
and corners like it was on rails ?-----------------------------------
I'm sure there are a few of you.-0----------------------------------
Hmmm, I wonder if Lotus would sell ME the production
rights ?----------------=-----------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------JMM
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           *******A Word of WARNING!: *******

    Because of the number of Renault Type 336 & 354 transaxles
  that are showing up on eBay, (and are being listed as suitable
  for use in the Lotus Europa), some points should be clarified.

 Although the Lotus Europa used a Renault Type 336 Transaxle,
 it was a HEAVILY MODIFIED unit.

 First: 
   The Lotus unit was modified by changing the position of
 the Crown Wheel to the other side of the case.
 This required extensive machining to the inside of the case.
 This was done because the Lotus Europa is a Mid-engine Rear
 Wheel drive car, with the engine in FRONT of the transmission,
 and the Renault R16, (from which the Type 336 transmission
 came), is a Front wheel Drive car, with the engine BEHIND the
 transmission.

 What this means is that if you try to use a Renault transmission
 in the Lotus Europa, you will have only ONE (1) forward gear,
 and FOUR (4) REVERSE SPEEDS!

 Second:
  The engine that was used in the Lotus Europa was HIGHLY
MODIFIED, (increased from 53 to 87 horsepower), by Lotus.
To take advantage of the increased horsepower, special gears
(made by Hewland Engineering, of Racing Transmissions fame),
were cut and heat-treated.
The gear ratio was also changed to suit the higher rev range of
the engine.

  Even if one went through the expense of machining the inside
of a Type 336 case so that the Crown Wheel could be reversed,
the stock Renault gears would not last very long when used in
a Europa with its greatly increased horsepower.

 In short, only the Type 336 (4 spd.), Type 354 (Twin-cam 4 spd.),
and the Type 365 (Twin-cam 5 spd.) transaxles that are built by
Lotus should be used in any Lotus Europa, especially if one
expects to get all of the performance that these cars are capable
of.

  The Renault transmissions are fairly easy to spot on eBay, as
they use a completely different gear linkage then the one used
by Lotus.
Also, many times they will have the Renault mounting hardware
still attached.
If a Seller still insists that the tranny can be used in a Lotus, get
a guarantee in writing, that you can return it for a refund,
(including the Shipping Charges), if your car goes slow in 1st
gear, and real fast in Reverse 1, R2, R3, and R4. 
                                                      .------------------------------JMM


Type 46 Series 1
( Notice one-piece fixed side window )

Type 46 Series 1A - Mk.1
( Notice two-piece side window with pop out panel )
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