Lot 545: 1974 Lotus Europa Special Coupé

‘If you’ve just bought an ordinary sports car, we’re sorry. Every Lotus is designed to give a man one thing above all - the greatest driving satisfaction the world can offer. Nothing hugs the road so closely, nothing corners so fast and true, nothing so happily combines performance, styling, comfort and pure handling pleasure.’ - Lotus Europa advertisement, 1971.
Launched at the 1967 Brussels Show, the Lotus Type 46 - the Europa - was the marque’s first mid-engined road car, and was powered by a Renault 16 engine mounted in an Elan-type backbone frame. Its specification also included all-round independent coil-sprung suspension and disc brakes on the front wheels (subsequently on the rear, too). Unusual styling provided ample luggage space while rearward visibility through the narrow, full-width back window was surprisingly good.
Having been manufactured exclusively for export for its first two years, the Europa made its UK debut in 1969 in improved S2 form. Renault engined like its S1 predecessor, the S2 reverted to a conventional body/chassis attachment, the S1 ’shell having been bonded in place - a move that greatly simplified, and cheapened, accident repairs - while electric windows and adjustable seats were welcome additions to the previously somewhat penny-pinching specification.
In the autumn of 1971 the Type 74 Europa Twin Cam was introduced, powered, as its name suggests, by the Ford-based dohc engine from the Elan. With 105bhp on tap, the Twin Cam was good for 117mph, a figure bettered by the more powerful (126bhp) ‘big valve’ engined Special model that superseded it after a year.
Dating from the final year of Europa production, this example benefits from the up-rated cockpit introduced in mid-1973 and is believed to have had only two owners, the first of whom was one J F G Stevenson, of London SW3. Purchased by the second owner in August 2007, the car currently displays a total of 16,089 miles on the odometer and is offered with old-style logbook, purchase invoice and Swansea V5.