"The Lotus Europa used Lotus founder Colin Chapman's minimalist steel backbone chassis that was first used in the Elan, while also relying on its fibreglass moulded body for structural strength, and was based on a prototype built to compete for Henry Ford II's contract to build a Le Mans racing car in the early 1960’s. The four-wheel independent suspension was typical of Chapman's thinking. The rear suspension was a modified Chapman strut, as used for Chapman's earlier Formula racing car designs with the handling prompting automotive writers to describe the Europa as the nearest thing to a Formula car for the road. The Series One was announced for sale in 1966 and was fitted with a modified Renault 16, 1470cc, inline-four engine and a four-speed gearbox. The Europa was designed and built to be an embodiment of Chapman's oft-stated philosophy of automotive design; simplify, then add lightness.
Owned by our vendor for the last 13 years, this iconic Lotus presents well in white with a black interior. We are led to believe that this 1969 Europa was one of the original Lotus press cars viewed by national motoring journalists, they were named Hethel cars after the hotel that was local to the Lotus engineering works. The current engineer owner has completed extensive works to the car which include a rebuild of the car and fitting of a new interior. The power for this attractive Lotus is now provided by a larger 1565cc engine. A house move and subsequent loss of a garage are the reasons for this sale. Offered to auction with a V5C registration document, this MoT exempt classic appears to be very realistically estimated.The health and safety of both our customers and team remains the utmost priority, we are therefore operating to Government guidelines throughout viewing and auction day."