things and europas in key west

[M3M3]

yes, i am a biz trip car stalker like Jim G.....searched guantanmo bay, cuba yesterday and key west today for a 2002...no luck.

but, did find a couple of interesting cars. (please pardon the cell phone quality pics...)

a pretty stock looking and good condition vw thing.

and about 100 yards from the southermost point, i found this. pristine 1972 Lotus Europa S2.

the thing looked new up close. had track number in front window, scca stickers on side windows and an scca comp license on the center console. hmmmm. being bashful like Jim G, i looked at the key west style house it was parked in front of, and then walked up and knocked on the door....sure enough, the owner was there!

turns out the owner has had the car since it was new. he is from Ohio, and DROVE IT from Ohio to Key West for vacation! said he drives the heck out of the car as often as possible, including track days and auto-x's. stock on outside, with mild mods on inside. about 100hp in a 1400lb car. he was pointing me to the lotuslimited.com club website and giving me pointers on which years were the ones to look for...must resist.

was great chatting for 20min with another racer/car guy.

[FunElan]

I love seeing Lotus like that!! Europa's are fun cars. I grew up in a Lotus so I have a passion for those cars.

[jgerock]

Great going Marshall! Glad you are having some real fun rather than just watching PP presentations ;-).

Did you actually try to sit in that Europa? I remember barely squeezing into one years ago.

[M3M3]

that was it for fun...on to five days of ppt in 6 locations around the country!

didn't sit in it...that might have been dangerous...

[Harv]

THAT LOTUS LIVES IN MY TOWN!!!!

Notice the Ohio license plate! Here it is at our local Cars and Coffee.

That's a long way to drive any Lotus.

(Should have finished reading the original post before posting my self. But was too excited to see that car so far away.)

John

[Richard]

Am I remembering wrong or didnt Colin Chapman call the europas a POS......

[M3M3]

LOL..small world....and a tiny car!

[penth2o]

... he was pointing me to the lotuslimited.com club website and giving me pointers on which years were the ones to look for...

Nice shots. Two beautiful rides.

My brother had a 71 Europa & I would love to find one now.

What years did he mention to stay away from and why???

[M3M3]

evidently the first year or two were called MK1's. avoid those. the fiberglass body was bonded directly to the frame. this trapped moisture. high probability rust buckets and massively expensive to fix.

[FunElan]

Go for a twin cam, one of the ones that looked similar to an el camino (the sides in the back were trimmed down). These had the same 1.6L that my dad has in his Elan. Great little engine.