Lotus Europa History

The Europa (1966–1975) was Lotus's first mid-engined road car, bringing the layout of Chapman's Formula and sports-racing cars to the street. It used a fibreglass body on a backbone chassis and was strikingly low, with a distinctive high-sided 'breadvan' rear deck on early cars.

Series 1 and 2 cars used a 1.5-litre Renault engine mounted amidships; the later Europa Twin Cam and Special swapped in the Lotus-Ford Twin Cam for far stronger performance. Lotus revived the nameplate three decades later with the Elise-based Europa S (2006–2010), a turbocharged GT-flavoured coupe never sold in the United States.