Hello,
My name is James from San Diego.
When I was a kid, I had a silver Lotus Europa 1/43 scale Matchbox that was my favorite car (even after the rear wheels broke off). When I turned 18, I searched through the local Auto Trader publications for my first car (my dad's Mazda RX-3 wagon, that I shared, went to my younger brother). Well, I found a red 1967 S1 at a National City Miles of Cars dealer for 3K. The owner of dealership would showcase the Europa to attract customers. Getting my dad to co-sign the loan was tough but him being a British immigrant and former MGA owner, he agreed and drove it home for me. I had a blast driving this car! ...until things started happening... bad things. Yes, even the rear wheel broke off, like my Matchbox! (well, not exactly, this was a tie rod, and later, an axle). I had a new desert cooler radiator made but they forgot the inner baffle and it caused a warped head. Octagon Motors tried to fix the shift linkage with a tightly woven mass of metal wire. Distributor failure, lack of Renault parts, lack of good mechanics, and college, left the poor thing garaged... only to become home to a family of possums that enjoyed dining on Lucas spaghetti. So, now, many years later, I'm finding the time to restore her back to health. I'm currently deciding on which 4AGE motor to swap (16v small-port or 20v silver/black-top).
I hope to meet-up with fellow San Diegans owners!
Cheers!
