A tale of two Europas

[jbcollier]

My friend Raymond, and Lotus owner extraordinaire, brought by his recently finished Europa S2, an early 54 with French door mechanicals.  It was very interesting driving it back to back with my S1.  My S1 is much more noisy, by an order of magnitude.  Even talking inside the S1 when it isn't even running sounds like you are in an echo chamber compared to his more robustly upholstered S2.  The other thing was how strong his engine was with a 45DCOE and a 4 into 2 header.  Mine, not that wildly tuned, may have been more powerful, but not by that much.  I'll post more later as I have to run now...

[GavinT]

Well, there ya go.

I’d have thought the S1 would have been quieter because there’s less nooks & crannies for the noise to get through.

Back at the turn of the century, a friend bought an Elise soon after they were first released here in Oz.
Some time later, we planned to attend a historic race meeting. He wanted to take his Type 14 Elite as well as his wife’s favourite MG M-type for a run (she doesn't mind a good punt).

He also wanted to show off his new Elise, so he asked me to drive it up there.
Talk about noise . . no carpet or anything like that, plus the soft top didn’t help.
When we got back from the event, I stepped into the Europa to go home. It was like a quiet Rolls Royce by comparison.