Hello i am a new europa owner

[Jesspo]

Hello,

 i am a new europa owner since three hours. In the Moment i am not complete sure if i have made the right to buy this car. But the next years will Show me this.

I am located in Germany Solingen, this is near cologne. I made with cars more the 30years. In the past i made much with Opel and have had hot Kadett C's and a Ascona 400. Then in 1990 i stopped with cars and sold all because life changed with the Family, childs and a house. Some years ago my wife and me bought a Cabrio for fun driving, the second cab was then a Lotus Elise SC, now it is replaced by a Porsche Boxster Spyder, but also i get a Kadett C Aero 5 years ago and made a complete restauration which is nearly finished now. My daughter is also very interested in old cars, so we decide to buy a new project a Lotus Europa. We both found  it a very interested car. I was thinking to look very slowly if i can get a nice runing car or a nice project, and only one week later i bought my  Europa Twin Cam.

The car come from LA and is Standing since 2009, now it is in netherland where i bought it. It needs a complete restauration but i think the base is not bad and the price was good. When i have the car here i will made a list what all is need. I will made a complete Restauration in a high Standard as i made with the Kadett Aero before.

I am sure i will have hundreds of questions during the work on the car.

happy to have contact here in the Forum. I hope my english is not to bad for your eyes.

If someone knows more of the history of my car i will be happy to here this. I found him in the regestry with last info from 2009 where it was in California Burbank.

greetings Frank

[jbcollier]

Welcome!

Look here for more info:

http://www.lotus-europa.com/registry.html

http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/index.htm

[EuropaTC]

Hello Frank, and 

That sounds an interesting story, and it's nice to see a car moving from the US to Europe for a change.  There are a few US owners on here who might possibly know of your car, plus there is also a Yahoo Lotus Europa group with a large US membership as well.

I'll look forward to the restoration story, was it expensive to import the car back to Europe ?

Brian

[Jesspo]

Hello Brian,

yes it is an interested Story, i know both the offer of the Company SportscarLa in Lawndale, who sold the car to a european dealer from netherland

http://www.2040-cars.com/Lotus/Super-Seven/1972-lotus-europa-twin-cam-1153321/

I think this must happend around September 2014,

and then i bought it today from the dealer in netherland.

I can not say exactly what it costs to bring him to europe, because i bought it here in europe and have nothing to do with shipping Vat and so on.

I only know that the dealer in europe was not very happy with the discribtion of the car from the USA offer. The car has no 5-Speed in my opinion and the condition is not so good as describe, So ithink he made not a good deal. I hope for me the deal was good.

I hope to here more of the history of my car, i am very interested in this.



 jbcollier,

i have looked in the regestry but howw can i made a update to my car?


greetings Frank

[4129R]

Hi Jesspo.

What is the chassis number?

It should be something like 72102500R or 73053500R.

Alex in Norfolk, (the birthplace of all things Lotus).

[Jesspo]

Hi Alex,

Chassis number is 72042220R. I write to Dan to made the Change in the Europa registry

In the Moment i am searching to find the engine and gear number. I am not sure if the gear is a Typ 365 as the offer said but i thin it is a type 352.

greetings Frank

[4129R]

I expect your gearbox is a 4 speed box.

If you need any help getting bits for your TC, most parts are easily found quite cheaply.

On this forum, if you have a problem, just ask, and there will be a Europa owner who has solved that problem before.

We are all here to help each other keep Europas on the roads of the World.

[Lou Drozdowski]

Frank, Welcome...It's good to see another Europa owner in the group.ld   

[BDA]

  Frank!

Your car doesn't look too bad from the pictures but the dealer being upset if he was told it was in better shape than it was. If you're serious about doing a restoration, it should make a nice project. I think you have a very good starting point.

If you really want a 5 speed, Richard at Banks (http://www.banks-europa.co.uk/index.php) can set you up with an NG-3 kit.

This forum is a great source of help. I would advise you to also join the lotuseuropa yahoo group.

Keep us informed with your plans and progress and if you run into any problems or have questions, we'll be glad to try to help you.

[EuropatcSPECIAL]

 
Welcome Frank, good choice of car you will enjoy every minute of your ownership. Please keep us posted with progress, pictures of how the work is progressing
all the best
Stuart

 

[3929R]

 
Too bad the LA dealer's ad was wrong about the transmission, owner history, and who knows what else. Regardless it is a great looking car!

The Registry lists Jose Soriano as a previous owner- jose@soriano.com Have you tried sending an email to see if the address is still good?

If not, he owns/owned an Elise, a Vespa, and vintage BMW motorcycles- http://modernvespa.com/forum/topic23031 You could try contacting him there. Or he has also posted on Lotus talk- http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f101/q-current-elise-owners-546/

Or try sending him a message through FaceBook- https://www.facebook.com/jose.soriano.904/photos

From the Registry:
As invoiced:
Vin Number: 74/2220R
Date Built: 4/1972
Date Invoiced: 5/1/1972
Engine #: S26359
Transmission #: ?
Original color: L13 - Pistachio Lime Green
Condition:
Current color: Yellow with Black Stripes
Condition: Getting there! Motor and transmission rebuilt by previous owner. Overall car in decent shape. Things I have done since purchasing about a year ago: Installed new carpet. Seats and door panels reupholstered in black. Dash veneer redone. New fiberglass crash pad covered in vinyl. New headliner. Installed front spoiler (original style). Purchased and re-finished a set of twin cam wheels. Rebuilt alternator. New Nippondenso starter. Added cobra style black stripes.
Photos

[Arizona]

Hi Alex,

Chassis number is 72042220R. I write to Dan to made the Change in the Europa registry

In the Moment i am searching to find the engine and gear number. I am not sure if the gear is a Typ 365 as the offer said but i thin it is a type 352.

greetings Frank

I'm not sure when the type 352 was introduced but my 72 TC, #2069R, has a type 336 transmission.

[EuropaTC]

I hope to here more of the history of my car, i am very interested in this.

If you really want to know the details of the car as supplied new, it is possible to buy a "certificate of provenance" from Lotus Cars via their website.  The man that does (or at least did) this service is a chap called Andy Graham who is/was the archivist with Lotus.  I got to know of him via Lotuselan.net before this became an official deal and he was very helpful in tracing some details for my Elan, including the original dealership which sold the car back in 1968.

Brian

[Jesspo]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for the nice replays.

Yes i have write an email to Jose, but till now i did get no answer. I will try the other ways, i think he can explain much about the history.

And yes i am sure i have hundrets of questions about the working and about getting parts.


In the Moment i will wait that the car is here, maybe next week and then i will have a very careful look on it to see how i will start and what all is missing. As not all Historie is complete correct i think to build in as i like it, that means with a 5-speed, a weber head and the european look ( no side marks ). The original colour L13 pistaziengreen are the favourit for me and my daughter.

Do you think it is a shame to build it this way? or is it much more interested to build it in original way means as US Version with the 4-speed and the Stromberg head?

As i read in the post from 2009 from Jose, the car has a rebuild engine and gearbox, i hope this is true. When i look into the head on the oilcap it Looks very clean, so it can be right.

And yes i will made a Restauration Story. Here are the Story from Restauration of my Kadett C Aero, sorry but it is in german.

http://www.iphpbb.com/board/viewtopic.php?nxu=03449989nx16963&t=1417&highlight=a706

greetings Frank

[Bainford]

  Welcome aboard, Frank. That is a good looking Europa project. There is no harm at all in building your Europa the way you like it. Unlike some type of cars, Lotus enthusiasts seem to accept modification much more readily than enthusiasts of some other cars. Perhaps it is the nature of the car itself, built as it was with a racing heritage. These cars benefited from modifications from when they were new, and that feeling seems to continue. Most Europa owners have made at least a few modifications or improvements to make the car more reliable and usable in todays driving environment. Others modify their cars heavily for track or auto-cross use, which is ok too since that is what these cars were built for.

Good luck and have fun
Cheers