Well sorted out 73 Europa TC for sale craigslist

[literarymadness]

Car looks well cared for.  Great price!! 20,000 Canadian dollars is about $15,000 US

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/cto/d/port-coquitlam-1973-lotus-europa-tc/6787752141.html

[tedtaylor]

I inquired about this car from a CL post out of Los Angeles, CA.  I planned to fly into LAX and drive it home, so I asked lots of questions about its reliability and roadworthiness. 
Unfortunately his response was quote:
"The Lotus when new was not design to be reliable enough to travel across the country like most British automobiles from the sixties and seventies. You would be better off to have it shipped."  and: "The Europa was not designed to be reliable for long trips."

I STRONGLY disagree as i drove my JPS Europa EVERYWHERE without hesitation.
Then he informs me the car is in Canada, so that put the nail in the coffin for me.

[Certified Lotus]

He clearly doesn’t know about your epic journey from CA to NJ in a Seven.

[BDA]

That guy is a fool. Any car, of almost any design quality, should be able to drive reliably for three or five thousand highway miles. They are the easiest miles a car will ever drive.

The first thing I did with my car was to take a ten thousand mile road trip without mechanical issues.

I would have more confidence in the car than the seller!

[tedtaylor]

actually i did share that with him with this article:
http://taylormadeclassiccars.com/images/Lotus_Remarque_article.pdf

He was not impressed, saying the Europa, with rear "sprung" suspension (u-joints & half shafts under load acting as upper link) was not designed for long distance travel.

looking to repeat that adventure!!!

[BDA]

He was not impressed, saying the Europa, with rear "sprung" suspension (u-joints & half shafts under load acting as upper link) was not designed for long distance travel.

You just can't fix stupid.

[literarymadness]

Ted

Just read the article...it was definitely inspiring.  I have been trying to get my TCS 100% roadworthy to make a trip from Ft. Lauderdale to the Dragon's Tail.  Now it seems really doable! By the way I'm the guy who bought the 4 TCS wheels from you two years ago and had them refurbished down in FLA.  They still look great.

Wesley

[andy harwood]

Tail of the Dragon. Cool. That will be a good trip. The Cherohala Skyway is a great drive too. possibly better. No lights at all during the night.

[cwtech]

GREAT article, Ted.  ...Thanks for posting the link.

[surfguitar58]

He was not impressed, saying the Europa, with rear "sprung" suspension (u-joints & half shafts under load acting as upper link) was not designed for long distance travel.

You just can't fix stupid.

Rather than question his intelligence, I would say this guy babies and over pampers his car. That is a GOOD trait for a seller to have from the standpoint of a potential buyer.
t

[RoddyMac]

If anyone is interested in the car, I'm fairly close to PoCo so I could go look at it.

[BDA]

He was not impressed, saying the Europa, with rear "sprung" suspension (u-joints & half shafts under load acting as upper link) was not designed for long distance travel.

You just can't fix stupid.

Rather than question his intelligence, I would say this guy babies and over pampers his car. That is a GOOD trait for a seller to have from the standpoint of a potential buyer.
t

I'm all in favor of babying or pampering your car or encouraging people to pamper their car - especially a "classic" (but for me, "pampering" means aggressive maintenance rather than not stressing the car), however to say that the car was not designed for long distance travel is absurd on its face. What does it mean to say that a car was not designed for long distance travel? Highway miles are the easiest miles your car will ever have. Six thousand stop and go city miles is a lot tougher on your car than six thousand highway miles. I would further argue that Chapman, who admittedly never over-engineered anything, intended the owner to enjoy the car which for sports car owners means at least some, and probably a lot, of spirited driving.

I would not be critical of his opinion if he warned that Europas and other Brit cars of the era were much less reliable than cars today or even other cars of the day.

[tedtaylor]

I would not be critical of his opinion if he warned that Europas and other Brit cars of the era were much less reliable than cars today or even other cars of the day.
[/quote]

For arguments sake, what do you base that on?   Yes, no comparison to 21st century cars, but with cars in its day (1970's), i'd say they were very reliable (if sensibly maintained).   I think I stressed that exact point in the article I wrote...

[BDA]

I would say that most German cars and even American cars of the time ('70s) were generally more reliable than most Brit cars of the time (especially in the electrical system). I said that as an example of a reason one might more reasonably be cautious about taking a Europa for a long trip but not as support for the position of the seller that it was a bad idea to take a Europa on a long drive. I also agree that Europas are pretty reliable if maintained properly but in spite of the work done on the engine and tranny, I might wonder about a car that is 45 years old but only 18000 miles. What was it doing all that time? If I knew that, say, 10,000 of those miles were put on the car recently or since all that work was done.