How many Europas may be left in the whole world?

[Mecky]

Hello Europathusiasts,

I read a Wikipedia article about the Mitsubishi Starion one minute ago, because I thought it looks like a plagiarism of the Porsche 944, but that does not matter at all. There is written that there are still only 200 of these cars left in Germany. This lead to the question of this thread:

Around 9000 - 10000 Lotus Europa were built between 1966 and 1975. Does anyone of you have an idea, how many Europas may be left on earth? Are there perhaps any proven numbers?

I would guess something around 7000. What do you think?

Best regards

Stefan

[cal44]

Stefan,

the problem is you never know what is sitting in a warehouse, garage or a shack.  I thought Fiat Abarth's were impossible to come by.....now there is yet another one on Bring a Trailer.  They seem to pop up much more than I would have thought.

Although there are registries thru out the world for cars, many people don't know about them or don't care.

mike

[Bainford]

Yeah, I think Mike has got it. I look some of the cars on this forum and wonder how many of them would have been considered dead a couple of years ago. There are probably many Europas in the world languishing in this comatose state. Eventually some of these become discovered by an enthusiast and brought back to life. I would imagine that the number of 'existing' Europas is actually going up. If one were to do a world census today, cars stuffed forgotten in barns and vacant lots wouldn't be counted. As these cars are saved by people like us they would later be counted, and a census done ten years later would probably show more cars. As the value of these cars creeps up, more will eventually be counted as existing cars.

The question is interesting though. I have found myself wondering this myself. Because these cars are somewhat fragile (at least when not handled with the care they require) and allowed to detoriate by uncaring owners, or were raced and wrecked, or not sufficiently maintained as their value became low prior to becoming a classic sports car, many would have perished. I suspect that the numbers of working Europas would have been quite low at one time, but would now seem to be on the rise.

SAVE THE EUROPA

[EuropaTC]

There's a website which shows how many are road-registered in the UK, which puts it at just over 200 this year.

http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=lotus+europa

Of course that ignores those racing, undergoing restoration, or just sleeping somewhere in a barn. They've always been a relatively rare sight on UK roads compared with Elans of the same era but unless someone deliberately breaks a car for parts they do seem to survive more than the equivalent MG. When I got mine in the 80s there was a craze where the best ones kept being exported to Japan for some reason, it'd be interesting to know how many are still alive over there.

Brian

[group44]

Hi I'm new to the forum.

 I'm one of those that has Europa's hidden away.  I had an S2 Europa for some time that I occasionally raced with the SCCA.  It was originally built by Tom Collier.  That car is now in Atlanta GA but I still have the molds to the body.

Currently I have approximately 4 TCS cars in my shop in various states.  I'm just starting to get back to putting one together as I'm slowing down from from my racing.  (I spent most of last year building a Honda S2000 that I took to the SCCA 2013 Run Offs and kinda burned myself out). Normally I race a Lotus 7 with SCCA in F Production but I wanted a change last year.

Great site and I'm looking forward to all your advice.

Current TCS I'm working on is receiving a 1.8L Miata engine. 

Regards,

Peter from Michigan

[yelloeuropa]

 "Welcome" Peter. Your machines look cool. I for one won't have much advice for ya on building a Lotus. I've very recently acquired  1970 Europa which needs a complete body off restoration. Kinda get an idea of how small these cars are, with one in your 1-ton. The dark green is very sharp. Many on here r very knowledgeable also. welcome. Rick

[group44]

Thanks Rick,

Unfortunately the one in my Pick Up burned to the ground in a friends barn fire last year. 

I sold the race car to help fund my Lotus 7 racecar.

The green car is the one I'm currently working on to put a a 1.8 Miata engine in.

I still have one additional TCS that I will eventually make a vintage race car out of or restore.  Pluse a couple of other TCS for parts. Too many parts as you will see I will be thinning out soon.  (No one needs 6 sets of aluminum wheels for a Europa! like I currently have!)

Peter

[Bainford]

  Welcome to the forum, Peter. So, a Europa CAN fit int he back of a pick-up truck. I've often wondered. It's a shame that shell has burned up, but you are clearly a man of Europa riches. The racing S2 looks great, and the Miata engine conversion sounds very interesting. That would be a great engine for a Europa. Any problems connecting it to the transaxel?

[YellowS4DHC]

Peter, again welcome.

I'm working on a TC I bought last yr with the intent to so some auto-crossing.  I noticed that, in looking over the SCCA Solo event rule book (a bit confusing), the Europa TC looks to be classed pretty high up there even if it is street stock.

My car has some engine mods (e.g., a high lift cam), so it looks like I'd be competing against some pretty potent stuff such as corvettes with > twice the hp.  Did I read that correctly?

regards
Rick

[4380r]

Peter, again welcome.

I'm working on a TC I bought last yr with the intent to so some auto-crossing.  I noticed that, in looking over the SCCA Solo event rule book (a bit confusing), the Europa TC looks to be classed pretty high up there even if it is street stock.

My car has some engine mods (e.g., a high lift cam), so it looks like I'd be competing against some pretty potent stuff such as corvettes with > twice the hp.  Did I read that correctly?

regards
Rick

Haven't looked into the Europa, but welcome to Lotus and autocrossing. When the Elise first came out it was (still is?) classed SS (normally aspirated) and was going against Vette's, Porsches, and even the odd Viper.

[cal44]

Peter,

I thought I had too many aluminum wheels (13).  You make me look like an amateur.  Funny how that stuff sneaks up on you.
And the items you want never seem to be for sale.

mike