My Europa's been Tangoed! (more pics from sunny Kent)

[Kelvin]

It looks fantastic and a great colour choice. And great respect for taking the level care over rebuilding the car as you have. (y)

I wasn't taken with the Europa to begin with when it was first launched but I've had a good look round a few now and they are in fact great looking cars and a bargain buy. Definite future classic. The dealer I bought the S2 from said he can't hang on to them for more than a few days as they go as soon as he gets one in.

[j2 lot]

There has been some discussion on FB Europa group about rarity of Europas. Lotus made 458 in total and prices are certainly firming up/ rising so a good ownership proposition just now. Low depreciation, relatively cheap to run and brilliant to drive

[SAJ]

It looks fantastic and a great colour choice. And great respect for taking the level care over rebuilding the car as you have. (y)

Thanks.

That is precisely the reason I had Protek do the work for me as I knew that the quality of work, attention to detail and a lot of care would be put into doing the car properly. So all credit in regards to the level of care taken with the work has to go to Tom and his team.

I wasn't taken with the Europa to begin with when it was first launched but I've had a good look round a few now and they are in fact great looking cars and a bargain buy. Definite future classic. The dealer I bought the S2 from said he can't hang on to them for more than a few days as they go as soon as he gets one in.

I still have the issue of Evo with their first review of the car and they gave it a decent write up and kind of understood what Lotus was trying to get to with the car, even if they didn't quite achieve that. I think most people judged the car based on the reviews without actually driving them and a lot of the press shots would put you off. I still see pictures that make the car look rubbish but I've always been of the opinion that you should see a car in the flesh and drive it before judging it, if after that you don't like it then fair enough.

For me it is a great car and this is only the start of it's journey with me, I plan to do a lot more to it (performance mods) over the coming years but for now i've blown the budget on this one so it will be next year before I do anything else to it.

[Stu160]

That is stunning,

Stu

[campbell]

I drove your car before it was yours, Saj and I loved it. Couldn't quite see myself chopping the Elise for one - couldn't justify both together! - but it's a serious contender for the future, if I tire of open top motoring. I think it's a fantastic "mini grand tourer" and I think Lawrence and Katrina proved that when they used theirs on an early French Frolic.

Loving the colour by the way

[SAJ]

I drove your car before it was yours, Saj and I loved it. Couldn't quite see myself chopping the Elise for one - couldn't justify both together! - but it's a serious contender for the future, if I tire of open top motoring. I think it's a fantastic "mini grand tourer" and I think Lawrence and Katrina proved that when they used theirs on an early French Frolic.

Loving the colour by the way

It's a lot more focused now than when I took ownership of it due to the ProRace Nitrons but great thing about them being adjustable means that its a 5 minute job to adjust them so best of both worlds now.

Taking it to London on Thursday, not as far as France but the longest journey i'll have done in it so far.

[Gareth]

I found my Europa to be a great road car but when it came to the track, terrible.
Heat soak the biggest issue. Just felt there was no turbo. Then late breaking. ABS cuts in and it was scary.
Still, it's not a track car (Randy was successful in his) so perfect for it's designed function.

[SAJ]

I found my Europa to be a great road car but when it came to the track, terrible.
Heat soak the biggest issue. Just felt there was no turbo. Then late breaking. ABS cuts in and it was scary.
Still, it's not a track car (Randy was successful in his) so perfect for it's designed function.

Yeh you're right about it's flaws but if you a have a few bob even these can be cured thanks to Hoffmans. I actually liked the car over the Elise because of the turbo, yes it's flawed with it's flat spot but for me it gives the car it's own character.

My biggest annoyance was the brakes but a simple upgrade to CL pads soon sorted that out. Randy also has a kit to get rid of the ABS and a number of Europa owners now use the Exige unit.

As for the heat soak issue only the charge cooler will sort that out but it's not cheap. It's something I'm thinking of doing next year as it isn't a problem during daily driving.

[Edin430]

Looks great

Probably pointing out the obvious but if you drive that to London so quickly after a respray you're going to need to re-paint the front again by the time you get home... And it's too early to put film on it. Maybe you don't mind but worth pointing out just in case it wasn't considered.

[SAJ]

The parts that are getting the film were painted first at the start of the week and you need to leave at least 5 days before film can be applied. The film is going to be applied to the car on Tuesday so it will have had 7-8 days to sit by then.

Going on such a long drive will inevitably result in some stone chips somewhere on the body which is a pain especially having just got the work done but as it is my daily driver it is going to happen sooner rather than later, so just one of those things in going to have to deal with.

I guess I'll just need to keep my distance from the cars in front.

[campbell]

I think Lewis has a point...to a point! I reckon you'll get fewer chips on a round trip to London than a weekend tour of the Highlands (even without an SE tractor beam in front of you, throwing up rocks!!).

At the end of the day you need to get on and enjoy the car and London and back will be an interesting experiment for the Grand Tourer qualities I referred to above.

Campbell

[mwmackenzie]

I got my car back from paint the day of Tut Towers last year and ruined it the very next day lol... Bloody enjoyed it though!

[SAJ]

First post updated with new pictures.

Wheels have been done, film has been applied. Just needs a clean inside, a good polish and some tyre gel and that will be it all done.

I'll be picking it up tomorrow and will post some pics of the finished results if the weather is decent.

[Tommy Twist]

Looking very nice!

And you made a wise, wise choice not going for the green IMHO...

[SAJ]

Looking very nice!

And you made a wise, wise choice not going for the green IMHO...

Thanks.

I do agree, I'm glad I didn't go for the green.