The final countdown
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So, what’s this then? Last seen in the 1970s, the Europa was Lotus’s effort at using its race technology to build a road-going GT that was more useable on an everyday basis than the hardcore 7. Given that being dragged behind a skip lorry would be a more useable form of everyday transport that the Lotus 7, company boss Colin Chapman set about building a mid-engined, four-cylinder coupe.
What resulted was something my father likes to describe as ‘something that looked like it had landed from Mars.’ It also drove like nothing else on the planet – even its rubbish Renault engine and gearbox couldn’t dampen its enthusiasm for a good corner.
The Europa was, to say the least, different, especially when you consider people thought the Ford Anglia was racy. Kent Life tested it in the 1960s, and described it as a none other than a ‘motoring sublimation.’ Strong stuff, so it’s fair to say the new one has a lot to live up to.
Styling surprise
The new Europa’s visual impact, to be honest, misses the mark in comparison to its 1960’s relative. It doesn’t really live up to its current stablemates, the Elise and Exige either; the front end has been softened, losing its poise and purposeful stance, and it’s generally conservative styling is a surprise from Lotus.
The Europa has carried over a few styling cues from its siblings, but on the whole it’s a very different looking car, especially from the rear. Gone are the Ferrari-style rear lights in favour of larger, more clumsy items, but at least it has ‘Lotus’ spelt out across the boot in silver. We like that. On the whole, it’s not an unattractive-looking car, but its slippery and curvaceous shape could have been just that little bit prettier.
Pull open the light door, (it’s fibreglass, remember) and you’ll find that Lotus has kindly lowered the chassis sides and made the roofline higher in an effort to make entry and exit less of, well, an effort. It’s an improvement over the Elise and Exige, for which you need an experienced guide and a hat with a light to enter, but it’s still not a particularly dignified manoeuvre.
Even with enthusiastic day-to-day driving you won’t get close to making it slide in the dry
Once safely ensconced, the leather bucket seats hug you in a tight grip and push in all the right places – they make it a little difficult to turn around for reversing, but you’ll be thankful when you’re going round corners. More on that later.
Proudly boasting interior carpets as standard, the Europa is a more refined place to be than other Lotuses. The dash plastics are perhaps a little suspect but on the whole it’s a liveable space with a good solid feel. Air conditioning and satellite navigation are both standard, as are electric windows. But then they were standard on the 1969 Series 2 as well…
For a GT, luggage space is lacking. Although boot capacity is enlarged over than of the rest of the Lotus range, the 154 litres falls some way shy of its rivals. It’s an important point in this class – only today, a new Boxster owner was waxing lyrical to me about how he had managed to get two sets of golf clubs in the boot, and the trolley in the front. The only way to do that in a Europa would be to melt it all down and put it in your pockets.
Behind a little glass window lies the Europa’s powerhouse – the 2.0 litre turbocharged unit from the Vauxhall VX220, kicking out 197bhp. Fire it up, and it’s surprisingly quiet; at idle it’s no noisier than you’re average saloon car, considering its inches from your ears.
Simple and accurate
The six-speed gearbox is a treat to use – as always in a Lotus – the short throw making your progress simple and accurate. Blip the throttle and the revs take an unusually long time to fall off, but a light clutch makes easy work of town and traffic driving, and although the Europa’s non-power assisted steering might be a little heavy for some at low speeds, it lightens up nicely on the move.
And it’s on the move that the Europa really starts to impress. If you’re a dancer on the pedals, 0-60mph will take you 5.6 seconds, and 100mph arrives in 13.6. There’s a slight initial lag as the turbocharger winds up, but by no means it tardy; if you’re brave enough and have the space, you’ll see 150mph on the clock.
For a short-wheel base car with relatively hard suspension, it rides strikingly well over English backroads and even better on motorways. Wind and tyre noise are a little intrusive at motorway speeds, but in the Europa you can actually have a conversation with your passenger without using a combination of sign language and a megaphone, which is potentially a first for Lotus.
Long journeys are far better dealt with in this that in any other of the Lotus range, and a quality sound system helps while away the hours at the wheel, although when you’re dicing with lorries at the same height as their wheel hubs, you tend to stay pretty alert.
Weight gain
With all that leather and refinement inside, the Europa has gained a little weight over its diet stablemates, but despite being tubby by Lotus standards, it’s still a featherweight 995kg and will outhandle more or less anything else on the road. Chuck it into a corner and it refuses to roll – at all – and you’re pushed into the side of your seat with some considerable force.
Grip levels are extraordinary, thanks to fat rear tyres, and there really is no way you can push the limits of this car’s handling on a public road without enticing a blue flashing light in your mirror. Even with enthusiastic day-to-day driving you won’t get close to making it slide in the dry, and should you overcook it, it’s fairly easy to reign the rear end back in.
If you need to stop quickly, massively powerful brakes halt the car more or less flat, and also keep the ABS out of the picture until you really, really really need it, making for a far more involved drive.
This is perhaps a good time to mention the safety aspects of the Europa. There is a driver’s airbag, but the car is by no means stuffed with inflatables to cushion you in the event of a crash. However, there is something to be said for the active safety aspect. A car as light as this, with such powerful brakes and gargantuan levels of grip, is far better equipped to deal with a ‘situation’ than many heavier, airbag-laden vehicles.
Assuming the driver is alert, the Europa is able to dart around problems many drivers would have no choice but to plough into. It’s an important point. If prevention over cure is your thing, stick with the smart but simple Lotus.
The competition
Finally, we come to the Europa’s biggest challenge – its competitors. At £33,895 it has landed itself right in Porsche territory: for just £200 more, the Stuttgart boys will happily sell you a Boxster. The new Audi TT, offering the same power output, is yours for less than £25k, and for £10,000 less, you could sign the forms on a more powerful Mazda RX-8. Depreciation on the Europa is likely to be pretty reasonable though, and as Lotus only plans to make 500 a year, they will remain fairly rare on our roads. You can’t really buy exclusivity.
This car was always going to be a compromise. For Lotus to build anything for which comfort is a leading factor is fairly startling, and as a grand tourer, the Europa does lack refinement when compared to its rivals.
At its core, however, the Lotus is a supremely talented sports car, designed for those who want a finely honed chassis with a nod to comfort. It may lack the luxury of a Porsche, but throw it into a corner, and you just won’t care.
ENGINE: 2.0-litre turbocharged
PERFORMANCE: 0-60: 5.6, 150mph
ECONOMY: 30mpg (combined)
PRICE: £33,895
OUR PICK: There’s only one
VERDICT: Not as refined as rivals, but traditional Lotus drive makes for unbeatable dynamics
Words by Michael Palmer, pictures by Matthew Richardson