[h20ham]

Ex-Daytona 24 Hours 1974 Lotus Europa GTU Race Car

Bid for the chance to own a Ex-Daytona 24 Hours 1974 Lotus Europa GTU Race Car at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #27,492.

bringatrailer.com

 

[71type65]

Looks like he wasn't willing to let it go at $51.5k. Incredible amount of documentation on BAT.

 

[4380r]

Amusing that its claim to fame as a race car is that it finished Daytona. Didn’t win. Didn’t place. Didn’t win or place in class. Finished 39th.

 

[71type65]

Ha ha. Well, they did manage to advance quite a few positions during the race (started in 58th). And finished just ahead of the Porsche 935 driven by Haywood and Bundy.

Daytona 24 Hours 1978 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars

Race results of Daytona 24 Hours 1978

www.racingsportscars.com

Actually getting any Europa to run at race speed for 24hrs is a pretty good accomplishment. But then - other than the chassis backbone, a few body panels, and the dash - there's not a whole lot of Europa parts on it.

There is some entertaining anecdote on the race in the BAT files (see pics 158-159). Apparently the car went through Wire Wheel in FL at some point.

 

[brgelise]

Always thought these were cool cars in an awkward way. They fall in between the iconic , microsexy Elan and the iconic Esprit. That Ferrari looks huge next to it.