Europa resto on Overhaulin'
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Yes, have seen it. The owner of this car posts from time to time on the Lotus Europa Yahoo Group. Believe it or not, to this day he does not have the car. It is not finished or driveable. It was just a roller when it was presented to him. The shop kept it to finish it, and now nearly a year later he's still waiting.
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Yes they ruined that car terribly.
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f3/overhaulin-europa-next-sunday-144713/
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f3/overhaulin-europa-next-sunday-144713/
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1,505 Posts
They said Lotus 'donated' the Elise motor... I think 'NOT' !
I have to watch the second part however in my own opinion this car is a bastard...
If Chapman was still alive this would have killed him for sure. I went to visit 'Chunky' in his final resting place back in '02.
Robert
I have to watch the second part however in my own opinion this car is a bastard...
If Chapman was still alive this would have killed him for sure. I went to visit 'Chunky' in his final resting place back in '02.
Robert
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846 Posts
That thing was an abortion, a Porsche gauge pod FFS?, the wheels?, the paint?
That crew and all the others that do Hot Rods, just need to stick with what they know, Hot Rods...
I've got no issues with resto-mods, but at least try to stick within the genre's framework.
That crew and all the others that do Hot Rods, just need to stick with what they know, Hot Rods...
I've got no issues with resto-mods, but at least try to stick within the genre's framework.
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7,243 Posts
There were times early on and even mid project when it looked pretty exciting. Interesting design updates. And yes a ton of good quality effort.
Then the Porsche parts started. It was amazingly painful to watch Foost claim to be able to just sketch out a working suspension on a tabletop
But when those tractor sized wheels came up, well, "the wheels came off" the whole project.
The word of it being undriveable was sort of like hearing a rock ricochet down an abyss.
Then the Porsche parts started. It was amazingly painful to watch Foost claim to be able to just sketch out a working suspension on a tabletop
But when those tractor sized wheels came up, well, "the wheels came off" the whole project.
The word of it being undriveable was sort of like hearing a rock ricochet down an abyss.
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26 Posts
I need to be careful here, because I've been working my way up to a "resto" of the Series 1 I've owned since it was new.
My first take on on the Overhaulin' car was what's up with the hole in the front end? I mean, I loved it on the Lola T70 and the GT40, but it served a purpose there... if there's a pressure issue here, vent to the brakes!
The paint was catchy, but I'm betting it gets old really fast. I expect I'll stick with my original Cirrus White, probably with some clear. It always made other white cars look dirty...
I actually want mine to retain as much of the simplicity as possible, but since my second wife gave away the original engine (don't ask...) I'll be warming thing up a bit. OK, a lot. The details are not solid, but we may make it under 4 seconds.
I'm stuck on the humor... snickering at the ones who think (near) 50 year-old car can't learn any new tricks. But ultimately, the car goes to my boys (when I can no longer wheel it) so the vast majority of "adjustments" will be reversible and I'm setting up a "hope chest" for the take-offs so there will always be the hope of a true restoration.
My first take on on the Overhaulin' car was what's up with the hole in the front end? I mean, I loved it on the Lola T70 and the GT40, but it served a purpose there... if there's a pressure issue here, vent to the brakes!
The paint was catchy, but I'm betting it gets old really fast. I expect I'll stick with my original Cirrus White, probably with some clear. It always made other white cars look dirty...
I actually want mine to retain as much of the simplicity as possible, but since my second wife gave away the original engine (don't ask...) I'll be warming thing up a bit. OK, a lot. The details are not solid, but we may make it under 4 seconds.
I'm stuck on the humor... snickering at the ones who think (near) 50 year-old car can't learn any new tricks. But ultimately, the car goes to my boys (when I can no longer wheel it) so the vast majority of "adjustments" will be reversible and I'm setting up a "hope chest" for the take-offs so there will always be the hope of a true restoration.
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26 Posts
What's really rare and special is that it survived two divorces... -eek-
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7,243 Posts
I'd love to meet you dude! Me too!
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I don't think this can be said any better! Those wheels :facepalm
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The owner posts on the Europa Yahoo group. The car was not driveable at the time of the reveal...you notice they didn't start it.
He just got it in his possession, finished two or three weeks ago. It took nearly a year for him to get his car back.
He posted a video of him taking off from his garage, the car disappeared down the street like a banshee, and sounded great.
He just got it in his possession, finished two or three weeks ago. It took nearly a year for him to get his car back.
He posted a video of him taking off from his garage, the car disappeared down the street like a banshee, and sounded great.
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280 Posts
This Overhaul was really... something...
Craftsmanship? Second to none, as always. Shortening the nose was a good stylistic move I think, and the choice of engine was pretty good. Considering the Elise is what the Europa turned into, good choice. The transmission was a great choice, German or not, what else would you use? I'm not big on the headlights at all, I think they look stupid. The front of the Europa never looked that bad, why mess with it?
They put a huge hole in the front of the bonnet. Why? There is no necessary aero or cooling there, so it just looks like a big hole.
Lets just put that rear bumper right on there on the bottom. Yep, looks good there, don't worry if the new Corvette tail lights stick out farther, it'll be great.
The rear suspension... Yeah that happened. Honestly it may work about as well as Chapmans old trailing arms though
The front suspension, nobody commented on this yet?! You can't just use the same A-arms and pull the points apart on the front bulkhead of the chassis! Where did the roll center go? Out the window? Who knows!
The "reinforcement" they added around the engine. Why? It's a flat plate... How about a roll-hoop and tying it in up high to get some Z dimension and really stop the chassis twist? Nah, we'll just add some dead weight.
The Porsche gauges were a terrible idea, and if you look closely during the second episode, they show the interior going together and you get a quick glimpse of the stock 2005 era Elise gauge cluster, indicating they couldn't get the German gauges to work with the Toyota/Lotus ECU. Does this surprise anyone?
Did anyone notice how thick the fender was when he was cutting it? It was like an inch thick fiberglass all built up! And the floorboards. Oh man, Ol' man Chapman was rolling in his grave as they were just pouring gallon after gallon of fiberglass resin in the floorboards. Wow... At least the weight is low?
The wheels... What the heck man? They went from 13" to 18"? That is five inches larger if you do the math.
The poor guy. He used to race this car and now he never can again. Pretty sad really.
But that's just my 2 cents.
Craftsmanship? Second to none, as always. Shortening the nose was a good stylistic move I think, and the choice of engine was pretty good. Considering the Elise is what the Europa turned into, good choice. The transmission was a great choice, German or not, what else would you use? I'm not big on the headlights at all, I think they look stupid. The front of the Europa never looked that bad, why mess with it?
They put a huge hole in the front of the bonnet. Why? There is no necessary aero or cooling there, so it just looks like a big hole.
Lets just put that rear bumper right on there on the bottom. Yep, looks good there, don't worry if the new Corvette tail lights stick out farther, it'll be great.
The rear suspension... Yeah that happened. Honestly it may work about as well as Chapmans old trailing arms though
The front suspension, nobody commented on this yet?! You can't just use the same A-arms and pull the points apart on the front bulkhead of the chassis! Where did the roll center go? Out the window? Who knows!
The "reinforcement" they added around the engine. Why? It's a flat plate... How about a roll-hoop and tying it in up high to get some Z dimension and really stop the chassis twist? Nah, we'll just add some dead weight.
The Porsche gauges were a terrible idea, and if you look closely during the second episode, they show the interior going together and you get a quick glimpse of the stock 2005 era Elise gauge cluster, indicating they couldn't get the German gauges to work with the Toyota/Lotus ECU. Does this surprise anyone?
Did anyone notice how thick the fender was when he was cutting it? It was like an inch thick fiberglass all built up! And the floorboards. Oh man, Ol' man Chapman was rolling in his grave as they were just pouring gallon after gallon of fiberglass resin in the floorboards. Wow... At least the weight is low?
The wheels... What the heck man? They went from 13" to 18"? That is five inches larger if you do the math.
The poor guy. He used to race this car and now he never can again. Pretty sad really.
But that's just my 2 cents.
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6,647 Posts
My mistake, the video is on the Lotus Europa Community forum:
Europa on Overhaulin'
Go to the last page of the Europa on Overhaulin thread. Post by 7upJohn (the owner) has the video.
Yeah, it's a tight fit. He did get into it during the reveal in the second episode of the Overhaulin show.
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