Introduced in 1972, the Lotus Europa Special was the third derivative of the Lotus Europa. Originally introduced by Lotus in 1967, it was named Europa as it was intended for sale only in Europe, (the UK not considering itself to be in Europe in those pre-EU days!).
Lotus intended it's first roadgoing mid-engined car to be cheap compared the the rest of the Lotus range, and the original cars had rather weedy Renault engines as opposed to costlier Lotus twin cam engines. The car could also be bought fully built or could be assembled from a kit.
In 1968, Lotus released the Europa for sale in the UK as well as the rest of Europe. The Europa had great handling thanks to it's well sorted suspension and mid-engined layout. Customers however wanted better performance, so in 1971 the Lotus Europa received a proper Lotus engine and became known as the Europa Twin-Cam. The Europa Special followed a year later, and differed from the Twin-Cam in having a more powerful "Big Valve" engine and a five-speed gearbox on the options list. The Europa finally went out of production in 1975.
Like all Lotus's, the Europa was prone to numerous niggling faults and tended to deteriorate if not regularly looked after. Some owners felt "LOTUS" stood for "Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious"! Also, the rear end styling of the Europa was inelegant compared to other Lotus's of the time. Presumably, as mid-engined road cars were a new concept, designers had a hard time coming up with new styling ideas for them. Of course, Marcello Gandini at Bertone eventually defined mid-engine style with the sensational 1967 Lamborghini Miura.
For an older model (it was first released around 1999 I believe) the Europa is a fantastic 1:18th. The green paint finish with gold trim is excellent. The interior has realistic wood veneer on the dashboard and very convincing carpet. The front lights and indicators look great while the engine bay has lots of detail, including plug wires, battery detail and a fan-belt with alternator. A badge behind both doors proudly proclaims Lotus to have been F1 World Champions in 1972 (with the Lotus 72D). Of course being a Kyosho, it was quite an expensive model, but well worth the price. It goes well with my AUTOart Esprit Turbos and my Caterham 7, also by Kyosho.
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