The annual Club Lotus parts fair at Stoneleigh was the usual big success this year. Several of the major Lotus dealers were present and offering special deals for the day. There was a huge showing of M100 Elans around the Lotus Elan Central stand and quite a variety of cars with various modifications and additions. Everything from the M100 ‘hard-top’ to uprated engines and interiors, all on show.

You could buy everything from a stainless steel screw to a set of V8 wheels, to cleaning equipment, outdoor car protection, second hand bumpers and strangely enough, propellors!! We could only surmise that these were for the Bond Esprit when in underwater mode!

I particularly enjoyed a great chat with Kevin Whittle of Classic Lotus Racer magazine. A side of Lotus that seems to be quite vibrant, with Classic Team Lotus and the like doing so well. They were present as well and we had a chat with their staff as well. Beside a lovely JPS F1 car. You can find Kevin on www.ClassicLotusRacer.com and we’ll be setting up all of the Lotus links you can possibly handle very soon.

A really good day out and it was good to talk to so many dealers and specialists about the website. We certainly hope to get more involvement from the Lotus fraternity as we develop the site so if you want some space or a dedicated link to your site let us know.

Lotus to Launch new Europa

Lotus Cars have announced that they intend to resurrect the Europa to supplement their current model range. Seen by observers as a bit of a stop-gap before the replacement for the Esprit, the new model is based upon the ubiquitous Elise chassis but does look very different to the current Lotus models.
Lotus describe the Europa S as a touring GT car and expressly as a new model, with a separate model number of 112. The Elise and Exige sharing model number 111.
The engine is to be a 2.0 litre turbo unit producing 149 kw or 200 bhp @ 5400 rpm. The torque being 263 Nm or 194 lb/ft at 4200 rpm but with a claimed 90% of this being available from only 2000 revs. This gives the Europa S a 0-60 figure of 5.5 seconds with 100 mph coming up in 14 seconds. Maximum speed is a respectable 140 mph. With the car weighing in at 995 kg the power to weight ratio is 201 bhp per tonne.
The move into the GT model range is a welcome one for Lotus and we wish them well. If you fancy a Europa S start saving! The car will be produced from July 2006 and the price is expected to be in the region of £33,000.
Pictures are on the Lotus Cars website at: http://www.grouplotus.com/car/car_product.php?id=7&mid=19