Lotus Europa S - 2006 Geneva Motor Show

[kach22i]

From The Car Connection:

http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto_News/Car_Shows/Geneva_Motor_Show/2006_Geneva_Motor_Show_Part_V.S288.A10093.html

Lotus Europa S



The Lotus Europa S, however, is the new production model that was unveiled in Geneva . Lotus built just under 10,000 units of the Europa from the mid-Sixties until the mid-Seventies. At first the car was equipped with a Renault engine; later it got the Lotus twin-cam version. But the new Europa is not a reincarnation of the historic model with the same name. According to design chief Russel Carr, Lotus just started with a clean sheet of paper.



The new Europa is meant for customers who want more comfort than they can find in the Exige or Elise. But that does not mean that the new Lotus GT is a softie. True to its roots, the Europa S is very light (2194 lb) and stiff. More comfort comes from better ingress because the doorsill is lower and the door itself is higher.
The Europa S has luxury equipment with standard leather seats, two airbags, a CD/MP3 player and GPS navigation. There are no options.



The S has the 2.0-liter turbo engine with 200 hp that comes from the Opel parts bin. The new Lotus accelerates in 5.4 seconds to 60 mph and reaches a top speed of 143 mph. The Malaysian-owned company hopes to sell some 500 cars per year, which would be added to the current total of the Elise and the Exige of between 4000 and 4500 units.

Nine part coverage:
http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto_News/Car_Shows/Geneva_Motor_Show/2006_Geneva_Motor_Show_Coverage.S288.A10048.html

[Mr_Wizard]

Now that car has some style.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=269354

Thats what I am talking bout.

[Jims5543]

Do the original Europa's have any value?

I know where one is sitting and rusting behind a gas station. I have thought about making an offer on it.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

"Malaysian owned"???????!!!

[tchanson]

Originally posted by BlueSkyJaunte
"Malaysian owned"???????!!!

Proton, which is essentially the state auto manufacturer of Malaysia, has owned a majority interest in Lotus for probably 10 years or so.

They've certainly done a far more credible job than GM did when they owned Lotus, or that goofball Artioli who also held it for awhile in the dark(er) years.

I like the new Europa. Alot.

Tim

[Rodeo]

I guess since it's a Rover engine, we will not see it stateside. The only reason we got the Elise and Exige is the fed-certified Toyota mills.