I had a 69 Lotus Europa bought in 73. Had a problem with the Renault
engine blowing head gaskets and my size 9.5 shoes meant I had to remove
them and drive barefoot because the pedal box was tiny!. Anyway, that
car only weighed around 1200# so the 85hp made that little car SCREAM.
When it ran ;-)
LarryT
On 01/31/2019 2:59 PM, Craig via Mercedes wrote:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-lotus-europa-7/
Mine was a 1969 in red.
While I was in the USAF in the fall of 1971 and stationed at Lowry AFB, I
drove it from Denver, Colorado, to Pasadena, California and back. It was
a blast to drive.
In driving through Nevada, which at the time had no speed limits, I
averaged 103 mph border-to-border, including slowing down to go through
Las Vegas. (This was the days when the Interstate did not go all the way
through -- there was even a stretch of surface roads near a small town
out in the middle of nowhere in Utah which had signs warning, "No gas
stations for 129 miles, check your gas gauge!")
In Pasadena, I found there was no thermostat in the housing, so I
installed one.
On the way back, it was quite cold one morning. After I had been driving
a while, I noticed smoke out the exhaust. This got progressively worse to
the point I had to check the gas and fill up the oil.
Back in Colorado, I drove it a little, but mostly parked it. I eventually
rebuilt the engine (my second rebuild job, the first on my 1959 Alfa Romeo
Spyder Veloce when I was in college in Pasadena) in the Lowry AFB auto
shop.
When I opened it up, I found the skirt of one of the pistons had
disintegrated and the pieces had fallen to the bottom of the pan. In
addition, the oil scraper ring of that piston had broken into several
pieces, one sizeable piece of which was stuck in the sludge right next to
one of the timing chain sprockets. It was a wonder that the engine did not
come apart leaving me stranded on cold, snowy roads. I am greatful it did
not!
I kept the Lotus Europa when I was transferred to Peterson Field east of
Colorado Springs. There I located a source of proper parts for the car
and did things like put the correct cooling fan on the (small) radiator,
which was in the front, and get shop manuals.
Upon reading the shop manuals, I found the statement, "If the pins
holding the front suspension A-arms are bent, replacement of the chassis
is strongly advised. If the pins are cracked, replacement of the chassis
is mandatory."
After a while working on the car and thinking about this, I decided it
would be best if I sold the car. I looked at a 1954 Ford Station wagon,
which is the car on which I learned to drive, but did not get it.
One of the fellows with whom I worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
when I was in college had regaled me with stories of his father's
Mercedes diesel and how reliable it was. At that point in my life,
reliable was important, so I started considering Mercedes diesels.
I looked at a Mercedes Diesel Ponton (180D, IIRC, though I do not recall
the year), and was impressed by its ability to navigate drainage dips
crossing the road, but did not purchase that one, either.
I eventually wound up at Pikes Peak Mercedes talking with a salesman
about a new 1972 220D/8. I offered my Lotus Europa in trade. I made
several visits there over the next two weeks or so. He eventually came up
with a deal I found acceptable. I went to the Ent AFB Credit Union and
asked for a loan. That process took a while, but finally I went to talk
directly to the fellow who was in charge. I had asked for a loan for
something like $5600 of a purchase price of $7124.50. He was hesitant to
make the loan, but asked what I wanted to purchase. When I told him a new
Mercedes diesel, he said, "Oh, I didn't know you wanted to buy something
of that value," and immediately wrote out the check.
That was the start of my Mercedes infection ...
Craig
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