Lotus Europa Community

Quote from: berni29 on Wednesday,May 15, 2024, 01:32:03 PM

Anyways, thats done now so hopefully will get my new age correct reg number in a couple of weeks, and can start taking things apart again now.

Good luck with that. My 8 months getting 3089R registered due to a 75/3089R instead of 74/3089R does sound insignificant v "Champion" and not "Europa".

WTF were they looking at, the spark plugs?

Hello

I read your post and then immediately called the DVLA, as you are right they are total fkwits, but the person I spoke to looked up the reference and said that it was all ok and was going off for "keying" and I should have the registration documents in a couple of weeks.

We will see.........

All the best

Berni

Today I was gifted a small Ender 3-D printer.
Going to play with it before getting serious about buying a much larger $1,200 three in one print/laser/mill version.

One of my first items will be defrost vents for the Lotus.
The CAD model for this printer should also be a good start for milling from billet.
What I should really do is make stamping dies for aluminum sheet.
I have a 30 Ton press that might work for that.

EDIT: Ender 3-D basic assembly is complete.
Do not even try to use the cartoon assembly instructions, use one of the youtube videos.

Our local MG club is putting on the 27th Annual Triangle British Classic Car Show on May 18th at the Hendricks Center for Automotive Excellence on the campus of Wake Tech North, Raleigh, North Carolina. The show starts at 9:00am and ends at 2:00pm.

Of particular interest to some of us is that from what I am led to  understand, a new Lotus dealer is starting up in Charlotte, North Carolina and they are planning to make an appearance with at least an Emira. I'll of course be there with my Europa!

https://maine.craigslist.org/cto/d/phippsburg-lotus-europa/7747189964.html

So older cars, which are already at a disadvantage, have to be saddled with inferior tires?! That’s lunacy!

With stuff like this and the all the politics surrounding Andretti trying to get on the F1 grid, it seems like the people who run motor sports are actively trying to ruin them.

In the case of historic racing, the FIA has a safety concerns for the oldest cars. Because slick tyres are (of course) grippier than semi-slicks or historic-style racing tyres and therefore mean more stress for the suspension, chassis and brakes. At least with the Lotus Europa, they have a point. My suspension is already heavily upgraded, but the soft sheet-metal chassis is not very well suited for racing. Colin Chapman knew that, built the types 47 and 62 for racing purpose and didn't bother to enter the normal Europa in any race.

The mistake (from my POV) is that the rule makers of my competition span the class over that huge period of time. It would have been more sensible to divide it at the "tyre limit", which is 31st December 1971:
Older cars: no slicks
Younger cars: slicks

Regarding Andretti, you are completely right. The F1 teams are an elite group and try to keep this group exclusively to themselves. My guess is that Andretti will purchase the remains of Alpine sooner or later. This way, F1 can't keep them out.