This is a Lotus Europa “Big Valve” project car that comes complete with the chassis, body, engine, transmission, and interior in place – it’s now being offered for sale on eBay for $4,900 USD.
The “Big Valve” variant of the Twin Cam Europa is considered to be the pinnacle of the model series by many Lotus enthusiasts, offering considerably more power, speed, and finesse than the earlier Renault-engined examples.
Fast Facts: The Lotus Europa “Big Valve”
- The Lotus Europa “Big Valve” was the final and most developed version of the Europa line, powered by the 1.6 liter Lotus-Ford Twin Cam engine with its larger valves, higher compression, and D-type camshafts. Producing 126 bhp, it was the most powerful Europa built, offering better acceleration and improved day-to-day drivability.
- Designed by Ron Hickman under Colin Chapman’s direction, the Europa was Lotus’s first mid-engined road car, inspired by the company’s Formula 1 success. It used a lightweight folded-steel backbone chassis, fiberglass bodywork, and a Renault-sourced transaxle adapted for rear-wheel drive, keeping curb weight to just 610 kgs (1,350 lbs).
- The Europa “Big Valve” bridged the gap between the minimalist 1960s sports car era and the more refined 1970s, before the Esprit replaced it in 1975. Its combination of classic Europa styling, low weight, and Chapman’s focus on handling made it a landmark in accessible mid-engined sports cars.
- The example offered here is a complete “Big Valve” project car with its original 4-speed Type 352 gearbox, Stromberg carburetors, and L15 Gloss Black finish. It includes the engine, chassis, body, and interior, carries a clean California title, is smog-exempt, and is listed on eBay from Fontana, California for $4,900 USD.
History Speedrun: The Lotus Europa “Big Valve”
The Lotus Europa was developed by Colin Chapman and his engineering team at Lotus to be the world’s first mid-engined sports car that would be available globally at an affordable price. By the time its development began, the mid-engined layout had already come to dominate Formula 1, including the Lotus F1 cars of the time, and Chapman wanted to bring it to the masses.
The Lotus Europa was developed by Colin Chapman and his engineering team at Lotus to be the world’s first mid-engined sports car that would be available globally at an affordable price. By the time its development began, the mid-engined layout had already come to dominate Formula 1, including the Lotus F1 cars of the time, and Chapman wanted to bring it to the masses. Image courtesy of Lotus.
The chassis design of the Europa borrowed much from the earlier Lotus Elan, both used folded steel backbone chassis, but of course the Elan was front engined and the Europa would be mid-engined. Once the chassis design had been settled, Lotus designer Ron Hickman was tasked with styling the body.
Hickman was a South African-born designer who had worked for Ford and Lotus, and designed the Lotus Elan, the Lotus Elan +2, and the Lotus Europa. Interestingly, earlier in his career he had helped design the Ford Anglia.
The styling of the Europa would become Hickman’s most famous design, an elegant form offering excellent aerodynamics, a cabin that could accommodate drivers over 6 feet tall, a cleverly integrated Kammback, and even a modest amount of trunk space in the rear behind the engine.
The next task was to find a suitable engine and transmission – not an easy task when you consider the fact that there were no mass-produced engine and transmission packages designed for mid-engined sports cars at the time.
In a typical display of Chapman’s signature problem solving ability, he sourced the engine and transmission from the front engined, front wheel drive Renault 16. This gave him a lightweight, compact four-cylinder engine with an alloy block and head, as well as a 4-speed transaxle.
The only problem with the whole arrangement was that when turned around and placed in the back of the Europa, it gave the car one forward gear and four reverse gears. This was quickly solved, and Lotus had their engine, initially with a displacement of 1.5 liters, later expanded to 1.6 liters.
The styling of the Europa would become Ron Hickman’s most famous design, an elegant form offering excellent aerodynamics, a cabin that could accommodate drivers over 6 feet tall, a cleverly integrated Kammback, and even a modest amount of trunk space in the rear behind the engine. Image courtesy of Lotus.
When it was released in 1966 the Lotus Europa proved to be an immediate success, sales were strong, and it vindicated the belief that the world was ready for mid-engined sports cars. The curb weight of the car was just 610 kgs (1,350 lbs) which meant that the power output of the Renault engine (which had been upgraded by Lotus) of 82 bhp still offered decent performance.
By this time Lotus already had their own Lotus-Ford Twin Cam four-cylinder engine in production, it offered a healthy power improvement of 105 bhp, and so in 1971 Lotus offered it in the Europa, along with a series of other upgrades.
In 1972 the Twin Cam “Big Valve” engine would be offered in the Europa, having been offered since 1971 in the Elan Sprint. This engine offered larger valves, an increased compression ratio of 10.5:1, and Special Equipment D-type camshafts. Power was increased to 126 bhp, the most powerful engine ever offered in a production Europa.
The Europa would remain in production from 1966 until 1975 when it would be replaced by the Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed Lotus Esprit – a car that would take the Lotus backbone chassis and mid-mounted engine layout well into the 21st century.
The 1973 Lotus Europa Big Valve Project Car Shown Here
The car you see here is being offered for sale complete with the engine, transmission, chassis, body, and interior all in place and accounted for. It’s clear that it’s a project car in every sense of the term, but with an asking price of $4,900 USD and the fact that it’s a desirable Big Valve model, it’ll likely find a buyer sooner rather than later.
The car you see here is being offered for sale complete with the engine, transmission, chassis, body, and interior all in place and accounted for at an asking price of $4,900 USD.
It’s finished in its original factory color of L15 (Gloss Black) and it still has its original 4-speed Type 352 manual gearbox and Stromberg carburetors. This is a California blue plate car, and the listing notes that it’s exempt from California smog certification requirements and that it includes a clean California title.
It’s now being offered for sale on eBay out of Fontana, California and you can visit the listing here if you’d like to read more about it or make the seller an offer.
Images courtesy of Forest Wholesale
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
