Photo: BaT User: argo19c (edited by autoevolution)
We comb through a fair few engine swaps and restomods, so suffice to say, not everything that comes across our desk is noteworthy or even worth mentioning. Oh, another LS-swap or Coyote swap? Yawn. But every once in a while, something truly unique finds its way to us, and we just can't help but get excited. This 1969 Lotus Europa is once such case. Then again, classic Europas are a joy to look at, even bone stock.
On the surface at least, everything about this particular Lotus Europa doesn't look out of the ordinary. Its blue paint appears blemish-free from the admittedly sun-saturated photos provided. But then you start to notice the totally custom rear fender flares formed from fiberglass, and that the wheels aren't exactly stock either. There's definitely more going on under the surface than meets the eye. Upon opening the rear hatch, we find that whichever Renault or Ford-based engine that came stock with this Europa is long gone.
In its place is an all-American small-block Ford V8 crate moto that's been stroked from its natural displacement of 302 cubic inches or five liters up to 347 cubic inches via a SCAT stroker kit. With a nifty hydraulic roller camshaft, four double downdraft Weber carburetors, and lightweight aluminum cylinder heads with four-to-one headers, this is now racing engine through and through. As for the kind of power figures this engine jets? Well, most retail vendors who offer this stroker kit peg the power output at roughly 415 horsepower, while others claim they can jet 500 horses to the tires without much difficulty at all.
With the fancy camshaft and carburetor setup, this Lotus is rocking; chances are good it's sitting right in the middle of that power figure. Then again, the only way to figure it out for sure is to get it on a dyno. Power is fed to a ZF five-speed manual gearbox out of a Porsche of some kind, which is well suited to the task of handling such a burley drivetrain. But even so, the suspension setup underneath is well up to the task of throwing this racer down corners. With QA1 adjustable shocks and Wilwood disk brakes, this 55-year-old British car has roughly the same handling credentials as a modern sports car.
Then again, almost no sports car made in the last 40 years is bound to be as light and quick on its feet as this Lotus is. If Colin Chapman's motto of "simplify and add lightness" was some kind of divine dogma, then the classic Europa stuck to it in spades. But now, with a powerful American engine at its disposal, this is looking closer to a poor man's Ford GT40 than it does a classic Lotus.
In its place is an all-American small-block Ford V8 crate moto that's been stroked from its natural displacement of 302 cubic inches or five liters up to 347 cubic inches via a SCAT stroker kit. With a nifty hydraulic roller camshaft, four double downdraft Weber carburetors, and lightweight aluminum cylinder heads with four-to-one headers, this is now racing engine through and through. As for the kind of power figures this engine jets? Well, most retail vendors who offer this stroker kit peg the power output at roughly 415 horsepower, while others claim they can jet 500 horses to the tires without much difficulty at all.
With the fancy camshaft and carburetor setup, this Lotus is rocking; chances are good it's sitting right in the middle of that power figure. Then again, the only way to figure it out for sure is to get it on a dyno. Power is fed to a ZF five-speed manual gearbox out of a Porsche of some kind, which is well suited to the task of handling such a burley drivetrain. But even so, the suspension setup underneath is well up to the task of throwing this racer down corners. With QA1 adjustable shocks and Wilwood disk brakes, this 55-year-old British car has roughly the same handling credentials as a modern sports car.
Then again, almost no sports car made in the last 40 years is bound to be as light and quick on its feet as this Lotus is. If Colin Chapman's motto of "simplify and add lightness" was some kind of divine dogma, then the classic Europa stuck to it in spades. But now, with a powerful American engine at its disposal, this is looking closer to a poor man's Ford GT40 than it does a classic Lotus.
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