At first glance, this listing for a host of muscle cars for sale between 2 friends seems like your ordinary close-out of some American iron. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find a very clean, very original 1966 Lotus Europa for sale as well. Listed on craigslist in San Francisco, the seller has a ’68 Charger with a 440 (pending sale), a partially-rebuilt ’71 Super Bee for $12K, a ’71 Charger for $10K, a ’65 Coronet wagon for $4K and a ’67 Barracuda with the 318 for $4,995. To me, though, the early-model ’66 Europa is the prize. Said to have some rare factory options typically deleted on models slated for export, this car appears well-preserved and unmodified, potentially justifying it’s $28.5K asking price. This collection has some nice variety and may be worth checking out if you’re in the Bay Area.
His attitude is worse than mine! Looks like a bunch of “birds of a feather” got together and did not finish their projects.
Agreed! I was gonna try and make a snarky comment about how proceeds from the sale go to the Attention Deficit Disorder Car Club! -_-;
“Rare factory options,” eh? Would be interesting to know what they might be, as I don’t remember Lotuses of this era having any…. That said, it looks to be in decent shape from the pathetically few photos the seller offers, although it would be nice to know what shape the backbone is in, of course.
Since I’m over six feet tall, this isn’t the car for me, so the price doesn’t much matter, even if it strikes me as too high. These are relatively simple cars, the Renault 16 engines are reliable and easy to work on. Someone who fits inside could have a lot of fun.
Personally I never cared for the shape of this car. It looks kinda Porsche at the front end, and kinda El Camino at the back.
Of all the colors to spray onto a Lotus, how in the world did this one get chosen?
That beige is pretty much as ugly as it gets.
As far as the rest of the lot, Randy and Mark E are on the right track. I thought I was bad, but…. Yikes!
RayT, I agree there aren’t many Euro only options, but the reality of it is that the car was never intended for US sale.
If this truly is the Series 1 or Type 46, those side windows are fixed in place, which is not permitted in the US since tolls might be required :) Lights were too low to the the ground for US standards at the time, also.
Regarding the backbone. Checking it will be a challenge. In these cars, it was sandwiched in between layers of resin and cloth. Short of visible damage or discoloration or bubbling or blistering of the chassis, I don’t know what you might be able to discern.
Looks like a Courier Ranchero Crew Cab with electric tonneau cover.