Great video. I am a long time Lotus fan. In late 1973, I sold a 1969 427 Corvette. Having followed Lotus F1 cars and the fact that they were liveried in JPS colors, I went bananas over the JPS Europa. I had the cash to buy one, but I needed a car that was a daily driver. Living in Minnesota, I decided this would not have been the best car for Minnesota winters. I still long to get one. I envy you sir in a good way.

In 1972 it was my first car. By Matchbox :)

Love it. I have a 74 Plus 2S/130/5 in black with a slightly breathed on big valve twink. A Europa Special like this is literally the only thing that might tempt me to stray. Really enjoyed the video and great to see your understanding and appreciation for the engineering.

This was a blast to the past!!! I bought a brand new Lotus Europa John Player Special in 1972 ...I think it was the first one in Canada and it had the European Lotus engine setup. Being that I had been a professional sign painter...I drove the Europa home to my shop and spent the next day finishing the livery to match the FI JPS. I lettered John Player Special on the sails and the JPS logo on the hood all in actual gold leaf. Then started driving the little beast. It was intoxicating...I spent hours just driving nowhere but on as many country highways I could navigate to. When you consider the time...this car was insanely fast. The only problem was that I developed bad driving habits...I would pass everything on the road and being that you were so low to the road...you aren't that visible to say long haul trucks. I decided to sell it after 3 months and moved on to an E-Type. In 1969 I had a Europa with the Renault engine...it too was pretty fast but the car was not as well sorted as the John Player version. The one in this video looks to be in very good nick! Thanks for the memories.

The Big Valve normally 1558 cc Lotus Cortina with 126 hp twin Webered Renualt 12 TL 5 speed is well sorted and any four cylinder car that does 14.9 second 1/ 4 miles and 123mph has to be fast. This car will be far quicker and faster with 1.7 liters. Its geared for 133 mph, which Im quite sure it will do with the extra capacity engine. Thanks for sharing!

My brother who's older than me bought a 1972 Europa when it was 2 years old in 1974, I was only 9yrs old & loved it, what a sports car epic, & fair do's it was reliable as well

These cars are very rare now in UK. They were quite popular in Japan .

I love the Europa. Such a cool car.

This has been kept extremely well. Beautiful car from an amazing era! Great video mate

Very nice Europa, great to see it with a Weber head and 1700cc engine

That is something. When I was in the service overseas in Europe they had these guys come around and sell these to GIs and you’d pick them up in New Jersey. I was real close to buying one until I had a friend in the states look into parts and dealers.

They won the constructors championship in 1978 also, with Ronnie Peterson and Mario Andretti, and of course Mario was World Champion that year. Cool car, I always loved these since I had the Matchbox version when I was a kid.

Awesome to see the John Player Special reviewed here!

Great video. I've been thinking of looking for a Europa. I think this has made up my mind!

Nice car!!!!! Good Europas are getting scarce. That's not a JPS; it's a black Special. BTW all Specials (and Twin Cams built in Sept. 1972) had the silver rocker panels). Love the Weber head; I'm jealous! The Stromberg carbs in the US versions weren't so good. My US plate actually fits on the back but it's tight! Good thing about Europas is you can upgrade them and the "collectors" don't mind so much. You should put in an electric fuel pump, a higher power ignition coil, electronic ignition and put a relay on the radiator sensor as they blow from over voltage and your fans won't go on. Lots of people bypass the brake boosters but if yours are working it's not necessary. The Stromberg carb version needs the timing advanced from the factory 4-6 degrees to around 12; not sure if the Weber version is set at optimum advance not being a US car. Values on these have more than doubled in the last 10 years.

I had a Porsche 914 in 1974, was going to buy a 1973 Lotus Twin Cam JPS, but bought a 1959 Austin Healey 100-6 instead. Loved the Healey, but still loved theLotus

Had one JPS 021 with the number disk, that little 1.5L engine sounded great

Boy, you sure can find them. Fascinating car. I could see partially why the car is so light. Did you notice how flimsy the frunk hood was and it had no supporting framework for it. Did the owner happen to say what it's value is? This Lotus Euorpa just goes to show that "nothing is new under the sun." Look at all the storage space behind the engine. Sorry GM, Lotus beat you to the punch as far as the C8 is concerned. Having said that, the C8 is amazing! Keep these uploads coming and Save the Wave👋🏿

Absolutely delicious, have a Elise nowadays but remember these well from back in the day, the jps is imho one of the greats cars in automotive history. Btw it's the Union Jack (British) the English flag is white with a red cross.

I bought a JPS TC,reg 35JPL for 1300 quid but the Lane down to my place was so rough I took car back. Wish I'd kept it!

Comes in handy ... to be round a Shooting Break .. with all the barrels blasting off . round your peaceful meadow 😄

Epic Europa! Always loved it, especially in JPS black!

Nice to see a Europa at all, let alone one being used - it's a twin-cam, so rev the tits off it. BTW it's the Union Flag (better known as the Union Jack) not the English flag.

Nice video - just saw the Montreal one too which is lovely. May I ask where you placing your mic? You're capturing engine sounds perfectly.

The JPS europa is styled after the F1 Championship winning Lotus 72D that Emerson Fittipaldi drove, not the later Lotus 78 that Mario Andretti drove!! The car that honored Mario's title is the Esprit JPS. Time for some Lotus history homework...

great looking sounding car

That and then the dino experienced both. In montreal. Ahh the golden days. 512bb, cobras, HD 455. Birds. And yup big hemmis. 6 months of tuning 6 of booting.

The original Lotus Elise!

Very much like your JPS!!! Your wheel selection suits the car nicely. I am rebuilding my 73 TCS and would like to incorporate the same set of Panasports. Can you provide the details on the wheels ie size, width offsets, PNs etc.

Nice special.. had one for the Canadian market great car just needed Webers..

0 to 60 8.5 sec down hill. My uncle would come over on Saturdays so my dad would help him fix it. But they were very very very good memories

Goes well. You can hear the revs die when changing into 5th.

So miss my twin cam. It wouldn't win a drag race but it sounded great and handled even better. Rear Visibility was shit but how cares about seeing what's behind you.

Nice my 73 Special a JPS , had real minii lites wheels

I've owned two lotus europas and to this day I don't think there are many cars which could touch it on a twisty road. I had a low speed minor accident in one of them though and the resulting damage was mid numbing. Didn't feel safe in it again.

Nothing Ive ever driven has given me the same thrill.. And Ive had everything! (Almost)

Great video thanks

9:10. Not sure if this is the correct badge or perhaps the car is not the correct model year. Lotus won the constructors championship in 1972 and 1973 as well. If this is a 1973 model, it should have the 1972 win on the badge at least.

I have one with trimmed big valve dry sump and water cooled current resto mod light weight fly wheel no webers titanium exhaust just need to get body work and chassis fixed. And cantilever suspension upgrade

I've seen these before and they are very low to the ground. It's almost like they are scraping the street. That's also the way and engine should be built. I imagine back in 1970 if you told engineers that intake manifolds and valve covers on engines would someday be made of plastic they would laugh in your face and ask if you had been drinking.

Its wild how thin the fiberglass is on the hood and bonnet. There isnt even a cross brace. It must be so difficult to keep it from cracking.

this is not a john player special just a special ,all cars of this series had this golden , silver or yellow line also with other colours ,at the time was a perfect car

LOTS OF TROUBLE USUALLY SERIOUS. I know I had one in the 70s when I was 20. Same colour same year.

British flag not English. Like others had a matchbox one and loved them ever since

What is that sound when you take your foot off the gas during acceleration?

That's a British flag not English, lovely car but for me it has to be the JPS black with oatmeal interior. In England it had twin Dellorto carb's

I missed out on purchasing one of these some time ago, it was a choice wife or car, made the wrong choice. Was picked up hitch hiking (1970s) and was totally amazed by the lack of body roll, never experienced that again until video games cam out. Built for twisty roads and race style driving, not drag racing.

The pin stripes are not applied correctly....

Nice car but is that gun shots in the back ground I hear just wondering 🤔

I love Lotus Esprit, Eclat, Europa special and the Elite. They are very fast stylish cars.

Good video. Have you taken your mask off yet?

I have the same one but not in order. Indeed the wheels and steering wheel are not original.

Why is he wearing a mask outside? He isn't that close to the person handling the camera. It's like seeing a person driving in their car by themselves wearing a mask. I have seen a couple people do that. Makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Can’t hear you with the mask

the you know what nineteen ruined so many videos!

She has her mask on

Angry to be infected by the car? LoL

You couldn't drop the mask for a video outside. If you're that scared go hide in your cellar. I stopped the video the second time you had it on. People have really gone too far with this stupidity.

LOL, why are you wearing a mask???? I had a 73 JPS, number plate 021,

BRITISH FLAG

Why is he wearing a mask outside by himself? Wtf.

It’s not the English flag, mate. It’s the British flag, the Union Jack.

what's with the mask ?😂😂😂 take a jab 💉💉💉😂😂