A Lotus Dino

I wonder how much money he spent on this car, i bet he could have bought a genuine Ferrari with what he spent.

 

Ok, that's just cool.

The Dino shape with Lotus handling and upkeep costs. That actually might be worth trying...

 

I want to say, a dino built on a modern elise platform would be killer.

 

Gee what a waste of a rare car!!! ... although I guess it could be put back together.

Man Lotus people are going to be real pissed at this guy!!, Europas are not exactly common cars ...

Pete

 

Came across this old thread on my car and felt that I had to respond to set things straight.
The web address for the car is actually now: http://www.lotuseuropa.org/gallery/DinoEuropa (BT who hosted the site stopped hosting personal webs)
The whole conversion was extremely cheap (1985) using an old Europa for the base unit and taking the mold off the 206GT that I had available. total cost was a small fraction of a Dino at the time.
Yes, it would be easy to revert to it being a total Europa, Colin Chapman only used 6 or 8 mounting bolts to secure a Europa body to the chassis (one of the reasons that the project was undertaken in the first place).
It is cheap to run, has been glorious fun for the last 34 years, doesn't rust (or corrode as did the 2016GT!), can be used every day in the rain!
The paintwork nowadays is showing it's age but a re-spray would cost more that the car and I probably wouldn't drive it as much if it was pristine.
Oh, and when I took it to an FOC meeting in 1986, due to it being a 'one off', the comments were all positive at it was ushered into line with the concours Dino's...
and: It has always been accepted at Lotus meetings in the UK for what it is: A Lotus Europa with a modified bodyshell. (the Lotus factory ran a couple of articles on it back in the 80's)
I hope this answers questions, said and unsaid.
David

 

Thanks for posting here. What a great looking car. Do you still have the dino molds? Dis you have to alter the proportions to fit the europa chassis.

 

I got a company to aid my taking the molds off the 206GT with the agreement that they could keep the molds and my body, bonded to my Europa floorpan would be free of charge. I know they started to produce a kit but as they had no expertise in the field the result was awful and soon went out of business. I don't know where those orginals are today.
The Europa wheelbase is perfect for a 246GT - as I used the 206GT I had to 'adjust' the rear wheel arch position to be correct as the 206GT was slightly shorter. Other than that everything else was pretty much identical (firewall, pedals, steering etc etc.) It was a simple conversion, most of the time was taken up fabricating the hinges and odds from the Dino but as it was sitting next to the Dino-Europa life was pretty easy.
I have been led to believe that it is possible that De Havilland may have molds from the original molds in their possession.

 

That is easily the best looking Europa in the world!

I like it! And I agree -- the simplicity, handling, and running/maintenance of a Europa mated with the gorgeous looks of a Dino is a great combination. If the Europa looked like that, I would buy two!