What a great shot by canadiancatgreen: a Lotus Europa out in the snow in a parking lot. With its fiberglass body, rust (at least the visible kind) is not an issue.
More on the Europa here:
Curbside Classic: 1974 Lotus Europa Special – The Sports Hearse Strikes Again
I don’t know whether they put salt on the road where it is but if they do, this is unwise as it has a steel frame which is known to rust.
Looks like an S1, which have the body bonded to the chassis. They rust without outside help.
Here it is. You can get new galvanized frames but who wants to bother with a swap.
If that Europa is really an S1, as it appears, this won’t help much. The frame is glassed into the body. Replacement or rust repair entails major surgery.
That’s just silly beyond words. One of the strangest things I’ve seen in the automotive world was a very nice E-Type coupe driven by an older gentleman splashing through the salt and slush after a snowstorm. I’ve been trying to imagine a scenario where that makes sense for over 10 years.
I’m certainly not the kind of guy who waits for three spring rains, a retrograde moon, and a 60 degree day to get my junk out of the garage, but driving on salty roads when there’s slush is one of the faster ways to ruin your old car.
All I got is that the older gentleman is about to lose the E-Type in a nasty divorce where his Ex wants to give it to her spoiled nephew.
Perhaps my past experiences still color my future expectations.
In any case, driving a small car in the snow where accidents are more common seems to be inherently dangerous.
My guess exactly. The car had to move RIGHT NOW!
The Lotus, however, would be far down the list for winter beaters.
A Europa was the Cardle feature I just missed!
Hey, no spoilers!!
What is the official name for the filthy, gray/black mass of ice, snow, salt, dirt, and assorted small stones that accumulates on cars and trucks behind each wheel during and after snow storms?
I’m assuming there are better names than “filthy, gray/black mass of ice, snow, salt, dirt, and assorted small stones”.
I’m unsure of whether there’s a particularly specific term, but I think it generally falls under the heading of “Schmutz”.
It’s called “depreciation.” 🙂
Schmutz. I love it! I live in a snow-free area but recently completed an excursion over the Sierras and into the desert just after a major storm. No snow falling, but over 100 miles on roads with enough snow on the pavement to justify CalTrans R2 chain conditions (chains mandatory on all 2wd vehicles, otherwise 4wd with traction tires). My Tacoma’s OEM mudflaps deflected the spray to exactly where your pant cuffs want to touch the sill as you enter and exit, and my aftermarket rock sliders did an excellent job of retaining the schmutz.
My niece used to call it “Rocky Road Ice Cream” — Get it?
Fenderbergs, or the Minnesota Bodykit. That’s what we called the slush appendages..
“Schmutz” means “dirt” in German so I can see where this comes from but here in Austria the basic slushy mixture which accumulates on the road (and freezes everywhere on your car) is referred to as “Matsch”, or better still, beschissene Matsch – I’ll let you guess the meaning of “beschissen”. It’s a pain.
I looked it up in my Funk & Wagnalls, and the mass is called a carbuncle.
That’s a totally impractical winter beater on just about every level. Part availability, safety, rust damage, visibility.
Of course, that makes it an awesome winter beater. Hopefully it’s been well rustproofed, just sent our Scion tC winter beater in for Krown oil this morning.
We sometimes call the accumulated material behind the wheels slushcicles.
Although the mid-rear engine placement will help winter traction.
It reminds me a bit of wealthy Torontonians who drive their leased Porsche 911s in winter. It seems like a crime at first, but they just have to survive three winters until they’re returned at the end of the lease.
And the rear engine placement provides some needed traction that perhaps their Aston Martins lack.
This reminds me of a test I did in a nearly empty parking lot at Grumman Aircraft in my 1964 Beetle in about 4 or 6 inches of newly fallen powder snow.
I hit the gas in first and the little bug took off like a rocket. At about 20 mph (ok, a slow rocket) I turned the steering wheel sharply to the left… and the bug just kept going straight for what seemed like many seconds (probably not that long but my safe open space was coming to an end). Finally the bug acknowledged the turn command, at first reluctantly, then eagerly.
The rear end did not swing around – but I also was not braking, just turning.
Later, I put a bag of sandbox sand in the bug’s frunk but I did not have an opportunity to do a similar re-test. For safety reasons only, I sold the bug and bought a new 225 /6 3 speed Plymouth Duster.
The Duster was OK in the snow if driven carefully (actually most cars were ok in snow if driven wisely), and it did turn when I asked it to. However, stopping the Duster with wet front drum brakes was iffy unless one had the forethought, or time and space, to ride them dry first.
At first I thought the car shown was the same as this Tootsietoy race car which I remember having as a kid–same color even. But apparently the Tootsietoy is a Ford GT:
Technically that is a Ford GT, but it’s the J variant more commonly known as the J Car.
Perhaps his other vehicle has broken down and he had to run and get some parts. His car, doing his thing.
I would like to drive one in the snow just to see what its like to do donuts in a mid-engine car. I went out last night for a drive in a below zero snow storm in Minnesota. Pick up a few groceries and got some sliding and spinning fun in in our ’15 Caddy ATS4. Snow was deep enough that the car was plowing all the way. Light powder snow. The Caddy does fine, could use some better tires, run flats are not good snow tires but AWD gets the job done.
If you can afford to own a Europa, you can afford to restore a Europa.
Maybe that is WHERE it broke down.
From an objective perspective the Europa is such an odd-looking car. Weird proportions, such enormous rear buttresses etc. Yet subjectively I can’t help but like them, particularly in that gorgeous blue-grey. I for one respect anyone who’s willing to use a car as it was intended – in good weather or bad, winter or summer…
Scott, despite, or perhaps in spite of being a lifelong Europa fan, I agree completely. The first generation looks especially odd. The bread van is one of its nicknames in the UK. As an adult, having seen photos of the backbone frame and realizing the rest of the car is mostly glass and fiberglass, my interest in riding in one has declined. I wondered if the Ford V4 might not have been a better engine… It is amazingly light!
The car in picture is not an Europa S1 but an early S2. They look a lot as an S1 (doors, no wart indicators, Championship badges on the rear) but they switched to electric windows as shown in the picture. Additionally on the bottom area below the doors you can spot the black painted sill area which is used to fix the underside of the car (not present on S1 with its bonded in chassis).
The light blue colour is called ‘Wedgewood Blue’.
Lovely car but tricky to drive in ice and snow.