Kitcars International

First impressions of Church Road, Banks are of an ordinary suburban street with ordinary houses, a small parade of shops and a local garage. But walk down the drive between the two and you emerge to discover a Shangri La for devotees of the Lotus marque. The workshop boasts a pale blue Elan S2 nearing the end of a total rebuild, Richard Winter's immaculate competition Europa and another Europa up on the ramp In the drive is enthusiast employee, Roger's yellow Europa, a little less pristine than the others but in regular daily use and lovingly cared for. The yard is full of Elans, Elan Plus 2s, Europas, Elites and various other models in different stages of either reconstruction or decay, while the pristine showroom and parts counter houses an impressive and discerning collection of Lotus drawings, photographs and other memorabilia alongside Richard Winter's Lotus Formula Ford. Although he wasn't wearing a black arm band, he was in mourning after crashing out of a race at Oulton Park the previous Saturday but, such is his devotion to the marque and his cars he had instantly taken the decision to sell his Triumph 1200 motor bike in order to finance the repairs to the correct standard.

The company has long been a Lotus specialist gaining an enviable reputation for their in-depth knowledge of the marque, skill and expertise before the present company was formed about five years ago and the culmination of their enthusiasm and devotion to all things Lotus was parked outside the workshop resplendent in the instantly recognisable red, white and gold livery of Gold Leaf Team Lotus. It wasn't the first time I had seen the car as my interest had been sparked when I spotted it, fortuitously parked alongside a 1960s, Ford 105E powered Heron Europa at the recent Newark show. However, on this occasion, I could touch!

Much of the inspiration for this car and its Lotus 47 replica stablemate came from restoring and improving existing Europas for the road . In this endeavour the company had already produced their own Europa replacement chassis and when an original Lotus 47 shell fitted to a Europa chassis came their way, the decision was taken to produce a replica that would benefit from the knowledge and experience they had gained. Thus a mould was taken from the body and the resultant brand new shell was fitted to their own chassis complete with redesigned suspension. Following that successful exercise, the team went on to modify the design along the lines of the Lotus 62. It grew much fatter front wings, the recessed headlamps of the 47 were replaced with rectangular Allegro units and the area above the front wings was fitted with a pair of air extraction vents. Behind the doors the rear wings were opened up to create a pair of cavernous air intakes and at the back, the lower edge of the body was fitted with a small spoiler. As a physical replica, it's not totally accurate but on the other hand, it's not bad at all and still results in a car of striking visual appeal, especially in its famous livery. But beneath the skin, where most replicas make a total departure from the mechanical specification of their inspiration, the BSS 62S is not very wide of the mark. The chassis is a backbone spaceframe instead of the Europa's 16 swg modified sheet steel backbone but thereafter, the BSS car sticks pretty closely to the original 62's specification with double wishbone suspension all round, disc brakes all round and Triumph front uprights, rack and column. The similarity is especially apt under the rear deck which opens to reveal a Vauxhall Astra 16 valve unit breathing through twin Weber, twin choke, side draught carburettors as the original two Lotus 62 cars were built as mobile test beds for a Vauxhall Victor 2 litres slant 4, cast iron block carrying an experimental Lotus 16 valve head. Dubbed the LV (Lotus Vauxhall) 220, it developed 220 bhp @ 8000 rpm.

The BSS car isn't quite as powerful but the Astra unit delivers its 160 odd bhp @ 6000 rpm with a smooth and seemingly never ending surge of power that is a joy to experience and that pretty well sums up the whole car.

Walk round it and you cannot fail to be impressed and stirred by its uncompromising lines: it looks like the racer it seeks to represent. To many eyes, the Europa itself has always looked a little ill proportioned and over delicate but the beefier nature of the 47 and 62 seem to redress the proportional balance and create a more purposeful and arguably better looking car.

Open the front hatch and you are instantly impressed at the quality of moulding and the car's general manner of construction. The front tray is moulded as part of the body and, even though this car is equipped with electrically operated windows, closing the front hatch still creates the pressurised 'plenum chamber' that pressurises the air fed into the car via the heating and ventilation system. It works too. It also worked on the original which is why the first cars had fixed windows to save the weight of winders The trouble was it only worked on the move but, when stuck in traffic, it could be purgatory. Not only that, but you couldn't operate car park gates or adjust mirrors etc.

At the other end, the engine cover lifts to reveal the Vauxhall Astra 16 valve. Like the original Europa it drives through a Renault transaxle. The other similarity between the Vauxhall engine and that of the Renault units fitted to the first Europas is that the camshaft provides the drive for the engine ancillaries. On this car, the camshaft drive that powers the distributor instead drives a pulley that belt drives the alternator. Spark distribution is handled by a solid state box of tricks operated by the engine management system.

If you didn't know you were looking at a replica you would swear it was a Lotus when you opened the driver's door as it's a mirror image. The seats are unique. the high tunnel with its delicate padded elbow rest is similarly representative, the electric window lifts either side of the ash tray and that broad expanse of narrow polished wood complete a picture that could only be a Europa.

The long, narrow strip of door opens good and wide to allow surprisingly simple access to a car so low. Slip yourself behind the wheel and you discover the sort of driving position of perfect comfort and support. Everything is in exactly the right place and there is no trace of the awkward pedal arrangement for which the S1 Europas were criticised. Not only is it comfortable but it is also confidence inspiring: you really feel that you are going to enjoy driving this car and it's no illusion.