At 10:24 PM 4/4/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi Jay. I'm following the Lotus ASP thread with interest becuase I am
>an admitted Europa fan. (Yes, I have sought support) anyway, are the
>Europa really out gunned in ASP, or is it that there just isn't a
>hyper-serious effort? I don't know you or your car, so I'll apologize
>for that question now just in case. ;) I don't really know a lot about
>ASP, and I know nothing about history of ASP cars at the National level,
>but I could sure get real interested if Europa's were a player. Thanks!
Look in the back of the rule book. The Europas used to be players.
I don't know how Maxey's car was prepared.
The fast car in 86 was Milligan's very early Europa but he did one or two
minor things (that the Solo Board legalized right after the event) that
made him vulnerable to protest by Porsche and/or Datsun Z folk. I ended up
with the win in an almost stock (taller, stiffer rear springs and a small
rear sway bar) 74 twin cam Europa that I drove from North Carolina. It had
stock everything except for the Hoosier Autocrossers and the two items
noted above. The tired engine made it home and then after two events two
rods started knocking.
I guess this proves the theory that anybody can win in a Lotus. (I've only
trophied in CM and won in a Datsun Z).
Milligan seems to have won in 87 in the same or similar Europa to the one
he should have won with in 86. We all know how shakey Gary's driving
credentials are. Roughly as shakey as Tommy Saunders, another ex Lotus winner!
Whether a Europa can be competitive against current competition, I have no
idea. I rebuilt the engine, did minor suspension mods, headers, and
desmogged it and then got interested in other cars. Sold it to a guy in
Atlanta in 96 . . . just before Hurricane Fran put a huge tree through the
garage it had lived in! This was the Europa featured in Grassroots
Motorsports Mid Engine Comparison in 97. (Unfortunately, my wife's original
owner 73 Europa was in the garage . . .)
I do know that in 86 the Corvettes dominated whatever stock class they were
in. They dominated because they were the best at the time. That was
probably the first year that a Nationals run group had a retail value of
over $1 Million dollars. There were something like 30 stock 84, 85, 86 and
maybe 87 Corvettes plus a couple of Porsches, etc. in Stock and as I recall
the BP Ladies class with some big bucks prepared Corvettes and maybe
Porsches. That was when a Million bucks could buy something. I imagine BS
adds up to near that now.
As someone said, lets keep the emotions out of the discussions. EVERY
popular autocross car has probably been an overdog at one time (at least in
the eyes of the people who prefer other cars). Usually the ebb and flow of
classing and technology turn the tables a few years later. In their day,
all the cars which have won ASP over the years were readily available
moderately high priced street legal sports cars. They were not exotics. My
wife used to commute hers in San Francisco and drove it all over the West.
She even commuted mine when hers was tired years later. Just because no one
in their right mind would "daily drive" one these days is not the issue.
When I used to drive from the San Jose, CA area to Sacramento (110 miles)
in weekend traffic in a 42 inch high Europa, most of the traffic was other
cars, not pickups, vans, and SUV's. I could see and be seen. Now I'm afraid
to drive a Miata in traffic!
One of the neat things about the FF is that I could tow it with a Mustang
(or Camaro, or Corvette, or Audi, or Jetta, or . . .). Of course, towing
with a 10ft high camper van and blocking the view of the road for even full
size vans is nice revenge!
IMHO :-)
Dick Rasmussen
CM 85
85 Van Diemen RF-85 Formula Ford
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