LOTUS EUROPA Luxury Touring 3dr (2008)

Cheap for a sports car, not too bad, but quite silly

I got this second hand for 25 grand, with some extra features thrown in, so it's really pretty affordable on a scale of things, when you think that a lot of sports car owners will happily chuck ten times that at a car, or more.

First things first, ok, the Lotus Europa car is just small. I mean, all Lotuses are small, and this one is actually I think relatively big, but still it is small. You can easily bang your head getting in, and you won't really feel like crouching down and bending double to climb into it if you've hurt your leg or back. But once you're in, it's pretty comfy, again I mean compared to other Lotuses which I sat in whilst I was at the dealer (might as well eh?).

For a premium brand car there are some really nice down to earth touches. You might say that's just cost cutting to bring it down to the sort of pleb prices that I could afford, but I've seen much cheaper cars forgo these little details in favour of supposedly better looking solutions that actually don't help at all. One example is the stereo. It's a regular, normal size, easy to replace unit. Even my mum's Ford Focus has a specific sized stereo so she can't replace it. I can (and probably will) easily replace mine. The air vents are just the regular old fashioned hot and cold, 1-2-3 dials (although with aircon available of course). Very normal looking indicator stalks, that sort of thing, it just feels like you're not some complete tool with way too much money, you're just someone who had a pretty regular budget and just wanted a fun car.

Another nice surprise for a car like this is that it gets about 25-30 miles a gallon. Hardly super efficient, but I've heard of far worse for similar looking cars. Unfortunately the insurance is nowhere near as nice a surprise, it's group 46 (out of 50), so just about as expensive as it could be.

Anyway I dunno why I'm on about all these piffling details, the best and most important part is what it's like to DRIVE. And it is a singular pleasure to control. It really feels like a proper sports car, all the right noises and engine sounds, 0-60 in 5.7 seconds, easily cruises well over 100, and always gives the kind of response and feedback that makes you really feel alive. It's a joy to own and drive.

Mechanically it's been pretty sound. I had the radiator done a few months back but that's it. Obviously storage isn't immense. The engine is just in front of the boot. But it is alright, me and my girlfriend have had trips away together in it with our stuff in the back and it handles that fine.