Lotus Europa Special 4x4 | powered by Subaru

[voyageur]

Hello guys,

this time I build a phantasy project that couldn't really be done in 1:1.
The base is the well-known Lotus Europa Special from Tamiya:



The inspiration are the buggies my friend Rob Harrison builds and runs in South Africa: Afrikar



A friend gave me the Lotus kit and I thought this car is rather ugly. So it collected dust on the shelf for quite some time. Then, playing around with leftovers from a Hasegawa Subaru Impreza, I thought I could build an "Afrikar-style buggy" (I also have a similarly intended BMW Z1 in the works...).

Allright. Interior pics first. I left it box stock, just added some maps and a couple of RECARO stickers.









On to the chassis. Like I said earlier, I used the leftovers from a Subaru Impreza. Turned 180°, converting it into a rear engine car. Yeah... I know, this couldn't be done in 1:1 that easiliy - but hey: it's only plastic
I modified the suspension parts and glued everything together.



Added the front struts:


Painted flat black and weathered:

[voyageur]

On to the body. Modifications done so far:

• Sunvisor (OOB part from a Jaguar XJ220)
• Snorkel (leftover part from a truck, radiator housing if memory serves)
• Fender skirts (may be painted flat black, didn't decide that yet)
• Drilled holes for the exocage
• Cut out rear panel and added mesh
• Modified rear underpan to accomodate Subaru engine
• Painted Mercedes-Benz DB441 Impala (matching my 1:1 Benz)

This color is really hard to photograph

Hope you like it. I'll post more pictures soon...

[endac]

Its an interesting project and looks to be turning out really good. Nice to see something unusual

[RoMaNo93]

WOW, like it so much!!

great "dream" work..

James!

[potsie]

Very cool idea. Looking forward to seeing it complete.

[voyageur]

Hello guys, thanks for the encouraging replies.

On we go, did some work on the 4x4 today. Just missing some small parts and details like the door handles, mirrors, etc.









Ground clearance is key in rough terrain....









It must be good for something when Italeri srews up the license plates for the LandRover Defender (front/rear):





Hope you like it. Ciao.

[Tompidom]

Love it!!

[RoMaNo93]

Impressive, like it so much Sebastian!

Nice work!

James

[MidMazar]

I think it actually suits the lotus. It almost looks like a buggy, well sort of. Great work as usual.

[potsie]

Excellent progress. For some reason, perhaps the extra height, the front-end has a real "face" to my eyes now.

[klutz_100]

Seb - I love the buggies your buddy builds! I want one!

You've done a great job on the modifications and made a really clean job of it

However, I just can't imagine a Lotus Europa in this guise. It seems almost sacrilegious to me - not to mention not strong enough to take the beating you would put it through

Looking forward to seeing the next fruit of your imagination

[rsxse240]

Sad thing is that you made this car look like it SHOULD! haha

Simply outstanding.

[MPWR]

Gaaah, heresy!!

Ugly as it is, I love the Europa. But it does look rather cool this way. Very nice work.