Lotus Elan F1 supercar, reportedly said that his only disappointment with the McLaren F1 was that he could not give it the perfect steering of the Lotus Elan. In 2004, "Sports Car International" named the Elan number six on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1960s. The original version of the car was designed by Ron Hickman who also designed the first Lotus Europa as part of Lotus' GT40 project bid and made his fortune having designed the Black & Decker Workmate. Because of its successful design and rigorous attention to cost control on the body, chassis, engine and the
Lotus Europa until they were confident in the strength of the Renault transaxle. The twin-cam engine first appeared in the Europa engine bay in mid-1971 (in Europe) and early 1972 (in North America). In North America, both the (early) 1972 Twin Cam version and (late) 1972-1974 Twin Cam "Special" versions were rated at 113 bph in Federalized Form. When Renault released their most powerful 16 TX model in 1973, it included a strengthened 5-speed transmission. Lotus quickly offered this gearbox as an option in the Europa, along with their Big Valve twin-cam engine. The Europa's four-wheel independent suspension was also typical Chapman