World-class race cars and exotic road cars used a mid-engine layout in the 1960s, but England's Lotus was the first automaker to build a mid-engine road car for the masses with its 1966-75 Europa sports car.

As with all mid-engine autos, the affordable, low-slung Europa's engine was tucked between the passenger compartment and rear wheels for the best balance and handling.

Lotus race cars had worldwide fame by the mid-1960s, partly because a mid-engine Lotus ran away with the Indianapolis 500 and caused Indy 500 race car builders to forever abandon their front-engine layout in favor of a mid-engine one.

Lotus founder and owner Colin Chapman was an auto design genius who began building small race cars in the early 1950s. He was pretty much the first to apply extremely lightweight aircraft construction to road and race cars.

Chapman's first serious road car -- the small front-engine 1957-63 Elite weighed only 1,455 pounds. His second was the small front-engine Elan, introduced in 1962. The Elan, which lasted through 1973, was carefully copied by Mazda when that Japanese automaker designed its wildly successful Miata sports car, which arrived for 1990.

Despite its fame and international race car championships, Lotus used engines from major automakers -- mostly Ford -- with Lotus-designed power-enhancing cylinder heads because it was a small outfit that couldn't afford to develop complete motors.

The two-seat Europa looked like a regular sports car from its front to the end of its doors. But it then had high "sail panels" that flanked a flat, detachable engine cover below a slitlike rear window.

But never mind. Under the cover was a modified 1.5-liter four-cylinder from the new Renault 16 sedan. The alloy engine only had 78 horsepower, but the fiberglass body Europa just weighed 1,350 pounds so performance was lively with a Renault four-speed manual transmission. The lightweight construction also resulted in high fuel economy, and the mid-engine location meant exceptional steering and handling. The body was bonded (glued) to Lotus' traditional steel one-piece backbone chassis to hold down weight. And an all-independent coil-spring suspension provided a good ride.

Chapman had been thinking about making an inexpensive mid-engine road car for some time but hadn't been able to find an affordable engine-transmission combo for such a car until the Renault 16 arrived. Sales were limited to the Continent, outside England, for a few years because Chapman wanted to establish a presence in the new European Common Market, which was partly why the auto used Renault components. Chapman diplomatically suggested that the car be named "Europe," although the name soon was changed to "Europa."

The first Europas were known as "Series 1" models and were offered in factory-built or kit car form to escape stiff taxes for assembled factory cars in Europe.

Although largely hand-built, the Europa was like other Lotus road cars in that its assembly quality was average at best. It had a cramped interior and fixed door windows, instead of roll-down ones, also to save weight.

The Series 2 Europa, which solved some of the problems, was announced in 1968 and made available for America. The body now was bolted to the chassis to make accident repairs easier, and power windows were added. There also was more space around the pedals and added luggage room behind the Renault engine, which was slightly increased in size to develop 88 horsepower. The larger engine helped counter new power-robbing U.S. emissions standards.

British Europa sales finally began in mid-1969, when Chapman hired top engineer Mike Kimberley from Jaguar, who was told to develop a less quirky, even more powerful Europa.

The result was the late 1971 Europa Series 3 Twin-Cam, with a dual-overhead-camshaft 1.6-liter, 105-horsepower Ford four-cylinder modified with Lotus cylinder heads. The Renault transmission was retained, but styling was improved by cut-down sail panels -- although the engine remained beneath the flat rear cover. Attractive new cast-alloy wheels also were put on the car.

It was easy for Americans to fall in love with the Europa. Lotus had a fabulous racing reputation, and the Europa's fairly low price allowed average folks to buy the car, with its competition-inspired mid-engine design and race-car-style handling.

Things improved when Lotus introduced the Europa Twin Cam Special in late 1972 with a 126-horsepower "Big Valve" version of the engine. A new Renault five-speed manual transmission was initially optional but made standard for 1974. Acceleration was much stronger, and top speed rose to 125 mph.

Most Europas sold in America were the more-desirable Series 3 Twin-Cam and Twin-Cam Special models, discontinued here after 1974 because of stiff federal regulations. Europa production ended in 1975 after about 9,200 units were built. The car was replaced by the radical mid-engine Esprit.

Europas are flat-out bargains -- if you can find a good one. The Twin-Cam is valued at just $6,700 in top shape, and the Twin-Cam Special is at $7,625. A specially painted and trimmed 1973 "John Player Special" model is worth $8,525 in very good condition. Superb-condition Europas are still low-priced, from $14,400 to $18,325.