Lotus 7-ish cars on the quartermile ?

[Benni]

Hello DragHeads,

Has there ever been a serious attempt of a dragstrip-dedicated 7 / Caterham / Westfield ?
With their good "power to weight" ratio would they do fast times ?

I have seen some street "7s" on german airfield events with low traction,
they were struggling for grip even with their wide rear tires and ran ~11ish times,
maybe also due to their street/circle track chassis layout.

The chassis is very hard and low, so maybe longer and softer shocks should be mounted
in order to get more weight (transfer) to the rear axle ?

This could lead to the next problem, if such a car would ever hook up
would the drivetrain (transmission, diff, driveshafts) withstand the load ?

I have heard rumors about a swedish "7" doing 9s, what about cars from the UK ?

P.S.:
A good season 2011 to @ll here, on tracks, in pits, and on grandstands (or bankings)

[Geoff Stilwell]

Yes there was. Many years ago Ken Obee ran a very fast Lotus 7 and there is also a guy who runs at Avon PArk (Shakespeare County Raceway) with a Rover V8 in it.

[Flying Toilet]

Someone used to race a Westfield in Street Rover in the 90's. Remember it had a substantial cage.

I would think with todays technology and the power made from small inline motors with turbos a very quick car could be built.

[veryoldfart]

try a bike powered westie/caterham......quicker and mentaler, menatlier er.....mental

[Barry B]

Russ Pursley (sp) used to run a yellow Westfield/Lotis 7 type car with a small block Chevrolet I think. He was very quick and I believe he won the Northern Street Car Challenge one year although I do stand to be corrected

[TheMighty]

Russ's car was a Dutton Phaeton Barry. He ran regularly at York as well as around the other tracks. think it ran a best in the mid to high nines. Sadly Russ has been out for a while after having a serious accident out on the roads near Shakey in the Dutton which left both him and the car in quite a mess. I heard recently though that the car is well on its way to being ready for a return and Russ is doing OK.

[central]

At various RWYBs last year -


038 by Fast an' Bulbous, on Flickr


172 by Fast an' Bulbous, on Flickr


178 by Fast an' Bulbous, on Flickr


031 by Fast an' Bulbous, on Flickr

[central]

Not forgetting PH's very own Cock Womble 7


229 by Fast an' Bulbous, on Flickr

[martyn b]

Geoff Stilwell said:

Many years ago Ken Obee ran a very fast Lotus 7

Not only was Kens 7 very fast (for the day) but also very consistant, and Ken won the street championship (I think in '71)

[Benni]

Thanks for the answers & infos so far.
Modern inline with boooost is a really interesting concept, full cage, quartermile chassis set-up,
maybe a BMW/GETRAG trans and ?? axle, something like that just *might* be built here (not by me!).
off topic:
Looking at the photos, CW7 has the best-looking wheels & windshield/mirrors,
but the worst-looking front fenders, they don´t even fit the radius of the front wheels IMO.

[Geoff Stilwell]

Ken Obee was also disabled...he used to turn up with his good lady race and drive home...ahh those where the days!!

[veryoldfart]

Geoff Stilwell said:

Yes there was. Many years ago Ken Obee ran a very fast Lotus 7 and there is also a guy who runs at Avon PArk (Shakespeare County Raceway) with a Rover V8 in it.

1966/67 in fact....running 13.90's