Friday 11th May 2007

Irmscher Seven

Opel tuner launches a Lotus Seven

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As much as 260bhp for the Irmscher Seven

This is one car that passed us by at the recent Geneva Motor Show. Irmscher, the Opel/Vauxhall tuner from Germany has come up with a ‘Lotus Seven style’ replica with a modern GM group engine.

Powering the plastic bodied, tubular steel chassis roadster is the two litre turbocharged four cylinder unit from the Vauxhall Astra. As an option, Irmscher will fit the 237bhp engine from the Astra VXR complete with a meaty 236lb ft of torque and then tune it further to around 260bhp if you wish. With a total kerbweight of just 725kg, that should make the Irmscher Seven respectably brisk.

Otherwise, the spec of the Irmscher Seven is quite straightforward, with height adjustable KW suspension – double wishbone front/independent rear – four pot brakes, 16” wheels and a five speed gearbox.

Prices start from around £37,000…

www.irmscher.de

Source: Autoblog Italy

 

[grahambell]

Irmscher Seven? If that's its official name rather than journalistic phrasing then it looks like Caterham's lawyers will be getting a bit more work...

[FartPants]

At £37k I'll stick with a Caterham...

[fuoriserie]

grahambell said:

Irmscher Seven? If that's its official name rather than journalistic phrasing then it looks like Caterham's lawyers will be getting a bit more work...

Graham,

I remember seeing this car at the Geneve Autoshow in 2002, with their other concept car called the Inspiro, a retro design based on the seven chassis.

I had always wondered what had happened to them and the car..........

Edited by fuoriserie on Friday 11th May 13:25

[KM2]

It is now a 7, used to be 77. And it's been in production from times immemorial (more than 10 years, if memory serves) so they would have done so long ago, if they were interested, or if suing was possible. I am not sure Caterham, or Lotus before that registered the name in Germany and I definitely doubt that any Irmsher Sieben's have been sold to the UK, where it could be an issue.

[toys]

How heavy??

[fuoriserie]

I always liked the Inspiro concept car from Irmsher , apart from the front grille.....

[road_terrorist]

fuoriserie said:

I always liked the Inspiro concept car from Irmsher , apart from the front grille.....

That front is a bit of a shocker!

[pharle]

Inspiro reminds me of the Banham Bat. Which is not a compliment.

[black5]

725kg for a '7'

£37k for a '7'

I suspect Westfield & Caterham will be rolling around the floor laughing!

[L100NYY]

pharle said:

Inspiro reminds me of the Banham Bat. Which is not a compliment.

The front reminds me of an Allard.

[pharle]

road_terrorist said:

fuoriserie said:

I always liked the Inspiro concept car from Irmsher , apart from the front grille.....

That front is a bit of a shocker!

And the back is only tolerable because your retina are still reeling from seeing the front!

[cazzer]

Just what the world needs....another 7.

[MrKipling43]

black5 said:

725kg for a '7'

£37k for a '7'

I suspect Westfield & Caterham will be rolling around the floor laughing!

My thoughts exactly.

[Davi]

L100NYY said:

pharle said:

Inspiro reminds me of the Banham Bat. Which is not a compliment.

The front reminds me of an Allard.

and the back of a mallard.

as cazzer says - just what the world needs, another 7...

[KUB3]

What is wrong with these muppets in the kit car industry?! All the clones are just as basic and low rent as the original 7's. Those that break out of the mould are the most hideous objects ever created by man.

You couldn't make it up.

[oppressed mass]

If this is for sale in Europe then I assume that this meets EU IV and EOBD emissions and at 237 - 260 hp this does offer something that is as yet (I beleive) unavailable from Caterham.
For the UK however and IMHO the Caterham has it hands down just on 'brand' power let alone any other factors.

[mchammer89]

MrKipling43 said:

black5 said:

725kg for a '7'

£37k for a '7'

I suspect Westfield & Caterham will be rolling around the floor laughing!

My thoughts exactly.

Agreed

[Kiwi XTR2]

L100NYY said:

pharle said:

Inspiro reminds me of the Banham Bat. Which is not a compliment.

The front reminds me of an Allard.

The front reminds me of a tarantula that's been hit in the face with a teeny tiny frying-pan.

The rest of it looks good though.

[MrKipling43]

oppressed mass said:

If this is for sale in Europe then I assume that this meets EU IV and EOBD emissions and at 237 - 260 hp this does offer something that is as yet (I beleive) unavailable from Caterham.
For the UK however and IMHO the Caterham has it hands down just on 'brand' power let alone any other factors.

CSR 260?

[oppressed mass]

MrKipling43 said:

oppressed mass said:

If this is for sale in Europe then I assume that this meets EU IV and EOBD emissions and at 237 - 260 hp this does offer something that is as yet (I beleive) unavailable from Caterham.
For the UK however and IMHO the Caterham has it hands down just on 'brand' power let alone any other factors.

CSR 260?

AFAIK the CSR 260 is SVA only and therefore cannot be sold in Europe. The closest is the CSR 200 which I think is Euro compliant.