RE: Spotted: 1965 Lotus Seven

[chevronb37]

Went out recently in a friend's S3 7 complete with twink. Wonderful little car which makes my own Lotus seem dull and slow-witted by comparison. Still quick by today's standards as well.

[johnnymaestro]

Pat H said:

Here's a photo of my old 1977 Caterham Seven, complete with Lotus twin cam.

They look a long way forward, but the driver's pedal box makes it pretty much impossible to move the lump any further backwards.

Given that the twink and the Pre X flow share the same block the twink just fills out the bay a bit more which if it was further back would not work.

Again the pedal boxes just clear the bell housings, but leave space for the DS tank on the other side in my case. With bigger carbs fitted we had to take out some of the nose to get it to fit and also some of the bonnet, on both side and top.

[I WISH]

Yes - it is valued correctly - because of its rarity and it's an absolute classic.

Yes - the colour combination is awful.

No - I wouldn't buy it - because just as much (more?) fun could be had from a later well sorted cross flow or zetec or K series at less than half the money.

In the end though I'd pass on sevens generally - bit TOO wind in the face - and buy a S1 Elise instead!

(P.S. I've already got one )

[Cock Womble 7]

Ah, Clamshells.

Much nicer than those horrid cycle wings.

[Sam_68]

Pat H said:

{The engines} look a long way forward, but the driver's pedal box makes it pretty much impossible to move the lump any further backwards.

Westfields and others manage to put the engine a bit further back by making the chassis a little wider overall in the pedal box area, so that the tunnel in the middle can be widened and the bellhouse pushed rearwards.

Sylvas take it a step further by offsetting the engine toward the passenger side, and having a shorter footwell for the passenger (with the side benefit that the bias of the weight of the engine toward one side helps balance the weight of the driver on the other, to some extent, making the weight distribution side-side a little better). The downside is that the transmission tunnel is also slightly offset, making the passenger seat well narrower - female passengers with wide hips/fat arses sometimes struggle to fit in.

[Mafioso]

Regarding the comment about live rear axles disappearing in the 80s. Didn't the Vauxhall Classics have them in the nineties and early 200s? I'm sure one of those my Dad tested had one.

[PATTERNPART]

Those pre-crossflows can be screamers. They have lighter pistons than crossflows due to combustion chamber in head not piston. They rev like mad. A race one could be made to produce 160 bhp. For a while. Anyway this would already be lots of fun. I'd be reluctant to criticise a Chapman chassis too.

PS My dad put together a basic Caterham kit in the mid 80's it had a Marina back axle with a strengthening plate welded on the casing. I painted it with Hammerite!

[DH01]

Great car.
It'll seem very cheap in the not too distant future.
Can't be many early cars left. Sixes seem to make £50/70 k and the 7 is more useable, not everyone wants to go racing.

[Skyedriver]

Stop it
I had a '61, much butchered by previous and renovated by me with a twink in it
Followed by a '90 Caterham with a 1700 cross flow.
Both clam shells
Both live axle
Having read this I'm missing them both
Not sure I'll fit them though, especially the S2. The Caterham was long cockpit and slightly "easier"

985 VPG
J 889 HTY

[Roadru77er]

Cock Womble 7 said:

Ah, Clamshells.

Much nicer than those horrid cycle wings.

OiI like my cycle wings and they're carbon fibre

[Ecosseven]

Horses for courses. I like my clams.

[Kitchski]

johnnymaestro said:

Pat H said:

Here's a photo of my old 1977 Caterham Seven, complete with Lotus twin cam.

They look a long way forward, but the driver's pedal box makes it pretty much impossible to move the lump any further backwards.

Given that the twink and the Pre X flow share the same block the twink just fills out the bay a bit more which if it was further back would not work.

Again the pedal boxes just clear the bell housings, but leave space for the DS tank on the other side in my case. With bigger carbs fitted we had to take out some of the nose to get it to fit and also some of the bonnet, on both side and top.

The original Sevens and Caterham engines do seem to sit a bit further forward compared to this SuperCat I found in the classys:



But then they've got inboard dampers too.


(You're welcome, if that's your car I just linked to!)

[KM666]

I can almost smell the 4-star! Easily worth the money to somebody who deserves it!

[XJSJohn]

depends on where it is i guess ... 2 for sale here for a lot more dosh than that!!

1962 7
thats GBP50k and you can only drive it 28 days a year

1972 7

thats GBP80k but you can drive it every day - lala money for the fugliest of 7's

[T.K]

Sublime.

[Degner]

suffolk009 said:

The Twinks are lovely, but the legend will wear off. For driving now you're better off with a X-flow. You can get more power, for less money. If you're not after originality then do a Zetec.

Good god.

You do read the strangest things on these forums.

[suffolk009]

Degner said:

suffolk009 said:

The Twinks are lovely, but the legend will wear off. For driving now you're better off with a X-flow. You can get more power, for less money. If you're not after originality then do a Zetec.

Good god.

You do read the strangest things on these forums.

The point I was rying to make was that if I was building a car from scratch, then I wouldn't use a Twink. If I had a seven (or anything else) with a twink in it, I would indeed consider myself a lucky man. But for building something now, with a period engine, the X-flow will give you more power and reliability for less money.

[Chilliman]

My first car was S2 Lotus seven. Bought it from Caterham Car Sales when they were on the hill, even worked for them for a few months while I was rebuilding it. Had 997 Cosworth engine, which was originally a 1340 out of the Ford Classic, and had been stroked down to race 1 litre clubmans. At that time the KAR 120C number plate sat on the windowsill in the showroom

Here's an old piccie with the then owner of CCS, Graham Nearn, standing next to you know who...

[MX7]

suffolk009 said:

Degner said:

suffolk009 said:

The Twinks are lovely, but the legend will wear off. For driving now you're better off with a X-flow. You can get more power, for less money. If you're not after originality then do a Zetec.

Good god.

You do read the strangest things on these forums.

The point I was rying to make was that if I was building a car from scratch, then I wouldn't use a Twink. If I had a seven (or anything else) with a twink in it, I would indeed consider myself a lucky man. But for building something now, with a period engine, the X-flow will give you more power and reliability for less money.

I think that Degner might be talking about something else!

"Twink" is a gay slang term describing a young or young-looking gay man (18–23 age category) with a slender, ectomorph build, little or no body hair, and no facial hair.

[HustleRussell]

Mafioso said:

Regarding the comment about live rear axles disappearing in the 80s. Didn't the Vauxhall Classics have them in the nineties and early 200s? I'm sure one of those my Dad tested had one.

Yep, as late as 2002 you could buy a Caterham 'classic' with Morris Ital live axles, and a carbureted Vauxhall engine. I've got a 2000 one.