Colin Chapman's Lotus 7 - Legendary car designer Colin Chapman debuted his Lotus Seven at the Earls Court Motor Show in October 1957. The original intention was to offer a "kit car" for the club racer crowd in England. The kit concept also helped get around England's home-market purchase tax. A few years later, Lotus was selling fully assembled Lotus 7 cars. The spartan sports car got its name from the fact that it was Colin Chapman's seventh car design for Lotus – hence the name, Lotus Seven. Formula 1 and sports car champion Dan Gurney called the Lotus 7, "an unrivaled, quintessential sports car." The Lotus 7 is very close to being 100 percent functional. In other words, there isn't anything on the car that is not essential – just like a race car.
From '58 to '73 Lotus produced four versions of the Lotus 7. The original Series 1 was offered from '58 to '60. The Series 2 car featured a simplified chassis with fewer tubes and suspension improvements to help lower cost. The 1340cc Ford-Cosworth 4-cylinder produced 95hp and provided 0-60 times of 7 seconds. The Super 7 version had a 130hp engine and weighed only 1,200 pounds.
Body panels were aluminum and the swept back fenders were fiberglass.
The Lotus 7 came very close to being terminated in '66, but exclusive distributor of the Lotus 7, Caterham Company, convinced Colin Chapman to allow them to make significant improvements to the aging club racer. 1968 saw the introduction of the Series 3 Lotus 7 that used an 85hp Ford Cortina 4-cylinder engine and suspension. A year later the Lotus 7-SS was offered using a 1600cc Lotus twin-cam 4-cylinder engine that produced 115hp and had stronger chassis. Some referred to the car as the
Series 4, but Lotus called it the "Lotus 60."
By 1973 the Lotus 7's '50s styling was looking very dated. Some were even calling it "dune-buggy-like." With sales way off, Lotus sold the rights to Caterham Cars of South London where it is still produced today.
When Caterham took over production of the Lotus 7, they went back to the Series 3 look since Caterham was involved in the styling of Series 3 car. This was referred to as the "classic" design. Caterham made significant improvements to the Lotus 7 and called their version the "Super Sprint." Weighing in at just 1,300 pounds and using a 1700cc, 135hp Ford Kent engine, the Super Sprint could run 0-60mph in 5.6 seconds with a top speed of 115 mph. The suspension was updated using a stronger chassis, deDion rear suspension, a 5-speed transmission, and 4-wheel disc brakes. As usual, the interior was cramped and no frills – an absolute zero in creature comforts..
Since the Lotus 7 had always been one tick away from being an all-out race car, Caterham offered a racing version called the "Superlight." As if the Lotus 7 wasn't light enough, the Superlight weighed only 1,000 pounds. Some versions were capable of 0-60 mph in just 4 seconds!
Since then, all sorts of Lotus 7 cars have been built by privateers in search of the ultimate power-to-weight ratio. Lotus 7 cars have been powered by V-8 engines, turbocharged, 3-rotor Mazda engines, as well as exotic Cosworth engines.
Some call the Lotus 7 and all of the different versions of the 7, the "last of a dying breed of sports cars." If you ever want to take a blast down sports car memory lane in a super lightweight, high-powered, wind in your face machine, a Lotus 7 could be your E-ticket to maximum fun. Power for kit car versions range from Pinto and Mazda RX7 engines to a 525hp Olds Quad 4. Sensational!
Printed on high quality tan-colored parchment paper using a Xante professional grade printer.
This print comes in one size:
11” x 17”
Print is shrink wrapped on 11.5" x 17.5" cardboard so that they stay flat and clean and shipped via USPS Priority Mail. All prints are signed by the artist. They make a wonderful gift for the car lover in your life!
