LOG 29, May 2009
Birmingham, Alabama
Report by Dean Giacopassi
Photos by Scott Nettleship
(see all Scott's photos here)
(anyone with photos of the attending Lotus Sevens, please send them to SimpleSevens!)
I went to LOG 29 which was held earlier this month in Birmingham (Alabama not England). I had intended to write something up but am behind in my Lotus activities. Here is a very brief description, focused on Sevens of course...
LOG 29 was awesome, there was way too much to do. It took 12 solid hours of sleep to recover after leaving Birmingham. Bill & Cheryl B were there with their Series 2. Bill drove it from up state NY! According to mapqquest.com this is a distance of approximately 960 miles. He enjoyed the drive, as he always does and related an interesting story: Because of the rain he had the top up. Flies were hitting him in the chest. After having a fatal encounter with the windshield the flies bounced up and came in between the frame and top. Peter Egan selected this car as the winner of the "Road and Track" magazine car that he would most like to take home. Way to Go Bill & Cheryl!
plenty of Lotus in attendance, very few Lotus Sevens: 1x S1, 2x S2, 1x SIV
The other early Sevens were our series 1 and an immaculately restored green Series 2 [Jack Tripp's SB1536]. At the concourse site the Seven area merged with the replica and historic areas so there was a nice mix of cars. There were some very nice Sevens set up in a multitude of ways. I don't know much about the later cars so all I can say is that some were very nice. Sorry, I don't mean to slight these cars I just don't know enough to say anything intelligent about them!
As a side note, everyone got along. The people who envision gang fights between owners of Lotus Sevens and cars inspired by the Lotus Seven would have been very disappointed.
At the jumble I bought a set of NOS Wingards at a reasonable price, thanks Gordon. The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum (BVMM) did a wonderful job of making everyone feel welcome. We had the run of the place with special tours including the normally off limit areas. The track was active with assorted racing during the concourse. During the concourse lunch a Type 11, 16 & X180R circulated to keep things interesting. BVMM added several Lotus cars to its collection this year. After several years of searching for the right Seven at the right price they have one [Tom Robertson's 1977 SCCA Championship Winner]. I expect they will continue to look for other examples of Sevens with race histories.
Because of the hassle of trailering I missed out on much of what happened at Talladega. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Maximum speeds varied from about 80mph to 150mph depending on the car and the boldness of the driver. Our Seven had a bit of a problem maintaining speed and I drove with my foot to the floor for a lap and a half. This allowed a bit of additional speed where I could enjoy the 30+ degree banking without fighting to stay up. The track is smooth and the openness of the Seven gave my passenger Claude (a Seven owner) and myself a panoramic view. Those with closed topped cars did experience a feeling of driving through a tunnel when entering and on the banking.
passing on the banking at Talladaga - from the seat of Scott Nettleship's Type 14 Elite
I drove the track day in the paced group. I was nervous for the first two sessions since I average about one track event per decade. Driving two up, with an instructor, taxed the not quite broken in 948cc BMC engine. Our car doesn't like hard right hand corners with close to 500 lbs in the passinger seat. The suspension gets overwhelmed and the drive shaft coupling hits the frame. The scraping noises moderated my agressiveness a bit. The Left hand double apex turn was my favorite. I missed the first session and a chance to have Bob Dance (former Team Lotus race mechanic and current employee of Classic Team Lotus) work on my car by diagnosing and fixing stuck needle valves in my SU's. I don't understand why both would stick closed at the same time. During Lunch time during at the track event two Mark 6 cars circulated. It was nice to see all that polished aluminum go by on the correct line.
Like I said at the top, there was too much to do. I managed to do about two thirds of what I had planned. On the way home we stopped at the Tail of the Dragon for a bit of light recreation. We managed to spot two other Sevens but didn't get to speak with the owners. Work is underway for LOG 30 in Gettysburg PA. I expect an even better showing of Sevens at LOG 30. I hope to see many of you there.
Dean G.
