My Lotus Super 7 Series 1 is chassis number 756, or, one of the first to be built after Lotus' initial move from Hornsey. I purchased it in England in 1977 and began racing it with the VSCCA in the Northeast in 1978. In fact, it was the first 7 accepted by the club.

After 25 years of racing and road use, a quick review of its current specification: freshly rebuilt highly modified 1485cc (1460 bored to 1485) Coventry Climax FWB engine, steel billet crank, Carrillo steel rods, forged JE pistons, super modified big valve head, ported and polished gas flowed head, steel billet 3 bearing race cam, 10.5 to 1 compression ratio, twin 40 DCOE Webers, tubular headers, lightened steel flywheel, thick alloy plate between block and sump (to strengthen the bottom end), electronic ignition, BMC rib case trans with straight cut close ratio gears, new LSD, hardened two piece back axle shafts, oil cooler, Spax shocks, chromed coil springs, rod ends on rear suspension A arm, four 9" finned alloy drums, dual master cylinders with balance bar, fuel cell, removable roll bar, 60- spoke wire wheels with 500L15 Dunlops for racing and 165SR15 radials for road, twin racing screens behind normal windshield, MG TC wiper motor on top of windshield which unplugs when the windshield is removed, 8,000 rpm chronometric tach driven off the tach drive in the distributor mounting, top and side curtains, heater, AM FM radio, Accusump oiling system, Aeroquip oil and brake lines, original chassis plate, racing belts, Aeroquip fuel lines, polished alloy body with painted cycle fenders and a nose band at the leading edge of the nose, battery switch, stayfast cloth tonneau, spare tire carrier and wheel/tire, original head and tail lights, extra gussetts at places on engine bay tubes. And more. But this is a pretty complete list.

In 1996 it was officially timed at 1:07 around Lime Rock with a 85hp BMC engine and improperly working brakes. Curious since when I first joined the VSCCA the official lap record for Lime Rock in a Cooper Formula 1 car was....1:06!

For show, racing, racing winning, road use, road use in the rain or even the winter (yes the heater is surprisingly effective), the 7 is unusually versatile. And has been that way for the 25 years I have owned it.

I also own a 1972 European spec Weber carbed Lotus Elan Sprint drophead in Gold Leaf Team Lotus colors and a 1959 Lotus 18 Formula Junior which I used to replace the 7 nineteeen seasons ago. Recently sold my Lotus Mk 6 and Turbo Esprit due to lack of interest (replaced them with a Dellow and a Porsche 911 Carrera Targa).

Actually, the reason for the weather equipment (which I got with the car in 1977) was due to a past girlfriend slated to drive the car in 1998. We agreed she would go to driver's school that April and, so she could gain experience over the winter, I fitted a Series 2 heater and refitted the original weather equipment. The result was that we put quite a lot of miles on it during the winter, rain or shine.

But no snow.

The FWB engine is very powerful (we would estimate 130-135hp) with a lot of torque. It was designed by Climax for Cooper Formula II as a temporary engine until the twin cam FPF unit was built. It was never very satisfactory due to the low rev limit and the small valves and ports (remember, the original Climax engine, the FWP pump engine, was only 1020cc and not designed for much over 35hp).

We have gotten around this to a certain extent by doing a lot of careful porting and polishing the using a flow bench to guide our way to maximum flow. We started with a reputedly 'professionally done' race head which we discovered was only flowing around 50 cfm. With a lot of work, we have it up to 75+. Add a special cam designed to provide a lot of power from 4,000 to 7,000 rpm and we achieved a lot more than the 100+ hp of the original FWB design.

To use higher revs, we used JE forged pistons, Carrillo steel rods, and a billet steel crank. All virtually unbreakable parts. As long as 7-7,500 rpm is observed. And with a thick aluminum plate under the block to hold it all together, we can use far more revs the original 6,000 red line.

Of course, all of this is somewhat academic since I discovered the fastest times on the track are attained by 'short shifting' at 5-6,000 rpm. Using the engine's incredible torque, the car really flies. And is at least as fast as the fastest Lotus XIs until the 7's poor aerodynamics come into play.

And all of this is a road 7 which is fairly weather tight

(by the way, I have owned at least thirty Series 1 Sevens, more than a dozen Mk 6s, a rare Mk X, a nine, probably a dozen and a half Series 1 and Series 2 Elites, lots and lots of XIs (including one with a hardtop and gullwing doors), 18s, 20s, 22s, 23Bs, lots of Series 2, 3, and 4 Super 7s, maybe a hundred fifty Elans, all shapes and sixes of Europas, drove an Eclat for three years, a turbo Esprit for another three, lots of Lotus Cortinas, Elan +2s, 51s, 61s, a 31, and even the ex Dick Smother Lotus 70. Although, perhaps, I should qualify 'I' as 'my company.').

But I love my 7.

Marc