Note: the photos of Jeff's car above and below were taken at the vintage races hosted at Waterford Hills, Michigan, in conjunction with the Meadowbrook Concours d'Elegance in 2002.

I'm at least the third owner of this white little bomb. I purchased the car from Mr. Brian Sugden, Mentor, OH in April 1983. He bought the car from a gentleman who had it as a "stop light racer", but found it too uncomfortable and not very practical as a 'street' car and sold it for a Corvette. Brian used it as a "club" racer only, driving it on the road for "20 miles at the most!". He trailered it wherever he ran the car. He had it stored in a homemade lift above his daily driver in his garage. I'm uncertain how long he owned the car.

This particular Lotus 7 Series 4 has the "Big Valve" 1600cc twin cam engine with twin Webers. I later discovered the valve head was ported which gave it a few more horsepower than 'stock'. Possibly 130+/-. I weighed the car on a farm scale: 1,250#. Brian Sugden had modified the rear four-link suspension to keep it in place and prevent axle windup and tramp. Spax shocks on all four corners with the rears being adjustable.

Other than that, the car had the original top, side curtains, and featured a custom wood dashboard. I bought the Lotus as a fun "weekend" car which is ideal for the roads here in Northern Michigan, until 1984 when I decided to try vintage racing. I took the car to Elkhart Lake, WI to get my SCCA vintage license. It required a beefier roll bar and 4 point safety belts. Later I added a custom Fuel Safe fuel cell in the trunk. I can remove the windshield and have the car 'ready to race' in less than a half hour.

Dennis Ortenburger's book, Legend of the Lotus Seven, gives a good description of the Series 4. It never truly found a 'home' in SCCA racing, being thrown around in various classes to find cars that were comparable in performance, usually "big bore" or Trans-Am cars, finally relegating the car to autocrossing and slalom events. Which is still a bit of a problem today as my car cannot run with other Sevens in most vintage events. I have seen only one other Series 4 in the midwest vintage events and I was not able to run at that particular event where I saw it. It is red and silver with a 1300 or 1600cc 'push rod' engine and was sold soon after I saw it at Road America several years ago. The owner was from Minneapolis, MN. I believe there are several on the west coast (Dave Bean's in particular) that are still participating in vintage events.

I have truly enjoyed the Series 4 over the years both as a fun street car and as a vintage racer. It has been a "work-in-progress", refining the 'bits and pieces', to make it a little more bullet proof, but certainly worth every penny(?!). I hope this is what you need to add to your history of Lotus 7s! I'll let you know the chassis number as soon as I can find it!

[John D's notes: I met Jeff, his mechanic and his car at Road America this fall. Jeff was one of several Lotus owners at this vintage race event featuring Lotus that I had the opprtunity to share time and stories with. I walked over to his car as we lined up for the road tour of the original Elkhart Lake 'open road' road course. He chuckled as I introduced myself and asked if I realized that my Seven's frame flexed noticeably as I stepped from it. Missing only half a beat realizing that he might just be poking fun at my 'old' Seven, I explained that my car was one of the early S2 Sevens to incorporate the infamous 'Chapman Flex'. Before long, I was invited to share their table at dinner at Siebken's Resort that weekend. Read my whole story of Road America here.]