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 In March of 2001, Grant
Reynolds contacted SimpleSevens with information about a Lotus
Seven for which he was mechanic back in the late 60's. He described
to me the early history of this car -- the period it was under
his care. He also sent me several photographs which now appear
on the SimpleSevens web site in the Long Lost Sevens section.
See http://www.simplesevens.com/reynolds.htm
The kit was delivered to Wallace
Harper, Lotus dealer in Hong Kong in 1964. The buyer, Lee Talbot
writes: "I bought the car from him in early 1965 and raced
it under Team Lotus sponsorship. As I remember, I had two second
places in the Malayan Grand Prix (the Sports Car race and the
Formula Libre GP), and also had second place in Singapore, and
my wife won first place in the Singapore Ladies race."
Early in 1966 Lee and his wife
moved to the Washington DC area having accepted positions with
the Smithsonian Institution. They commuted to the Smithsonian
in the bright red Lotus, unmuffled, topless, and still with number
roundels and racing windscreen. Grant Reynolds worked as crew
mechanic for Lee in 1966 and 1967. According to Grant: "We
ran 26 nationals and regionals with it in 1966 and 67, finishing
all but 1." The car was then sold to a new owner in Troy,
Michigan in November of 1967, while Lee was out of the country.
A British Racing Green MGB was taken in partial trade. The name
of that buyer has been lost. As with any Lotus Seven, unique
details of the car itself are few, therefore tying the two is
dependent on matching histories...
 In October of 2002, SimpleSevens received
a message from Steve Stitle suggesting that the Seven he owns
is the Reynolds/Talbot car. Steve was apparently hunting around
the internet in preparation for selling the car when he came
across the SimpleSevens site, and the mention of a Hong Kong
Seven which was brought to the States.
Steve's Seven bears the chassis
number SB1886. Lotus records
do indicate that SB1886 was one of at least seven Lotus Sevens
of similar specification shipped to Hong Kong in 1964. Records
from Lotus show that SB1886 was shipped to Wallace Harper (Hong
Kong distributor) on May 28,1964. As delivered, the car was red,
right hand drive with Cosworth 1500, close ratio trans, 4.11
axle, twin webers, and turn flashers.
 Steve had wondered how his car would
have gotten from Hong Kong to the US Midwest and this seems a
likely answer. A possible connection lies in the inevitable 'boxes
of bits' that often come with the purchase of any restored sports
car...
Steve's car was a basket case
when his friend Jack Martin bought it and began the restoration
in 1985. The car was bought from a fellow Lotus nut who was selling
his cache of Lotus stuff. He lived in the basement of a three
floor flat amongst a pile of old Lotus parts -- including the
Seven. Unfortunately, no documentation photos were taken prior
to stripping and reassembly.
 According to Steve, "Jack poked
around during the restoration but someone had very aggressively
sandblasted most of the frame & he assumed either the numbers
or tag had been blown off. Could also have been a replaced tube
- the car had evidently been crashed several times. One of the
guys in the Chicago Lotus Club remembers doing a lot of welding
to the car in its final racing days. Extensive repairs to the
right front of the original Lotus frame are evident though rust
and/or fatigue could also have been factors. Have lovely photo
from those days - car was yellow & brown."
 "I spoke at length with my friend
Jack about frame modifications when he bought the car in 1985.
He knew that the car had been crashed numerous times (he also
raced a Seven in the Midwest) and is of the belief that everything
from the footwell forward on the driver's side had been replaced.
The most obvious modification at that time was a very professional
& effective L-shaped brace (about 4 X 4) running directly
behind the seat for the width of the cockpit. This also has two
semi-circular tabs that attach the rollbar - held on by 3 bolts
at each corner. I realize this may have been added later, but
it was very well done and appears almost original."
Original owner of the 'Long Lost
Seven', Lee Talbot presents some possible clues to help indicate
whether or not 1886 was the Seven he brought back from Hong Kong:
- The original close ratio trans
died, and was replaced with a Lotus Cortina GT 'box
- Steel wheels widened 1.5 inches.
- Triumph Herald rear axle.
- Detroit locker differential.
Also had a 4.2 adaptor plate.
- Single carb manifold.
- Small rear bumper with two short
nerf bar type uprights.
 Lee
Talbot also remembers replacing some of the guages, including
the tachometer possibly with a Sun electronic unit. The Sun tach
in the photo was in the car when Steve took posession.
In an effort to match up some
parts between the Lee Talbot car and his own SB1886, Steve made
a foray into his garage attic and the "box" that came
with the car when he took it over from his friend Jack. He was
able to unearth a Sun Electronic Tach and sending unit, a Stewart
Warner Oil Temp Guage, a very old & greasy Lucas coil, and
a set of front and rear "bumpers." Other than the rear
bumper, there were no parts or evidence matching up to the items
Lee Talbot had listed. Of course, engines, gearboxes and axles
were very easy items to change around in a Seven, so the lack
of those matching pieces does not disprove anything.
 Lee
Talbot himself seems about convinced: "Steve, I think your
climb into your garage attic netted paydirt. I had the bumpers
made for the time I was driving the car on the street. The one
picture I have here on my office wall shows the rear bumper which
looks to me to be identical with the image you sent. I'll try
to find a front bumper picture. The tach and oil gauges look
right too. I want to hear Grant's views on this, since he was
the evil genius behind the mechanical aspects of our racing efforts,
but it certainly looks to me as though you have "our car".
We only had one shunt while racing
it here. As I remember that resulted in a bent front (maybe left)
suspension, but no frame damage. The numerous crashes Jack described
must have occurred after she left our tender loving care."
 According to Steve, when he restored
the frame, Jack Martin re-fabricated the rear "bumper"
as the one on the car was pretty bent up when he got it.There
were actually two rear "bumpers" that came with the
car and one was sectioned to carry a wider tire.
Grant Reynolds, after reviewing
the photos, indicates: "While I am sure one Sun tach vintage
late 60's is pretty much the same as another, the tach, sending
unit, temp gauge, and bumper all look like the ones we put in
the car. The rear bumper looks just like the one in the picture
on my wall of Duryea Hill Climb in 1967.
 I'm
satisfied that its our car. While there may have been 7 sent
to Hong Kong it's doubtful that several came here; also Lee's
was the first one. The tach and gauge tend to cement it. It is
a shame we lost the serial number, though."
Upon further review of photos
and memories, Lee Talbot recalls that his Seven came to him without
any bumpers at all. He brought the car back from Hong Kong first
to Berkeley, California, in early 1966. He spent two months there,
where he had an SCCA spec roll bar installed. It was nearly the
same shape and mounting points as the current roll bar, but was
smaller diameter tubing, it wasn't chromed. The same welder who
built the roll bar also fabricated a rear bumper: It was basically
a square U with two vertical nerf bar-like uprights, and a tab
to attach the license plate, probably made from the same stock
as the roll bar. Though neither Lee nor Grant can remember whether
or not the car had a front bumper when it came to the States
in March, 1966, a front bumper was not attached during the car's
racing career here. The rear bumper, visible in the photos on
the Grant Reynolds page, clearly appears to be a very normal
looking Lotus Seven rear bumper.
 In fact the 14 page care and maintenance
document which went with the car to the Troy owner back in 1967,
referring to included road equipment, mentions that "press
on rear and bolt on front bumpers" were included with the
car. (See Page
12 of the document, extreme bottom of the page. It will open
in a new window, close that window to return here.)
See the letter in its entirety here It will open
in a new window -- click anywhere on each page to move forward
through the letter, then close that window to return here.
 Lee Talbot: "It certainly looks
to me as though you have the original 'Team Vroom' seven!"
Grant Reynolds: "I am inclined
to think that we can regard SB1886 as VROOM - albeit somewhat
modified and splendidly restored. It is a great pleasure to see
it again."
Steve Stitle further knows that
the car changed hands a few times in the "dark ages"
between Talbot's Michigan buyer & the basement owner (Bob
Wells). One name in the chain: Kevin Cooper. Kevin may or may
not have been the owner at the time of the yellow/brown paint
scheme above.
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