LOTUS SEVEN

THE LOTUS BEGINNING WAS A STORY OF INNOVATION AND DESIGN, OF BEAUTY AND BRILLIANCE, BUT IT FINISHED WITH DRUGS AND DECEPTION, DISAPPOINTMENT AND DEFEAT

DASHED-OFF DESIGN CLASSIC

The lotus flower emerges from the water it is growing in. It blooms beautifully and delicately on the surface for a very short while and, just as rapidly, fades from view again. That’s sort of an allegory for Lotus racing cars, although this particular feature car is more like an insect on the surface of a pond rather than the flower it shares its name with. Just as a small silvery insect can sit on the surface of a pond, the Lotus Seven sits there on the shiny garage floor looking as light and flighty as any such insect.

The various front-suspension arms continue that ultralightweight insect look as well, which the upward-poking track rods might be its antennae, or feelers. The beautifully polished and light aluminium body hides an equally economic frame and components.

Under the bonnet — it doesn’t fold back or anything like that; you just lift it off and very carefully place it out of harm’s way somewhere — is the motor, a very neat and moderately modified BMC A-series. It looks as much at home in this as it has ever looked anywhere.

The cabin, or cockpit, is equally parsimonious in its style: the bare essentials; speedo, tacho, temp and pressure gauges; a few switches; and that’s about it. The gear lever pokes out of the transmission tunnel in a knuckle-grazing position, almost under the dashboard, just beside your left knee; the required pedals are there on the floor; and that’s about it.

The beginning The number ‘Seven’ would indicate six previous incarnations of this Lotus, but it wasn’t quite like that. There had been the Mark I and Mark II, only one of each; III and IV were trials cars; and V never eventuated. The Lotus VI was the company’s first production model, certainly the forerunner of the Seven. Colin Chapman, Lotus founder and designer, made and sold about 110 of the Mark VI before he updated that model enough to change its name to the ‘Lotus Seven’.

Lotus production of the Seven began in 1957 and continued through until 1972. It turned out to be one of Chapman’s most successful cars, and, by the time that production finished, more than 2500 of them had been sold in either kit or fully built form. Lotus then sold production rights to Caterham. The various Caterham models of the Seven are still available to this day. Internationally, more than 160 companies have produced replica or derivative models, with six of those companies here in New Zealand.

Nothing too flash

Our feature car was the 17th built at the second Lotus factory in Cheshunt on the outskirts of London in 1959. It is a Series 1, which was produced from 1957 until the Series 2 was launched in 1961. The stunning little car absolutely illustrates Chapman’s design mantra of less is more.

Originally, the car was launched with a 40hp (30kw) 1172cc Ford side-valve motor, which used a Ford three-speed gearbox. The blanked-off exhaust hole in the body shows that this car originally had one of these motors fitted. Very early on in its life in New Zealand, this motor and gearbox were swapped for the 37hp (29kw) 948cc British Motor Corporation (BMC) A-series unit, which includes the four-speed gearbox. This combination was also an early Lotus option.

Very clever design

Colin Chapman was a car designer par excellence, but he was also a businessman, and he knew better than to manufacture every single piece used in the car. He designed the very effective chassis and outsourced its construction. Made from one-inch (25mm) and three-quarter-inch (20mm) steel tubing, it looks as light and effective as it is. The other pieces were sourced in magpie-like fashion from many other manufacturers. (See the specifications box on page 21.)

Chapman’s resourcefulness was incredible, so he must have had his reasons when he changed the rack-and-pinion steering box from a Morris Minor 1000 used on the very early Series 1 Sevens to that from the Triumph Herald. He

Our feature car was the 17th built at the second Lotus factory in Cheshunt on the outskirts of London in 1959