soareyes

I like the booties, but probably look a little strange. Better than burnt heels though!

The cool shirt is great! I'm sure it's what kept me alive a few summers ago when I drove 700 miles (Fort Bragg to Victorville, CA) in one day in 100+ degree temps. The ice in the cooler would conveniently last through one tank of gas. The only thing that suffered were my heels which burned and peeled skin for the next few days.

Interesting chance to own part of a new company that hopes to market this: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/08/01-sa-630.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/08/04-sa.jpg The front view reminds me of a Donkervort and the rear looks like last generation's BMW Z4 coupe. Not bad if you want a hardtop Seven. Details here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Sondergard-Sportscars-/190429931026?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2c56822612#ht_713wt_1167

I used a Garmin Zumo 500 which is a gps geared toward motorcyclists. It has the audio out plug and I used a set of in-ear buds to hear the spoken directions which also gave me protection from engine/road/wind noise. You can load it up with mp3's and listen to music too. Being a motorcycle gps it is weatherproof. One negative is the size as it is bulkier than the newer Nuvis.

I'm tall and thin, 6' 3" and 180 pounds with a 35" waist. The fit for me was snug but comfortable, but I had modified the seat extensively by cutting off the torso and thigh supports on the left side because the Birkin cockpit side performs the same function. This gave me about an extra inch of room. I recently sold the car and I cut off the right torso support for the new owner so he could fit more comfortably. Once I'm home tonight I can post some pics of the seat modifications if you are interested.

16" won't fit in a Birkin, and even the 15" spec Miata seat I installed was a tight fit, both for me and the car!

Martin, back in the day when I use to fly sailplanes, we kept ours in a trailer outside and the solar vent worked very well to keep the temps down. These vents exhaust out so remember to have a passive vent to allow cooler outside air to get in.

Car is sold as of today and will be residing with its new owner in the San Francisco bay area. Thanks to everyone who had an interest!

I've seen Martin's in person and it is very nice! I have a lot of respect for guys who build their own Sevens from the ground up. It is something I would love to do some day if I ever have the time (not to mention skill).

Several people asked if the taller roll bar seen in the extra pics is included, and yes it is. I just forgot to add it to my original post. It is a couple inches higher than my helmet which is required for some track days, and it provides a mounting point for the shoulder harness. I don't use it for street driving because the 'Birkini' top won't fit over it.

Sorry Stephen, I forgot to answer your question about the mirrors. The two side mirrors are motorcycle mirrors from a company called Kuryakyn, and the center mirror is from a hot rod shop, but I can't remember the name. If I come across it, I'll post the link. The Yahoo BirkinOwners groups site is here: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/birkinowners/

Stephen, almost all of what I have is from the Yahoo BirkinOwners list which still has all the posts back to its inception online. I just printed information that I felt might be useful to me as time went on. Thanks to Bernie Long for starting the group as it was very helpful to someone like me who didn't have much mechanical experience to begin with. With that information, along with our great group of Sevens owners here in S. California, I was able to solve any problem that came up with my car. And thanks Mazda and John, I hope I don't come to regret this!

Forgot to add that it has a Quaife lsd and a semi-close ratio gearbox.

Edit - car is sold as of 4-18-2010 For various reasons, it's time to sell my Birkin: http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd136/soareyes/DSCN4477.jpg http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd136/soareyes/DSCN4467.jpg Many more pictures can be seen here: http://web.me.com/soareyes/Stans_Mini_E/Birkin_for_Sale.html It was built for the original owner by Woody of MSI Motorsports, the first US Birkin importer, in 2004. I bought it in 2005 with less than 2000 miles. It currently has 17,100 miles on the odometer. Best of all, for potential California buyers, the car has the desirable SB100 sticker so no smog checks ever. It is titled and registered as a 1964 Lotus S3. I'm located in southern California. The engine is a fuel injected Zetec ZX3 controlled by a Pectel T2 ecu. Mild performance mods include a Fidanza light flywheel and a larger than stock FocusSport throttle body. The car was dyno tuned last year and shows 133 horsepower and 146 lbft of torque at the wheels, add about 15% to get crank equivalents. Some of the things I've done since I bought the car: Installed a set of Woody's driveshaft safety hoops. Installed a set of Woody's heim-joint rear control arms which made a huge improvement in ride quality. Installed Woody's sump guard. Added a Birkin removable steering wheel. Installed a modified Ultrashield spec-Miata driver's seat which is much more comfortable than the stock Birkin seat. The original seat is included and can be re-installed. Lowered the driver's side floor about 2 1/2 inches so you actually look through the center of the windshield now instead of the top, which greatly increases visibility while reducing wind buffeting. Installed a Gustafson planetary gear starter motor. The standard Birkin starter tends to be weak when warm after driving awhile. The Gustafson starter works every time. Installed a pair of Caterham removable half doors. I also have the original full weather gear (doors and top) which I have never used. Purchased Dick Brink's "Birkini" top which is great in the summer to keep the sun off your head and it really cuts down on wind buffeting. Installed a set of billet rearview mirrors which look much better than the stock stuff. Installed a pair of small LED front turn signal indicators which again looks much better than the stock Birkin units. Installed a twin-tone air horn which can actually be heard, unlike what came on the car. Installed a pair of Hella European H4 headlight bulbs, makes a huge difference at night compared to the stock sealed beams. Added a VDO voltmeter to the instrument panel that exactly matches the rest of the gauges which are also from VDO. Added a nice custom wood shift knob from Gert's Garage™ which looks much nicer than the stock metal knob which got too hot to touch in the summer. Made a LED third brake light (from Gert's Garage™ plans) and added an electronic module which flashes the lights 3x when you first apply the brakes, then goes to full on. Purchased a set of grippy Toyo T1R's, 195/50/15 front and 215/45/15 rear to replace the hard-as-rock Firestones that came with the car. Plenty of tread left. Recently I replace the front windshield with new glass as the old was getting pitted from road debris. Added a side extension to the rear-exit tailpipe which greatly reduces the amount of exhaust into the cockpit. Other things included with the car: A spare Pectel T2 ECU I purchased on ebay just in case. A Dell laptop loaded with the necessary Pectel software to program the ECU, if needed. Connector cord to link the laptop to the ECU. Brand new, never driven, set of 4 Toyo RA1 performance tires mounted and balanced on brand new Kosei light weight wheels. I meant to use these as a track set of wheels but haven't done a track day since buying them. Several notebooks worth of Birkin information collected over the years, mainly from the yahoo Birkin Owners web site. As mentioned above, a full set of all-weather gear and full doors that have never been used. Five-point Simpson race harness that can be installed for track days if desired. The original three-point retract seatbelt is currently installed. This car is in perfect mechanical condition. I used the car mostly on blats, but I have done approximately 10 track days over the years, usually with NASA. The rear fenders show the typical paint-pits from stuff kicked up by the tires. The right front cycle wing has some cracks in the gelcoat from a bump into a tire wall at Fontana Speedway, but the fiberglass itself wasn't damaged. I do have a spare pair of unpainted front cycle wings that are included. On a cold morning it may take a couple tries to get the engine to fire but once going it warms up fine, and it starts easily at normal temperatures. If you are located in S. Calif. and you offer Magnus some beer and diapers he would probably fine tune the cold start software. There is probably more I've forgotten but send me a pm or email directly if there are questions (s o a r e y e s (at) a o l . c o m) Oh yea, price is $22,500 obo. The original owner paid about $35,000 new (I have all the original receipts) and I paid $28,000 five years ago, plus everything I've added. Stan

The comments by readers at the bottom of the article are interesting.

The 'definitely maybe' list would be better! We had a good time last year so I will probably go again depending on the family's schedule. And yes, I should have made clear that you have to have a Lotus or Seven-inspired car to park in the Lotus Corral. Our Birkins were welcome.

When Gert and I went last year to the Historics we stayed in Hollister, about 45 miles inland from Monterey. It was an easy drive from the motel to the track. Getting a parking pass through the Lotus club is definitely a good idea as you get to park close to everything. Get there fairly early in the morning to avoid the long line to park. We stayed at the Weibe Motel (http://www.weibemotel.com) in Hollister, just a basic cheap room and bed that was clean but could have used some fresh paint. There was a nicer looking Best Western (http://www.bestwesternhollister.com) a block away that I would look into if I were going again. (edit - I just checked the Best Western rates for that weekend and wow, they really jack the rates up for this event! Average room is over $250/night. The Weibe is well under $100 if I remember correctly.)

BusaNostra has managed to awaken my inner-Luddite, so I'm getting rid of my electric car and buying one of these: http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/6a00e0099229e88833012876d49fb3970c-500wi.jpg It's a wood powered car! No, not ethanol from wood fermentation, but straight wood. Apparently they were popular conversions after WWII when gas was scarce. So now we can talk about miles per cord instead of miles per gallon. Go 100 miles then chop down a tree for another 100! Unfortunately I live in the desert and there aren't many trees Full story here: http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/01/wood-gas-cars.html

I do think you are exaggerating a bit. I'm not a chemist, but as an example, a quick check of Yttrium shows that it fairly common element in soil, water, and all living things including us. It has many manufacturing uses already in LEDs, camera lenses, and even in the electrodes of spark plugs and in car exhaust O2 sensors. So every one of us is using products with it already, and it doesn't look like it is toxic to the consumer in the quantities we are talking about. I haven't seen it anywhere, but it would be interesting to see a comparison of the toxicity of a lithium ion battery to a gallon of gas or a barrel of oil. You said Warren Buffett doesn't know anything about electric cars, and this is totally untrue. I've followed Buffett for years and he never, never invests in anything he doesn't understand. "Nothing but marketing, greed and profits. Money---money, money and more money." You were referring to the oil industry, right?

No! The future of electric car batteries is lithium, not lead acid or nickel metal hydride. The Chevy Volt, the Nissan Leaf, Tesla, Fiskar, my Mini E and the upcoming BMW Active E all use lithium ion batteries. These batteries are non-toxic, containing no lead, mercury, cadmium, or other toxic heavy metals. In fact, they can be legally tossed into a landfill which fortunately won't happen because they are recyclable. A green car pollutes less and uses less energy per mile so yes, it can save money and energy. However, battery cost is high so cost of ownership won't be cheaper right now but that will come down in time. I'm fortunate that my electric company (Southern California Edison) generates more than half its electricity from clean natural gas and nearly 20% from solar and wind. Only 15% is generated from burning coal. But even if you get your electricity from a power company using 100% coal, studies have shown that driving an electric car is still cleaner than a gas powered car. People don't think about how much energy is used to transport and refine crude oil into gasoline. My car charger is on a separate meter and is programed to turn on at night when demand and rates are low. Edison only charges 4.5 cents a kilowatt/hr for EV charging at night, which is pretty cheap. I've talked to several Edison engineers and they don't think there will be any problem gradually upgrading grid service as needed as electric cars become more common. They have been planning the "smart grid" for years. We are more dependent on foreign oil now than back in the 70's during the first OPEC 'oil crisis' even though our gasoline powered cars and trucks are much more efficient than they were back then. So how in the world can we quit sending our dollars to countries that don't really like us that much unless we pursue alternatives like electric cars? I don't believe internal combustion vehicles are destined to go away in the next 50 years, but I do see electrics and maybe hydrogen cars becoming an attractive alternative to a lot of people in the near future. I'll always have my Birkin though! (BTW, I get 35 mpg on the freeway driving it, but that's no fun )

Possible electric from Caterham: http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/19/report-caterhams-all-new-ev-coming-in-six-months/

Actually, practical electric cars are on the road now and many more will be available in the next couple years. I've been driving a 100% electric Mini Cooper for the last 7 months and it has proven to be safe, reliable, cheap to run, quiet, and best of all, fast! It has a 100 mile range per charge and many times I've driven it over 200 miles in one day with a fast charge at my destination. It costs me less than $3 to go 100 miles when I charge at home at night when the rates are low. Li-ion batteries will continue to get cheaper, and are safe if handled and charged properly. How many of us worry about our cell phones or laptops exploding? I've used Li-Po batteries in my electric RC airplanes for years and never had or seen any explode. Yes, in the early days with primitive chargers there were problems, but today's chargers do a great job of controlling charge rates and balancing cells. So as a commuter car or second family car, an electric can be a very practical choice.

This last summer I decided I needed to finally do something about my cockpit heat problem. However, being a procrastinator at heart, I never followed through. I took a drive last weekend and my heat problem seems to have taken care of itself! Unfortunately now I have a cold cockpit problem in its place, but I have a feeling that too will take care of itself in a few months. Sorry, couldn't resist!

After reading your story, I think I like my Birkin exactly the way it is now. Of course that won't be true anymore once you get yours running and you leave me in the dust on our next drive! Think you'll have it ready for Gert's Thanksgiving blat?

Yeah! Now I can quit chasing yellow trucks to take their pictures Yes, I'll drive myself next weekend. I'm looking forward to 800 miles in the toasty California sun, should be fun! I'll definitely have the Cool Shirt on. To those who didn't know, we are headed up to Laguna Seca in our Sevens for the Monterey Historics: http://www.montereyhistoric.com/