Alaskossie

Skip, No, comparing your car with my full windshield and plexiglas wind wings. Will you let me drive your Seven if I let you drive my Miata/LS7 (eventually....)?

I assume by "windscreen" you mean not the British "windscreen=windshield," but a non-glass, aerodynamic wind deflector (sometimes called an aeroscreen)? Yes, I have. But I need the ability to put up weather protection, as well as to have a defense against bird strikes.

timax, You have some good suggestions. I'm used to a windscreen with wind deflectors. I did not try to adjust the angle of Skip's Brooklands passenger screen to find a "sweet spot" -- didn't know that there might be one. I'll try that -- if Skip ever gives me a ride again.....

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade (and I know Skip's views are opposite), but I rode to a Lotus Club meeting as a passenger in Skip's car with Brooklands, in late April -- and I definitely felt that the wind buffeting was more severe than with a full windscreen. It was really quite uncomfortable. In addition, BOTH ears and BOTH sides of my face were getting buffeted, unlike behind a windscreen, where only the outboard side gets hit.... I'd be interested in hearing of others' actual experiences on this topic, which I guess is a hijack of the purely technical nature of the original inquiry...sorry!

Just let me know on the spare tire Y-fitting and rod. Thnx.

The Pashnit site is a subscription site (except for selected new roads entered on the site), but it looks like it would be worth the price of admission, just for the latest info on obscure rural paved roads, and where the pavement ends.... Here is a new road entry (no fee yet), to whet your appetite: 600 curves in 36 miles! http://www.pashnit.com/roads/cal/MosquitoRidge.htm What a resource! Tom

Rahul, That's it! Thanks.

John, I hope you don't lose your enthusiasm for organizing such a tour. Perhaps getting the California Sevens touring folks on board and committed to such a tour (not that you haven't made that effort before)?.....as well as the Pacific NW folks and those in-between. The Black Hills Tour last year was at least as ambitious, and we had a good turnout. There is an interesting California-bsed motorcycle-touring website that has an atlas of motorcycle-appropriate roads, most of which are just down the Sevens' alley. I'll try to find the link. There may be some good roads there that could replace this year's enduro-style gravel roads.

John, That definitely sounds like a plan. Perhaps we could hope to make it a formal 2014 regional USA7s Tour & Blat? I would aim for summer of 2013, but I'm planning to join the Grizzly Bear Blat in Edmonton next August, if all goes well. One long Sevens trip per summer is fine by me; I'm not retired yet! Tom

John, thanks for the head's-up on this thread! You are certainly re-tracing our 2010 tire tracks -- your narrative really brings back memories (some very good, some not so good). My solo drive at night up the Pacific Coast Highway to catch you and Hudson at Gualala was one of the highlight-reel drives of my life. No traffic at all, in either direction. And the next afternoon, fainting on the floor of the Chevron station in Weaverville with heat exhaustion, was one of the worst days... Glad to hear that the person at the station asked about me in kindly tones -- I just wonder who cleaned up their floor after I was carted by ambulance to the hospital.... Let's all do a repeat (of the good times) in two years, ok? Start with the Monterey Historics, and then point 'em north. This time I'll run with the bikini top up (even if the sun is out), and drink lot of fluids...

In any Seven-esque car, a pleasure drive is, I think always a "blat." Even in a Stalker. Just as going somewhere in a conventional automobile is "going for a ride," even though riding went out with horses... The "blat" terminology arose across the pond in UK, and they have stuck with it.

Steve, I'm planning on ditching my hood sticks -- never use them, the with my SoftBits bikini top. I am interested in buying your boot cover for a boot w/o sticks.

Automoda, I agree entirely. One of the best in-car films of all time, "Climb Dance," was made with Ari Vatanen in a Peugeot rally car on the dirt on Pikes Peak.

Now that the entire course is paved, the motorcycles can become competitive for the first time.

Morgan, What a great tale -- a glimpse into what goes on in project planning, evaluation and development inside a major auto maker -- the seemingly-innocuous activities that improbably resulted in one of the greatest automotive niche-filling success stories of all time. Thanks for passing it on.

Tim, Your link has some really wonderful Seven shots -- thanks for sharing!

Well, as I said, I knew I had seen it somewhere before....

Here is one of my very favorite Seven shots. Can't remember where I saw it -- Blatchat? It was titled "prb - self-portrait." I feel certain that besides shooting the photo, the coachman dropped down a couple of gears, and gave his mount full wellie... And, the Seven looks almost like mine -- except for the rhd and the Brooklands screen......

The Series 2 Lotus Seven had a lower scuttle, at the windscreen, than the later Series 3 and Caterham. It would be interesting to get a comparison measurement of the body/chassis height "thickness") at the scuttle of a Series 2 and a modern Series 3.

I have always thought that, despite the Mazda hype, the original Miata was a lot closer in concept to an even older car than the Lotus Elan -- the Alfa Giulietta. Both the Miata and the Alfa had creature comforts (wind-up windows, for example), a sensible folding top, a steel body, etc. Their differences included live axle vs. independent rear suspension, and drum brakes vs. discs. But these could be attributed, to some extent, to the era in which each was conceived, and not to a fundamental difference in engineering or design philosophy.

Not specifically Seven-related, but a great vintage video of Hermann Lang driving the Nurburgring German GP circuit in a pre-war 600 hp Mercedes W125, with course narration by Graham Hill, and timing by Alfred Neubauer: http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=26156&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=html&utm_campaign=2012-8-10

Stewart, Funny thing -- when your message first appeared on my computer, there were no photos attached. Now there are.... Looks like a great trip. How were the roads in thew Vancouver area?

Stewart, Photos??

Here is quick tutorial on installing a power socket in a Caterham: http://www.sjmmarsh.f2s.com/Caterham/socket1.html I had two under-dash sockets installed in my Seven, and one under the bonnet in case I need to plug in a12v trouble light. My sockets are all surface-mount Sutars sockets, attached to a horizontal panel I fabricated under the dash -- so no space on the dash need to be taken up. See: http://www.ecs-marine-equipment.co.uk/marine-equipment/sutars-compact-socket-item-24192.html http://www.skyllermarks.se/en/products/sutars/surface-mounted-socket-black The Sutars are available in the US from marine suppliers; can't recall exactly where I got mine, some place in Florida.

Mike, Is your Birkin buyer local, or does this fine machine leave Colorado?