Alaskossie

First, we had Audi's "Active Noise Control" electronically disguising unwanted 4-cylinder sounds from a V-8 with deactivated cylinders; then we had BMW's piping of "performance" sounds into the cabin at the touch of a button -- now we have this "Sound Symposer" (Sound Symposeur?"), on Porsche's new Panamera GTS (as reported in UltimateCarPage): At the push of a button, driver and passengers can hear the engine of the GTS 'breathing'; the Sound Symposer directs intake noise into the interior at the push of a button. This is achieved by an acoustic channel picking up the intake vibrations between the throttle valve and air filter. The acoustic channel incorporates a membrane that transmits the vibrations as an engine sound into the A-pillar. A controllable valve located in front of the membrane enables the Sound Symposer to be activated or deactivated by means of the Sport button. Nice to know that the Seven achieves both a weight savings and an absence of "simulated" or "recreated" sound at the same time, and at no added cost....

The closest that Caterham has ever come to the Lotus Elite is the short-lived Caterham 21; see photo. I seem to recall that someone in UK was making replacement Elite body/chassis units for restoration purposes. Now, one of these, with an aluminum Duratec 2.0 engine, 6-speed Caterham transmission, and uprated rear diff and brakes might make a nice modern Elite replica....

Here are some more photos of Lotus Elites at LOG 27. I think I like the blue and grey color combination the best, but would take any one of them. The "Owner with Seven" in one photo is our own bsimon.

The original Lotus Elite is in my opinion the most graceful, most subtle, most beautiful coupe shape of the post-WW II era. Hard to believe it was penned by an accountant, Peter Kirwan-Taylor. Until you see one of these in the flesh, you have no idea how small, but how perfectly-proportioned, this car is. A fellow Seven owner in the Denver area owns an Elite, and I took photos of it at LOG 27 in Aspen. I believe his is original, and unrestored.

John and Ed, if I join you again, will you be scheduling a night for me in the Weaverville Emergency Room? Just planning ahead.... Alaskossie

What monthly issue is that? I find my Motorsports at Barnes & Noble, and the current one available has the pink "butcher's cuts" 917 Porsche on the cover. While I don't subscribe to Motorsport, I check it out on the newsstand, and buy a copy if there is something really interesting. I have been surprised that there was (to the best of my knowledge) little mention in the American motoring press of the passing of Motorsport's editorial fixture and motoring icon, Bill Boddy, on July 7, 2011, at the age of 98. Any person who wrote for the same motoring magazine from 1924 until July 2011 (EIGHTY-SEVEN YEARS!), and was its editor for 55 years, deserved more than a couple of lines in American motoring mags (if his passing was even granted that).

In the early 1960's, on a freeway in Rhode Island, my classmate Frank Hershenson driving: Plod: "May I see your license and registration, please?" (Pause) Plod: Well, why were you going over the speed limit, Frank?" Driver: "Mr. Hershenson to you, Sir!!" Of course, Frank got a ticket.....

Skip, Very neat, and creative! With a few more lines in strategic places, you could also rig an electric retractable top for your Seven! :

timax, What a great shot! Certainly one of the most calendar-worthy yet... Now, if your Seven only had clams.....

That Caterham is eatin' 'em alive..... It is obvious that some drivers on the N-ring forget to use their rear-view mirrors...scary! Wonder what a Caterham R500 Superlight could do there.....?

A very good-looking "classic" Seven, with rhd, bench seat, Minilites, and clams! What more to ask for??

See parallel thread in "Off Topic." Most of the Wheldon car's in-camera video cuts off right after the chain-reaction crash begins (see clip in "Off Topic"), and goes to longer-distance or aerial views. But the clip from the Wheldon car shown on NBC news continued on while the car goes over Tracy's car airborne, and up toward the catch fence.... Mercifully, the scene was so fast and so chaotic that no details are apparent..... i don't want to see it again.

Danilo, You are correct, but GM/ Cadillac didn't provide an "8-cylinder soundtrack" for the economy mode -- that was back in the Dark Ages.

The latest issue of EVO magazine ha a item about the new Audi 4-litre twin-turbo V-8 (two turbos mounted in the V between the heads (!!), and with a feature that will deactivate half of the cylinders for economy, if not needed for cruising. The item says, "To keep things sounding smooth, there are active engine mounts and 'Audi Noise Control': four microphones in the cabin scanning for unwanted V4-ish sounds, which are counteracted with 'inverse noise' played over the car's speakers." Certainly of great interest to Seven owners who would like to avoid any hint of 4-cylinder engine sound.......

I did spray pickup bedliner on the underside of my c/f front and rear wings (in addition to the 9 layers of clearcoat topside), so I assume they now weigh as much as ordinary fiberglas wings....

I plan to re-weigh mine. I was not present at the weigh-in, to think light thoughts. I believe some duplicate weather gear (bikini top, full top, half-doors, full doors, car cover, etc.) were weighed. Also, I have a heater, full carpet, carpeted boot, etc. that some do not have. I would expect around 1300 lb., but who knows?

Sean, How did you get the weight down that low? I have virtually the same car, with the same c/f bits (and perhaps even more c/f), but without the wide-track suspension parts, and my weight (admittedly with windscreen, spare tire and full weather gear) came in at almost 300 lb. more (leading to the unavoidable name, the "Executive Superlight"). Did you do any insulating of the engine bay or footwells? I can't believe my build has added 200 or more lb., when the insulation itself weighed no more than 25-30 lb. i need to re-weigh my car without the weather gar, to see where it stands.

Thanks, I'll give that "Edit options" a try and see if anything happens..

Is there any way top adopt a setting that will notify a member by e-mail when he has a private message waiting on USA7s? I have discovered tonight, to my embarrassment, that over the past three months several USA7ers have sent me pm's, asking interesting questions or proposing interesting plans -- and I had no idea they were there, waiting to be read. To all those who wrote -- I am not being antisocial; I am just clueless.

jlumba81, Was that Sept. of '10 or Sept. of '11? You should have given me a call in Anchorage.... There are so few of us up here (4 in Alaska at last count, with one more reportedly sighted), that we need all the mutual support we can muster. Maybe I can drive down for a visit next summer......

I didn't know about Tony V.'s auxiliary fuel tank, but came up with my own similar version for my drive from Colorado to Alaska last year. I was concerned both about the possible unavailability of gas on the Alaska Highway, and certainly the periodic unavailability of 91-octane gas. My tank was welded up out of aluminum by a local fishing-boat fabrication shop. It holds a little more than 5 gallons. My plan was to lose as little boot space as possible. This tank fits between the shock towers, up against the slanting seat bulkhead. I put a layer of carpet between the bulkhead and boot floor, to keep the tank from rattling or chafing. The tank is held in place by two seat-belt straps and buckles, which are threaded through seat-belt anchor loops bolted to extended shoulder-strap bolts on the bulkhead frame cross-member. The tank has two motorcycle-sourced screw-on caps (one for a removable screw-in filler nozzle, and the other to vent the tank when filling or emptying). There is also a one-way vent hose to take care of fuel expansion while on the move. My plan was to remove the tank from the boot and fill it with premium gas, and then when I needed to re-fill and no premium was available, to remove the tank from the boot and tip it into the regular filler inlet. Getting the tank into and out of the boot is a bit of a struggle, however. So my new plan is to fix the tank so that it can be filled in place, and then pumped, with a hose and a squeeze-type outboard motor hand-pump, into the regular filler when needed. Of course, when not needed, my auxiliary tank can simply be removed from the boot. I'm also thinking about a re-design of the standard Caterham tank that may add about a gallon to its capacity, but will not reduce boot space. Tony Wiltshire at Axminster Specialist Panels in UK (http://andywiltshire.com/index.htm) offers a long-range Caterham tank, but it involves losing some boot space in the main part of the boot.

Sean, I was trying to attach the complete scanned page from Lowflying (including the photos you have attavhed), but the US7s site would not upload it, in either .jpg or .pdf form. Beyond its capabilities, I guess. Anyway a very nice-looking Seven!

For some reason, the attached photo did not upload. Here is another try. Apparently, the site's upload function is not working -- I'll try again later.

My Sept. 2011 issue of the UK Caterham Club magazine Lowflying has two photos on p. 6 of Sean's superwide-track Caterham S3 in its SoCal setting. See attached. Sean, how about some more photos of your unique car? Interestingly, there are two superwide-track Caterham S3's shown in this issue of Lowflying; the other is seen in a 2-page spread on Tony Thorp's superwide in UK. Any other superwide-track Caterhams in North America?