Al N.

Dean- I apologize if I have offended anyone in the bona-fide Lotus community or within Lotus Limited. I reviewed my posts here and don't see too much that I would consider "ugly": "I haven't reached out to the Lotus Limited folks directly because of the potential snob factor I sense I may receive, and don't really intend to reach out to them any time soon. I think the Seven crowd among them will find us one way or another. (That said, I am indeed a relatively recent member of LL.)" Note my use of "potential" and "sense". Other members of the Se7ens community have set me straight on this already, and right quick. Thanks for your input. Keep the faith. -Al P.S. Serious bonus points for your use of "balkanization". smileys/smiley2.gif[/img] </p>

John, welcome to the forum. I assume you are one of the folks who showed us "how the West was driven"! (I love the PNW, and wish it were closer so I could sport around with you all next year...please show the UKers Crescent Lake in Olympic, and the road to ShiShi or Hurricane Ridge.) Believe it or not, I think the UK core folks are open to us Yanks doing what works for us diversity-wise and NOT being overly exclusive (perhaps we'll draw the line at Fisher Furies or Ginettas, lovely as those rides might be). As shown by the 7-7-7 event, I am very in favor of all of us LSiSers working together to spread the gospel of "add lightness". Since you're on the left coast, what are your thoughts on the necessity for more than one USA chapter? Perhaps we start with just one and add as needed?

gardenstatesevens.org (naturally)

Dave- I'm with you on all fronts. I just got my car last summer, and I especially agree with the "one-stop-shopping" thing. -Al

I'll make inquries. Thanks for the interest.

There is an opportunity for us to establish a "US" chapter of the motherland's Lotus 7 Club. Does anyone have thoughts on this? Should there be 3 US Chapters? (East, Central, West)? Does anyone feel like being the main rep? (Note, this person should probably be a Lotus or Cat 7 owner...based on club relationships with factory). Please chime in or write ot me off board: al@mintadv.com

X-post from Se7ens.net: Regarding 777, we're now up to to 29 cars (and last night I looked at my initial list of handraisers to dedupe lists and the actual number is more like 35!) And one recent addition is coming from Cali! Hoorah! I now think 50 vehicles is not out of question, and perhaps we should even start to consider a ceiling number. As noted by others, we still have lots of time. The nice thing about people signing up early is that the volunteer organizers can gauge the interest in "optional" events (like auto x and tech sessions) and also get a read on where the "birthday" dinner should be held (really depends on # of attendees). Thanks again for all your interest. A few thoughts on the inclusiveness of the event: • I haven't reached out to the Lotus Limited folks directly because of the potential snob factor I sense I may receive, and don't really intend to reach out to them any time soon. I think the Seven crowd among them will find us one way or another. (That said, I am indeed a relatively recent member of LL.) • I have already reached out to the UK club and they think it's a great idea (although I think Tony P. thinks we're all crazy for our choice of road) and may even promote it in an upcoming Low Flying (the full color club mag) Additionally, my correspondence with the UK club leads me to believe that they are fairly inclusive over there (not that there's as much variety in available MFGs there as over here). I found this attitude refreshingly encouraging, and feel we should err toward this inclusiveness. If some people don't want to mingle with the other makes and even get a chance to meet some manufacturers and hear how they've evolved Colin Chapman's original concept, then I think it's really their loss.

Check out these Youtube.com vids, as covered by Jalopnik. http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/news/top-gear-the-stig-fought-t he-law- and-the-law-won-189329.php

In non-winter months, 1 or 2 times a week. 3 would be newsworthy.

Would people be interested in either of the following: • Using this event to kick off a US chapter of the UK/worldwide club? • Having an "attendees scrapbook" that catalogs the folks/cars in attendance (you fill out a form early next year and take a pic or two of your car, I compile, proofread, print, bind, and give out at ToTD) ? I want to touch on costs for a brief second...hopefully everyone understands that there will be some out of pocket for the dinners/ lunches/auto x events/car stickers or dash plaques, etc. I've got the LOG form on hand to see what's reasonable and customary, and we'll try to keep it as cheap as possible (from what I know already, our main dinner will be pretty inexpensive compared to LOG). PLease chime in on this topic(s), as we want as much input as possible to make as many people as happy as possible.

ANOTHER REASON TO 7-7-7 I just got off the phone with Ron Johnson, the person who runs the TotD website. He and his wife will be available to give a presentation on the history of the Dragon as well as show a video they have (probably on bikes, with a fair about of lean angle involved!) Sounds like a good event for Friday night. Additionally, some folks have asked me about what nights to book. Here's what I wrote to them: "There is a two night minimum, so all we are asking people to do is make one of the nights the Saturday 7/7. It’s up to you what other nights you wish to come. So you could do a Friday Sat and leave Sunday, or a Sat/Sun and leave Monday (But then you’d miss out on the Friday events.)" Also, USA7s.com has got the reg site up http://www.usa7s.com/forum/eventregistration/index.aspx and running and a thread about the event here http://www.usa7s.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=137&PN=1 EVEN IF YOU'VE WRITTEN TO ME THAT YOU'RE COMMITTED, PLEASE REGISTER. Mazda and I will be reconciling our lists on an ongoing basis.

I wanted Se7en, but because my company is called Mint, went with Mint 7, no dashes. I also thought of QUIKRNU and lots of odd phrases, but opted against for fear heighted LEO surveillance. I think a good one, that use to be on Lance M's car was "ADLYTNS" or something..."add lightness"

Folks- I went through all my "confirmed" emails last night, as well as through most of the threads on se7ens.net. And I'm both happy and shocked to say that we have 24 people who are either already booked into the Tapoco or very seriously intending to come. I sense that there might be a need for overflow lodging, so I'm going to contact the Fontana Village and let them know to block out some rooms for the Friday/Sat nights. Don't forget to register at usa7s.com (there are 13 folks signed up there), which will be the "official" host site going forward. -Al X-post on se7ens.net

Here's what I wrote to Jeremy (another example of redundant efforts!): ---- Everything is just preliminary, so thanks for the input. It will only make the event better. One or more of the group drives will definitely be on the Dragon, and obviously we won't be so overly scheduled that you can't pop out and crush it yourself in between dinners, before breakfast etc. The other group drive will most definitely be the Cherohola Skyway, which will probably have far less traffic. And, I've heard that there are lots of other great roads to hit in the area with less idiot bikers. The Dragon is still a public road so you are free to drive it all you want. The locals tell me that it will be near impossible to get too many cars to get a "clean" run at the Dragon. So my initial thinking is to send cars out in "flights" of 3-5, with a rendezvous at the end, then as slow parade lap back. I'm trying to coordinate some chase car/bike video too. As for why you should come and how it's different than everything else. Well, technically it's not. However, not many of us have the Dragon in our backyard. Nor upwards of 25 (so far) Sevens of all types available to check out - including a Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, and Series 4. As for "timed runs" Japanese touge style, I doubt that will happen. All sorts of liability that I don't want. And besides, if the bike clubs who stalk the dragon haven't done it yet, then I doubt we'll be able to. It's not Pikes Peak, after all.

Additionally, the "bigger picture" of this event IMHO is really captured by the Dennis Ortenburger book, "Lotus Seven & Independents"...it's a celebration of the original "four wheeled motorbike" concept, and the MANY executions that have followed in its wake, even long after Lotus stopped making the car in any form. I think we are going to have original Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, and Series 4 vehicles represented - which is just a great historical timeline for all LSiS enthusiasts to see in one place. I envision those being on static display for the evening events so that we can all touch and feel them and ask their keepers all sorts of silly questions. Finally (for now), I really dig all the variants and have always wanted this to be all inclusive - so if Cat USA or one of the speakers won't touch the event because of our diversity, it's their loss. I could see it from an editorial POV, but this is just an enthusiasts event and hopefully they could get over themselves and just come out to have fun.

For starters, I want to state for the record that although I may have been the one to pen the first email, the idea for the 7-7-7 TotD really came out of a dialog among the June 2006 Skyline Drive VA attendees (which Mazda organized). I actually remember a quote by Steve T. when we were talking about the potential dangers of the road and he said "Yeah, but I still want to do it." As for what do I want this event to be? I'm with Mazda & Scott. As low key (and as inexpensive) as possible. I did want the manufacts & dealers to be in so that we can all have a looksie at the latest and greatest. And since we're all convening, it would be nice to hear a speaker - if the costs aren't crazy. I've got the LOG price sheet one hand to see what is reasonable and customary. Here's a selfish reason for this not getting TOO big...I want to enjoy myself at this thing. And if I have to worry about some hotshot speaker's coffee being cold, that is going to harsh my mellow. Just my "fitty" cents.

Steve, I sent you an email with my address...I prefer a CD to ftp...but thanks for offering Mazda!

STEVE - LOVE THAT FIRST SHOT FROM THE PROMONTORY ON HIGH! If you send me a disk with the high rez of these, I'll crop out the Volvo (or is that Bart) and print for everyone...I could probably also get one of my guys to doctor the cloud shot so we all look lined up better. Great to meet you all...drive back was drier than way down, but somehow scarier (lots of tailgaters). Hope to see you all again soon. -Al

Mazda- Do you have an email address from anyone in the Reading-based "Skyline Drive" Corvette Club? I ask, because I'm trying to figure out the non-highway route to Skyline for the Sevens gathering and they might know best. I can get to Reading fairly easily from where I live in NJ. I just don't know if I should try Route 81 South. I know I don't want to be on 78 going west through PA...there are a few cattle chutes that would be terrifying in the Seven. Please advise. -Al

Maz- Tx for the info and the film. How many people do you have signed up, officially or unofficially? Like I've said before, my reservations are made. Should we compile a document with the itinerary and people's phone numbers? Just a thought. -Al

Anybody have an opinion of staying at Skylands vs. Big Meadow?

Mazda- FYI, Chet Galek and I are from NJ. Regarding a longer trip...it's all I could do to convince my wife to come down for an overnight. So I'd probably be out on anything longer than 2-3 days. While I applaud Dick B. for schlepping from TX, I think the shorter and simpler, the better. Your multi-stage thing sounds good — allows people to enjoy whatever part they can commit to timewise. Regarding speeds, I'm not too much in favor of doing multiples of the posted limits on big group drives. Additionally, I will probably have either my wife or one of the kids riding shotgun in the 7 so will not push things too much. Looking forward to meeting everyone. Thanks again for your efforts. -Al P.S. I run a Superlight (200 hp Zetec with Caterham 6 speed) in Orange/ Carbon livery.Al Navarro38742.5561689815

I could probably do either proposed date. Keep in mind that either date is a potential "shoulder" date for people taking off the week of Memorial Day. You guys would know which one might be worse for traffic in your neck of the woods. I like the Sunday/Monday combo as it reduces potential for traffic (I think). A friend's brother uses White Post do some work on his V12 Ferrari...that would be a fun group tour if John V could swing it. THe dates are in my calendar, now I just need to get it cleared with my wife and kids!

Mazda et al- I'm going to be on vacation from April 13-23rd, but don't schedule around me. It would be fun to get a few cars together. Even just having a second seven made my NJ drive more interesting. I may have to buy a trailer to make this happen (long way to drive in my car), but that's fine. -Al