theDreamer

Hi Keith, welcome to the addiction. You can explain more about yourself and your automotive interests in this thread found at the top of the General Sevens Discussion page: So, tell us a little about yourselves If you’d like to share photos and info on non-Sevens you own or have owed you can do it in the Off Topics section in this thread: The Other Cars of USA7s Members (Non-Se7ens only)

A Series 4 just listed on BaT https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-lotus-super-seven/

I see four bumps in total. The two smaller ones in-line by the intake scoop might, as has been suggested, be to clear twin SU carbs. However, it’s the two large ones in front of the scuttle that have me perplexed. They are above the shelf in the engine bay and I cannot think what might have been there that would required such height. Like I said, I'm very interested to learn this cars history.

pethier, you try convincing them to do that or anything. I have reported scammers a number of times and yet the ads stay up. In a couple of cases they claimed I was wrong as they found nothing during their investigations. The others didn't rate a reply.

It makes sense that cars being shipped overseas would be completely built and painted as Colin never missed a chance to up charge a customer. However, as a young boy I clearly remember seeing 6's and 7's racing in bare alloy. Also, Lotus 7 ads in the back of magazines like Road and Track as well as Car and Driver showing all the components, sometimes less drive train. The text exclaiming the virtues of such an inexpensive kit where you just add your own donner Triumph, MG or similar driveline. Although these were always in black and white it was very evident that the chassis was covered in bare aluminum. Similarly, I can see an individual trying to save a few dollars by not having a completed car fully painted. randomDMZ sounds like you have yourself a new, honest to goodness, Lotus 7 project. Looking forward to hearing about the cars history as you discover it as well as being brought back to life.

Note for the last ad in Canada section: Caterham https://www.facebook.com/share/1HFdEBiztd/ I really wish Farcebook would get it together. They have this idea that any car you list for sale must fit into one of their prelisted headings. So, many cars are mislabelled because there is no category for them. This is one such car. It is listed as Caterham but it is Fejer and the seller clearly states that.

I think you used to much "Negative Space" in your rendition.

That’s a great photo of two amazing automobiles. My father was a member of the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg club from the early 1960’s until he sold his Cord in the late 1970’s. We went to many ACD club meets including the BIG one in Auburn Indiana. I saw lots of one off cars over the years there. Now I’ll have to go searching for photos…

Slonie, he posted the car for sale on here at the beginning of the month. He was offering it to USA7’s members first. The shipping, duties and the exchange on his asking price puts it out of my price range. Otherwise, a big transport would have picked it up and brought to Ontario by now. Prisoner Edition Caterham for sale - $39,500

Interesting colour on the Cord. My father had a 1936, 810 Westchester sedan which was faded maroon. He sold it partially restored in the late 1970’s. I understood the buyer had the car finished and enjoyed driving it. I have no idea where it is now. Very neat car for the time and my father’s car had an Ab Jenkins dash plaque stating Ab had driven the car at over 100mph IIRC. Funny, when I did a search just now the only cars with similar plaques are Supercharged Auburns. Also, those only state Ab had driven “an” Auburn Speedster to 100mph. I’d like to take in one of these Hagerty events but the closest one I had heard about was about four hours away. Plus it turned out to be mostly old muscle cars, Ferraris and McLarens.

Sorry if I’m stepping on toes here but… The welded plate on the cross brace in front of the seat pad that has the chassis number stamped on it with a “U” was used by Universal Radiator. If you read the info in the links Croc and I provided you’d have seen that. This from https://www.anglocanadianlotus7.ca/lotus-seven-frame-and-chassis-numbers/ “I found six Lotus Sevens in their records that were either on sale, or had been sold on the ‘Bring A Trailer’ (BAT) web site, and noticed that some of the cars in the records had a different letter identifying the frame build number. In a few cases the frame identification for Universal Radiators frames started with a ‘U’, not a ‘B’, as I had originally noted on this site.” Also, Universal Radiator NEVER brazed their chassis. That too is in the aforementioned links. As far as Mr. John Watson is concerned be forewarned; to say he is a character is a huge understatement. He is probably one of the best, most knowledgeable people when it comes to original Lotus 7’s. However, he can be very prickly, even down right rude. He doesn’t like to deal with non-owners. He believes his free service is taken advantage of by many. Once you own a car he will help but most of his correspondence is to be kept secret. He is very aware of how easily Lotus 7’s can be duplicated or cloned so he never publishes actual chassis numbers. As with anything, the price you offer is what you feel the item is worth to you. The dollar amount the seller puts on an item is how much it means to them. Often times that includes sentimental value that is important only to the seller. This should not factor into an items actual market price but you must be aware and respect this fact. The other factor to consider is that the journey is often more rewarding than merely owning the finished product. If you enjoy a good mystery, if you like working with your hands and enjoy the pride and satisfaction that restoring a car like this brings, (even if it turns out to be a clone or bittsa) then go for it. At the very least help you family friend to understand what their car truly is. Good luck on your journey.

Oh wow… where to begin. So much says Lotus but then there is much that seems modified. As I stated before the contractor’s chassis number is in keeping with Universal Radiator. This is good to know as if you are successful in obtaining this car you will likely need to do frame repairs. Universal used fusion welding were as Arch Motors brazed all their frames. What we now refer to as the VIN plate has hand scratched characters as you indicated. However, these are really poorly done. Also, it looks like someone at some point has used steel wool or sand paper to try and make them legible. However, they may have removed some of the actual characters. You can try the old, place a piece of tracing paper over the area and do a pencil rubbing to see if you can make out the characters better. I copied the photo and using a very old photo program tried to alter the brightness and contrast to see if it would help. The best I could do is the Lotus factory chassis number maybe SB 1 (2or7) space 5 or SB 11 (2 or 7) but it’s hard to tell. I’m not sure that first line is a character. It should have two letters and four digits. The Engine Number seems clearer and appears to be AEA 17 RS 1458 (possibly with a 1 at the very end) More investigation is needed. The head is off but what is the engine? Can you get photos of the block numbers? Photos of the interior, dash and from under the car showing transmission, rear axle and suspension wold be great as well. I’m curious about the multiple bumps on the bonnet. So many questions.

From what you describe I’d say you have found a real Lotus 7 Series 2. The U1148 number indicates the chassis was made by Universal Radiators. Question, is this stamped on a cross bar near or on a small plate welded to a crossbar? The body work would have originally been done by Alert Motor Works. The component plate was scratched or etched because they could not stamp it once it was riveted to the alloy. Check out this site as Croc mentioned and John Watson’s. https://www.anglocanadianlotus7.ca/lotus-seven-frame-and-chassis-numbers/

@gde31ff I agree with all the above except for @IamScotticus and his insistence on painting the spare tire hoop. My car was factory painted and that included the hoop. Cars with alloy bodies have the black hoop of course. However, I think all the painted body cars I’ve seen have the hoop body colour. But that’s not important at this point. Go over the car as suggested. I had this done by the shop that prepped my car for its safety inspection. They didn’t think the cam belt, throttle or clutch cables needed to be changed. However, it did need a pan gasket and on a Vauxhall C20xe that is not a part you can find in North America. Note: the clutch cable is held in place by a rubber grommet. It was not checked and it disappeared about an hour into a two hour drive to a car show. Once we figured out that the clutch arm end had just fallen out we reattached it and then used two tie wraps to hold it into place. We put another 2500 miles on that make shift fix. The great thing about getting your car for under $20k is that it leaves you room to repair/replace the important maintenance stuff that is never mentioned. You hope you won’t have to do it all but in the end you do. The one thing I’d add is to start with shorter drives to get use to the car and learn its temperament. After each outing go over the car. One of the best ways to keep a motorcycle in top shape is to hand wash it after every ride. You physically have to touch every part to clean and dry it. You’d be surprised at how many issues I found after spirited rides over the decades. Same goes for 7’s however, you may vary the time between full washes based on your driving style and distance travelled. We all are hoping you the best. Enjoy your Super 7 Sprint.

Resurrecting this thread as I have just purchased two pairs of what I hope will be excellent driving shoes. These are from Puma. Although I do have smaller feet than many on here at 7 ½ - 8 depending on style and manufacturer they are wide. So, getting a slender style shoe that fits me and works well in the Super 7 has meant I’ve been wearing my dress shoes as my DC’s are all too wide and the wife can’t find where she packed my racing shoes. I was actually looking for new dress shoes. First are Men's Speedcat Low Profile Sneakers in Black with White in men’s size 8. (The black is smooth and the white panels are a suede-ish material. These were in store and on sale. Next the wife spotted Women's Bella Donna SD Low Profile Sneakers in Deep Plum and Snow Mountain Blue The store only had size 7. (These are all a suede-ish material and the wife says the mountain blue is really a pale violet.) They did not have these in in size 9 in store so I ordered them. This was yesterday afternoon. The purple shoes were delivered this morning. They are a bit tight but I’ve been wearing them around the house all day with just a thin pair of socks and they’ll work well and look great with the car. I’ve seen these advertised here in the Great White North for as much as $160 CND before taxes. I got both pairs with taxes and delivery for under $200 CND. Now if it will just stop raining, I’ll get the car out give to them a real world test.

Strange, I have no problem with the above link. I have viewed it three times over the past 24 hours.

This just went live of BaT. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2012-caterham-seven/

I must advise that for every problem you find there are three more that you do not know about. The seller maybe a great guy or, a great salesman! I’ve met both types and it has taken me years to develop my senses to the point I can now pick the salesmen out after a few words. Do not let your desire for this car override your gut feelings. If he drives it hard with a potential buyer then you can believe he drives it hard ALL THE TIME! No warm up etc. will have taken its toll and the next owner may be on the hook for some major repairs. If the general appearance is poor, (flaking rust, poor wiring, unkept engine bay, cheap tires) then routine maintenance will be just as poor. It doesn’t take a lot of time or work to keep the engine bay clean. Same for most anything on the car. The guy couldn't be bothered to do a proper detail and vacuuming for the photos. That tells me he really dose not care. There are cars on this site that are run hard in competition and I would pay more for one of them because the owners take pride in their rides. They also spend hours in prep for a few minutes of competition. I’ve been criticized on this and other forums for being too critical of cars for sale and their owners. I do not mean to upset people. My goal is to educate those who have no knowledge of the item they are looking to buy. I am also trying to get sellers to be more open and up front about what they are selling. It is a win, win as the seller usually gets a better price and the buyer knows more about his purchase. Nothing upsets me more than a scammer who takes advantage of others. Only you know what your limits are. Just make sure you keep back enough funds to pay for a worst case scenario like, replacing the clutch, release bearing and milling the fly wheel when the seller tells you that little squeak is nothing to worry about.

As the owner of a BaT auction car I can tell you it was listed as a complete, low mileage, one owner and fully operational vehicle. However, once the car arrived and finding soooo many items amiss I felt it should have been listed, at the very least, as a long time stored vehicle needing recommissioning. Getting and keeping it running has been an on-going project. But, this seems to be a running theme with all Little British Cars.

Pylon toss during an auto slalom.

Me too! Mine went to our oldest grandson to make way for our Caterham.

I remember my first ride in a Canada Class sports racer. Family friend and neighbor designed and built his own race cars. This one started as a tube chassis with an air cooled VW flat four up front and the VW transaxle in the back. He was taking the car for a test drive and said his 6 year old daughter and I (about 4 ½) could ride along. The two of us sat in the passenger seat and he did the lap belt up around us both. He fired it up and off we went. Flying down the country side roads. Later he switch it up by putting a DKW engine in between him and the transaxle. It was at Harewood Acres in Jarvis Ontario around 1959 while watching this person race that I saw my first Lotus sixes and sevens. So I’ve had the hots for a Seven for a very long time. First photo shows the VW version. The second shows the DKW version. The third I think I may have posted before. It is of my father and me in his 1934 La Salle in the parking lot of the Canadian Automotive Museum in Oshawa Ontario.

On Sunday we took Purple Reign to the Father’s Day car show in Trenton. We made lots of young ones (and their parents) very happy by letting them sit in the car. I overheard more than one point and tell their parents as they walked back; See that car? I sat in that CAR! Remember? I do! A good time was had by all.

My thought exactly!

Which "BIG" show is this????