BirkinBernie

Hi. I also have a Birkin which I bought in kit form from Dick. I have a bone stock Zetec, including the stock fuel injection. Starts instantly, gets 33mpg, and makes darn near as much horsepower as the highly tuned crossflow. And the whole engine, minus flywheel, was $750 at a junk yard. Including the fuel injection. If you are expecting a low maintanence commuter car, you may be disappointed with a Se7en. These are thinly disguised formula cars with headlights. They take fairly constant tinkering, fixing, tightening and fiddling. Especially if you go for the crossflow. I'm not trying to talk you out of it, but please go into this with your eyes open. You are not going to get a Honda - these cars require maintanence if they are going to be safe and reliable. On the other hand, there ain't nothing like it for sheer fun. You would be most welcome at the birkinowner's list: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/birkinowners/ And if you come to Texas, let us know. I live near Dick, there are a few se7ens enthusiasts in the area and we are always looking for an excuse to get together.... Bernie Long

Hi all, My first post here. As background, I own a Birkin I built from the very basic kit. I also chair the Annual Southwest Se7ens Festival, and am "owner" of the birkinowners Yahoo group. One of the things essential to the Se7ens Festival is it all inclusive nature. One of you used the term earlier; the event is brand agnostic. This year we had Caterhams, Birkins, Locosts, Ultralites and a Stalker in attendance. I simply have no interest in belonging to a club that doesn't whole-heartedly embrace this kind of inclusive behaviour. I have no problem with people that feel that the club should discriminate - that is their right. I just don't care to support a club like that. And that is the way the British Lotus 7 club is. If it walks like a Se7en and talks like a Se7en, it's a Se7en. The wonderful group of Brits on the Tour last year felt that way and we had a blast. I've always been amazed at how a common interest in a type of car can make you feel like the long time friend of someone you have just met. I have wanted to see a national Se7ens organization for a while now. And affiliating with an existing group would be a good way to start, for a couple of reasons. One of the primary benefits of having a national club is insurance. The club has a chance to get big enough to afford some kind of liability insurance. I am always a little nervous about the Se7ens Festival from a liability standpoint. That is why I have been holding the event in conjunction with a NASA race weekend. At least they have insurance and my personal exposure is somewhat limited. Affiliating with a club in England would do us no good from this standpoint. IMHO, this reason alone is enough to reject the idea. Perhaps some kind of affilitation with Lotus Ltd would be possible. I intend to talk to some folks about that at LOG this year (10 miles from home!). Failing that, I'm not sure how to crack this nut. What are those of you organizing the 7-7-7 meet next year doing about liability? Being responsible for an event held on public roads would make me very nervous indeed without some kind of liability insurance...... As for the mailing list issue, I think that the individual lists like birkinowners have their place. There is enough traffic specific to Birkins that someone who owns a Westfield might not be interested. Not to say that they aren't welcome on the list - we have Ultralite, Caterham, Locost etc owners and they make major contributions. Anyhoo, just my $.02 - sorry it got a bit long. I'm going to look at trailers tomorrow - I really want to meet all of you on the 7th day of the 7th month next year! Best regards, and Happy Se7ening! Bernie Long Keller, TX