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So, tell us a little about yourselves


slngsht

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Hello to my fellow Low and Light followers. Let me start at the beginning, when i was 16 i was helping a friend of mine do a tear down of his 67' Pontiac Firebird ( at this time i had no car but was thrilled to be invovled in a rebuild). One late night a buddy of my friend showed up to lend a hand, his ride was a 75' AUSTIN MINI 1000, i thought it was very cool, we did a beer run and i was hooked, i mean this little light car when't around corners like i had never done before, and we where still only doing 50mph, he just never really used the brakes.

 

Well that started my love afair with the REAL MINI, when't through 4 of them as my $ got better and could move onto better and better MINI'S, joined a club (this is pre internet), met guy's with similar interests etc.....

 

Finally got fed up of always having to attend to the rust problems ( i live in Canada) and bit the bullet and bought a Mini that had never seen winter/salt or for that matter very much rain.

 

I could go on for a while about the "GREEN MONSTER" but this not the forum for that, let's just say 125hp of old 8 valve, silly cam, LSD diff, NO RUBBER on the susp. leads to the an "LIVELY" ride........It was fun but you could not live with it.

 

During this time i started to get into/look at other small British cars ie: MG Miget, bugeye sprite, open top and all.

 

Then in July i drove to Ohio for a Mini meet ( an a 11hr drive in a Mini) met some guy's from S. Carolina who were in the bizzynes of importing cars from England to the USA (grey market) along with two mini's thay had a Caterham 7, took a test drive and the mini was forgotten(this is '84 before these little gems were offered to us on the other side of the pond.

 

 

From then to now i have grown up, sold the "GREEN MONSTER" ( to a guy who bought his mini based on seeing mine years ago, he now owns the only two mini's where i live).

I am a aircraft structures AME (i fix the cigar tube from falling apart) I work with alluminum everyday, and have learned it's goods points and it's BAD points (you would be amazed at the amount of CRACKED attatchment points on EVERY plane in flight today). The Alli in a plane get's the sh*t kicked out of it daily at 30,000 ft your 7 does not

 

Can't make 7-7-7 sure hope the guy's that go will post pics and vids (passing the bikes)

 

:cheers:

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Hello Folks,

 

My name is Dave and I drive a Seven.

 

I live in Bozeman MT and after posting a few shots of my car in the owners gallery section I was told I should say hello officially and introduce myself. Like I said I live in Bozeman and I run my own very small business of building custom, made to measure bicycle frames. I've been a frame builder and a cyclist for a very long time now and as much as I love it my passion outside of work is cars and driving. I live here with my lovely wife Karin who is a geologist and a full time ski instructor. No kids, lots of cats.

 

When I was a kid my Dad was a race car mechanic and I was always be dragged around to different races. I guess it gets into your blood as they say. He passed away when I was young but his love of machines and making them better stuck with me.

 

I've owned and autocrossed a few cars over that last 6 or 8 years. I started with a Lotus Cortina. A wonderful car that was too original and clean to go flogging on the weekends. I then found a very solid 1976 Mazda RX 3 that made for a kick arse race car. Simple design and easy to modify. Lots of fun to drive. It go me thinking about a truly light weight car like a Seven. I sold both the LoCort and the RX 3 and started shopping for a Seven. I found a 1999 Birkin S3 and had it shipped to me here in MT.

 

I've owned the Birkin for just over a year now and I've got it running and racing well with many FTD's late last season. My first real race of this season is this coming Sunday and I'm very much looking forward to mounting up the slicks and letting it rip. The weather doesn't even call for snow!

 

Well thanks for reading and I look forward to spending some time with you all here and better yet on the road.

 

Dave

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Welcome aboard Kar and Dave.

 

I do appreciate your introductions here, as it gives people a picture of you beyond your car. Dave, I take it you are the former Serotta custom guy? Very cool.

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" My Name is Dave and I drive a Seven"

 

It sounds like an AA meeting. I guess we are addicted to the sevens, so..... I suppose I have to come clean as well

 

My name is Jerry , and I drive a seven.

 

This could become the official greeting of USA7s members.

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" My Name is Dave and I drive a Seven"

 

It sounds like an AA meeting. I guess we are addicted to the sevens, so..... I suppose I have to come clean as well

 

My name is Jerry , and I drive a seven.

 

This could become the official greeting of USA7s members.

 

My name is Mazda and I mod a Seven :leaving:

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  • 1 month later...

OK:

 

60 y/o lawyer. Not the type that sues people. Instead, the type that helps disabled people, including veterans, obtain their disability benefits from the government. I have a lifetime love for all things automotive but especially 7's.

 

I started reading Road and Track in '62 and soon saw an article on the Lotus 7 (thinly disguised race car or, TDRC). Back then the kit ran about $1.2K, so there has been a slight upward adjustment in cost over the years.

 

I always liked its giant-killer reputation. I also thought it was the coolest thing I ever saw, especially with the top (aka "hood") up.

 

When I was in law school in Champagne-Urbana in the late '60's there was one tooling around & I thought: "some day!" every time I saw it. It never seemed to slow up going around 90 degree turns and it drove right under the parking lot arm without stopping.

 

Research showed it to be incredibly fun/unreliable, perhaps not in that order.

 

So I have been on the sidelines for 45years or so. I have read everything I could about it , including books, car mag articles and various build diaries. Although slightly partial to Caterhams, I love all LISS's.

 

I was very attracted to the Ultralite for its amazing level of power & reliability combined with very high content for a mid-to high 30's price. I have avidly followed the build progress of the FM Miata powered Westfied. My ardor cooled a bit when they announced the 15% price increase due to the sagging dollar. The 'Busa powered Damaen cars were also tempting but I never really figured out their website and decided that while I was willing to live with primitive, a reverse gear was a necessity

 

I stumbled onto this forum about a year ago and it really is responsible for my now having a 7. I asked many questions and always got friendly, helpful answers.

 

I ended up buying a '97 Caterham (wh/I learned from this site is pronounced Kate-trum) for $22.5K. What a deal! It may actually gain value over the ensuing years, or at least not depreciate the way my other sports cars have. And, as my nom 'du forum (Kitcat) suggests, I had always hoped to have a kit Caterham.

 

So here I am: In 2 weeks I have put 1K miles on it, met tons of people who just flip out when they see it, have signed up to do a track day this Monday with the Lotus club at Putnam Park and am headed to the Dragon in a few short weeks to chill w/the rest of you Seven lovers.

 

Pretty neat.

 

Mike

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You have way more nerve than I being wiling to drive a LISS in Cincinnati traffic the way THOSE people drive. I've been debating the legality or lack thereof of mounting an anti collision strobe like used on the top of a lot of busses to improve visability a bit. A noisy exhaust would certianly not hurt.

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It's mostly a weekend/track car. Heavy traffic is a bit unnerving because the car is hard to spot. I am always one gear low so the engine is blating away, and I have the lights on.

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Thanks for sharing your story Mike. It's been great to see someone go from "future owner" to "current owner" right before our very eyes. What the forum's all about, IMHO.

 

I do appreciate when people post a bit about their backgrounds...makes the community feel more like, well, a community. See you all in just a few weeks. Sounds like Mrs. Rowe's is going to have a very interesting parking lot July 5th!

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just signed up. I have had a Seven for 7 years now. I live in Bonaire - scuba resort owner/operator for the last 34 years. My cars are kept in NJ though, less than 10 minutes from member Al N. . The first Seven I ever saw was in 1964 in the parking lot of the King of Prussia shopping center at what was then called a gymkana. I was driving an Alfa. I saw the car and said "what the heck is that?" I have wanted one ever since and finally got one.

 

Nice to be here.

 

Bruce

 

 

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Hello all! Thanks again to those who have welcomed me into this quirky fold. After spending four hours following three sevens (oh, and yeah sixty some odd Porsche) around western Maryland last weekend I feel compelled to scribe an introduction.

 

As many of you know, I do not have a seven...yet.

 

I'm a 41 yo software developer in Maryland with a passion for cars, and Lotus in particular. Having spent several weekends as a kid at Sebring and Daytona (IMSA 24 hours and Nascar), I come from a racing background. A spectator's, that is. But I love cars so much that my folks swear my first word was "CAR".

 

After discovering the Lotus Elise in 2005, I figured I had reached the height of open-top sportscar ownership excitement, at least as far as my budget would take me. Then something hit me...

 

My current "life goal" is to place an order in 2007 for a Seven and build it in 2008. Thanks again to those who have allowed me to sit in a ride in your car. Look in your mirror, I'm right behind you.

 

--Harold

 

:flag:

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Harold,

 

I guess I'm at your stage of "Seven-ness," but just one year ahead of you. I have wanted a Seven (of course originally a Lotus, so now only a Caterham will do) since I first read a road test of the Super Seven in Road & Track Magazine in the summer of 1961. Now some 46 years later, I ordered a narrow-chassis kit from Caterham (through Rocky Mountain Sports Cars in Denver) in late 2006, and I begin assembly next Monday at an experienced Seven-owning friend's garage in Greeley, Colorado.

 

So look at the mind-boggling CC options list, design your own bespoke iteration of the classic Seven, and get your wallet out! Best of luck -- and we'll be looking for an update next year at about this time.

 

Tom Meacham

Alaskossie

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Hello all! Thanks again to those who have welcomed me into this quirky fold. After spending four hours following three sevens (oh, and yeah sixty some odd Porsche) around western Maryland last weekend I feel compelled to scribe an introduction.

 

As many of you know, I do not have a seven...yet.

 

I'm a 41 yo software developer in Maryland with a passion for cars, and Lotus in particular. Having spent several weekends as a kid at Sebring and Daytona (IMSA 24 hours and Nascar), I come from a racing background. A spectator's, that is. But I love cars so much that my folks swear my first word was "CAR".

 

After discovering the Lotus Elise in 2005, I figured I had reached the height of open-top sportscar ownership excitement, at least as far as my budget would take me. Then something hit me...

 

My current "life goal" is to place an order in 2007 for a Seven and build it in 2008. Thanks again to those who have allowed me to sit in a ride in your car. Look in your mirror, I'm right behind you.

 

--Harold

 

:flag:

 

It'll be nice to have another seven around here for a blat.

If you can join us for a september trip to the mountains, it'd be great.

No stop signs! I promise :lol:

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Just finally signed up:

 

Im Mike i met some of the members on here at 7/7/07 and i think it was a blast but i was driving my grandfathers ultra-lite s2k his is the one with the flames on it... it turns out he makes us leave before the autocross because i was driving to fast for his comfort on the trail... but as soon as we get home i take the car for a ride and get a ticket while hes in the car for going 17 over... so that ruined the purpose of leaving but i think that 7/7/07 went very well and just wanted to say that al and mazda did a great job and that i hope to see some of yall soon.

 

 

mike

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