The "7" life?

[southwind25]

Question?

What is out there for people that own 7's? let us define and explain the question a bit....

for 25 years..we have owned austin healeys,,back when people would pay you to pull them out of the weeds in the back yard. We were also always speed-event-ralley minded. sure the car shows are fun!! but we can only drink so many beers :cheers: while sitting and talking about what color was the original overspray on the fan belts. The A-H crowd has become mid 60's and retired CEO's, and the mindset has followed.

on the other hand..we loved the fun road ralleys, the track days, the gathering at mid ohio for picnics. people even used to come watch the healey autocross..but thats all dead, or nearly so. All that remains is a few rich guys,,and a few people with sprites that most austin heleye people seem to be snobs torwards.. (but the sprite is actually an awesome little car!!) I have JUSt sold the big healey..a very classy looking..but heavy americanized cruizer. We never cared if ours had matching #'s or if the brake pads had the original decal..but it seems everyone does now.

So asking again...what can we find out there if we own a "7"?

 

[slngsht]

I've owned an admitadly "strange" seven for a couple of years now.

 

IMO, what you'll find is that there aren't too many "waxers" in this crowd. Most everybody is either interested in road racing, autox, or cruise events - although there are quite a few members who also do the occasional car show.

 

There are 7 snobs as well (brand, or even which original Lotus series, etc...) , but we've really tried hard HERE to stay away from that, and I think it has worked out pretty well.

[Al N.]

Southwind...you've met a few Se7eners already, and I thnk enjoyed your time with them. Right? I think that's all you need to know.

 

As Mazda says, at this forum and the club it's associated with, we're pretty mellow when it comes to marque snobbery, concours wax jobs, and the like. We like to drive (though some of us get to drive their cars more than others... :cry: ).

 

That said, there are a few guys who are HARDCORE about Auto-Xing your Se7en, though I won't name names ... :jester:

 

In all seriousness, what exactly do you want to know about "what's out here" that your experiences with the Ohio owners and forum members hasn't already illustrated? Do you want to know about what kind of events and owner meet-ups happen? Most of those have been covered in posts here over the year(s!).

[southwind25]

The question was a general one...

Yes the couple of "7" owners i have met..seem to get out and enjoy thier cars.

They have been very friendly and extremely accomidating, true ambassadors of the marque.

Perhaps i needed to survey this site a little closer, just trying to get a feel for things that much more..before we make a jump.

I guess we are just looking to have some of the performance minded fun..we had years back when our healeys were still considered sportscars!

It seems that term has gotten lost sometimes.

road ralleys, track days, autocross events..road tours...who knows?

[Kitcat]

The "Sevens community" is quite small. Except for this Forum, contact is minimal, just because there are so few owners out there. Ownership (like life) is what you make it. I love track days and just bombing around in it. Others like auto-x, and others mostly like to work on their cars.

 

Except for the Dragon and 2 track days, I have not seen a Seven on the road in 40 years. But its not lonely. Try getting into & out of an ordinary gas stop in under 5'. Its hard not to answer the questions of the excited onlookers, young and old.

 

I can assure you, tho, snobbery is not part of the equation (You have to be humble to climb out of one in front of other people)

[Boxologist]

ur never lonely as long as i'm in driving distance!:cheers:

 

someone either enjoys the rawness of a se7en or not. nearly every other convertible is more luxurious and more aerodynamic. Some owners are collectors, and their cars' odometeres may as well go in reverse. Others just enjoy the car way too much. The se7en is so much fun that once u put it in its element, u want to do it more and more.

 

Today i took Snake Bit into work on a week day AM for the first time tody. I usually work afternoon/nights so i avoid traffic. A coworker said she saw me zipping in on her way in. She said she knew of no other car like that and had never seen any others. I didn't have the heart to tell that for the next 40-50 years of her life she will never see another one probably.

 

What can u find out in a se7en? maybe something about urself. how much self inflicted abuse u can take. that sunscreen is good for 3 seasons, at least. that u can pack far more efficiently that u ever imagined. that u can talk with other se7en owners about the smallest parts on a car for extended periods of time and never be bored. That every road is worth be driven on.

[drew...]

to continue Boxologist's points

 

you'll also find that the hardest core biker's will give you the hi sign when your out for a blat. they understand.

 

young and old "car guys" seem to embrace this car. when xorad, steve and i went for a blat in september our stop at an overlook took an extra hour with all the questions of the bikers and drivers (age range probably 18 - 70+)

 

no two are the same - ford, GM, mazda, datsun, bmw, honda, suzuki, yamaha and other powerplants / normally aspirated, turbo, supercharged / lotus, stalker, caterham, westfeild, locost, ....... - the cars are as diverse as the owners and if this forum is any indication it is a group truly interested in enjoying their lotus seven inspired sportscars

 

- we truly fit the old "birds of a feather"

[MHKflyer52]

to continue Boxologist's points

 

you'll also find that the hardest core biker's will give you the hi sign when your out for a blat. they understand.

 

young and old "car guys" seem to embrace this car. when xorad, steve and i went for a blat in september our stop at an overlook took an extra hour with all the questions of the bikers and drivers (age range probably 18 - 70+)

 

no two are the same - ford, GM, mazda, datsun, bmw, honda, suzuki, yamaha and other powerplants / normally aspirated, turbo, supercharged / lotus, stalker, caterham, westfeild, locost, ....... - the cars are as diverse as the owners and if this forum is any indication it is a group truly interested in enjoying their lotus seven inspired sportscars

 

- we truly fit the old "birds of a feather"

:iagree: An you even have the built it yourselfs (like me) who fit right in with the manufactured 7's and vise versa and I have the cheapest paint job to my knowledge out of everyone I know or have met so far ($22.60 for six cans of spray paint) and that is kinda the way our group is. We just enjoy our cars and the people that have them.

An by the way you will always have someone asking questions about your 7 an so far no one that I have meet has turned down a chance to ride in mine yet or any of the other members cars to my knowladge.

[WestTexasS2K]

I have meet some of the nicest people and hopefully some good lifelong friends due to the 7. It is a fun car no matter what the make, It seems to be loved by yound and old, male and femal. It is a traveling converstation starter. Just plan adding a few minutes to most of your trips for the converstions you will get in to.

 

Some of the folks that I have come into contact with due to the 7s community have had some of the more well know ecotics ie Ferrari, Lambo, Porsche etc. Say that the 7 garners more attention than all the others combined.

 

I havent meet alot of the folks on this site in person but have a general feeling that I would get along with 99.9% very well. Of course people have one marque they favor over others, but you will rarely hear a disparinging word towards another. So get yourself a 7 and jump in on the fun.

 

By the way there is a few members here from Ohio.

[stevet]

I'm just back from a 2 hour 'blat' up to the Blue Ridge and back - did the same yesterday, different route. This is perfect weather for the 7 - 60 degrees, blue skies and quiet roads for the most part. Met and chatted with hot rodders, lots of bikers, kids and pensioners. Car was photographed a couple of times. Even did the grocery shopping on the way back

 

This is what sevening is about for me. Sure it's great to meet up with a few of the other guys (I would have loved to do those roads out to Snowshoe again... Mazda), but to get in, mix in a bit of spirited stuff with some cruising and chatting is worth the price of admission.

 

As I've said in the past, happiness is not around the corner, happiness is the corner.

 

Go for it.

[xromad]

to continue Boxologist's points

young and old "car guys" seem to embrace this car. when xromad[fixed], steve and i went for a blat in september our stop at an overlook took an extra hour with all the questions of the bikers and drivers (age range probably 18 - 70+)

 

Here's the photo of what Drew was talking about.

http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=12587&g2_serialNumber=1

 

There were never more than 5 to 10 people at a time, but it took us an hour or more to extract ourselves from the continuous stream of fresh onlookers.

 

Brent

[jbanker]

I'll add to Brent's photo replyhttp://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1553242134_BikersGas1.jpghttp://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1166049165_BikersLikeIt2.jpg

[locost7018]

That is why I carry a sheet of paper describing my car and the Locost concept with web sites to visit that I hand to them after I talk to them. Gives them something to remember and to get their minds thinking, Russ

 

[jbanker]

I have business cards with a color photo of the car, my name, contact info and the Stalker web site that I genrally hand out. Most everybody takes the card and often ask for another to give to a friend.

 

Jack

[Boxologist]

I have business cards with a color photo of the car, my name, contact info and the Stalker web site that I genrally hand out. Most everybody takes the card and often ask for another to give to a friend.

 

Jack

 

MHKflyer has his se7en on a/his business card card as well. awesome idea as is Russ'.

[locost7018]

Here is what my flier looks like. Anyone is free to copy and modify for your use. It is placed over a faded picture of my car in the background, Russ

 

 

The Lotus Seven Inspired “Locost”

 

In 1957 Colin Chapman introduced the Lotus Seven. It was designed as a no-frills, inexpensive sports car. The design has not changed much over the years and is still available today as the Caterham Seven. The prices of these cars have shot up from under $1,000.00 in 1957 to over $44,000.00 for a new Caterham CSR Seven today. The high prices for these cars has inspired a plethora of “copy cat Sevens” all over the world. Several manufactures have made packaged kits to build your own car. All you need is a donor car. In North America the Mazda Miata, Honda S2000, and the Chevy S-10 pickup are some of the more popular choices for a donor. Utilizing these kits a person can assemble a “Seven” for under $20,000.00 including the donor. But for those who really want a “Inexpensive Sports Car” the choice is the “Locost”. It is one of the most successful copies of the venerable “Seven” in the world. The “Locost”, which stands for ”low cost”, cars are built in your garage or backyard from the ground up. “Locosts” are built with salvage yard parts and a frame of 1” square steel tubing that you weld up yourself and then skin the outside with aluminum. About the only manufactured items you need are the fenders (wings) and the nose cone, and even some people build these themselves. This particular car was built in England and imported to the United States in 2003. It is my daily driver and is driven year round, weather permitting (I’ve been known to be out driving at 17°). It was built from plans utilizing Ron Champion’s book “How To Build A Cheap Sports Car For Under 250 Pounds”. The donor was a 1979 British-made Ford Escort mkII. It has a 1300cc Ford Crossflow Kent engine and 4 speed manual transmission. Free downloadable plans for a similar car were designed by Jim McSorley and are available at mcsorley.net . For more information on “Locosts” check out the following web sites:

 

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Locost_North_America/

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/

http://www.locostusa.com/forums/

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/

http://www.angelfire.com/biz6/stalkerv6/index.htm

http://www.flyinmiata.com/westfield/

http://www.coveland7.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

http://www.kineticvehicles.com/

http://www.canadianlocost.com/index.htm

http://www.motors.ebay.com Type in locost in the search block

 

 

Books:

How To Build A Cheap Sports Car For Under 250 Pounds, by Ron Champion

How to Build A Cheap Sports Car, by Keith Tanner.

Build Your Own Sports Car: On a budget, by Chris Gibbs

How To Design And Build A Mid-Engine Sports Car-From Scratch, by Kurt Bilinski

 

 

[southwind25]

Awesome..

Fun,,,and this is what we are looking to find again..."fun"...

not all stiff and strict about if the color is original or not, or who did the rebuild on your car..because the answer is pretty much yourself, not the local euro car rebuilder.

Thanks everyone..

For what it's worth...we have come to 2 options. We were just made an offer to but a ginetta at a cant pass up price, but we also just got an offer for a perfect...we mean perfect birkin. If we get the ginetta, we would be putting a zetec engine in her..

ahhh,,such pleasant decisions...however if we DO get the ginetta..we would remain (if allowed) on this website here..

sadly theres only a remote handful of ginetta,s here and not much support like the USA.7's. and it's a stepsister of the lotus 7 anyways. Actually, in the UK, they compete on the track together.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy_wJezkOEI

 

 

Point is..either way something is going to happen. here's the ginetta we are looking at.. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1658779032_DSCF0578.JPG

would you guys throw us out for driving this to a "7" event?

[slngsht]

heh, the club is for seven enthusiasts, not just owners.

 

Dermot has a fisher fury, and I look forward to getting together with him to go for a blat whenever I'm free.

[xromad]

Wow! I've always loved the Ginetta I'll take two! But, since the 7 isn't leaving I'll have to pass on account of limited garage space.

 

Stick around and Help us celebrate the enthusiasm for small light fast cars.

 

Of course, I'm not letting you off the hook, someday I do expect you to buy a Seven and come for a blat.... :-)

 

Brent

[Kitcat]

Lowcost:

 

It is WELL over $44K for a new CSR Seven. Assuming it's reasonably optioned, over $75K would be closer to it.

 

It is a bit over $44K for a base Caterham with a crossflow these days, assuming you have them supply the engine/tranny & put it together. Do it yourself & maybe save $5K. Find your own engine, etc., & save another $5-$10K.

 

Makes an Ulltralite look like a deal, not to mention the new Westfield sitting over there in the For-Sale section of this forum!