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So How Old Is The Average 7 Addict


BusaLoco

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loved 7s for 50 years and finally got one 3 years ago. Of all the many cars and motorcycles i have owned over my 71 years, my r500 is by far the most fun. I hope to driving and tracking for another 10 years. Isn't that a SCARY THOUGHT?

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45 - had her for 4 years. Was introduced to the Seven idea back around the mid 90s when I started going to brit events in an MGB. Can't envision ever selling her. Any discussion of other sportscars by the Mrs.is always clarified by me as an add-to, not a swap.

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Even way before I got my drivers permit in, oh s--t, 1962, I've been into cars and motorcycles. Being an average American youth at that time it was picking a mark, Chevrolet, and making mine go faster than my friends, especially if they were "dumb" enough to pick Ford or Dodge. I did have one thing different than most of my drag race buddies and that was that I liked my cars to actually stop and even turn. Lots of unpatrolled back roads in Connecticut at that time and I tried to push whatever Chevy I had to the limit. Installed seat belts in both my '55 and '57 Chevys so I wouldn't slide across the bench seats! This was in '63 and '65 when my friends would look in and say "what the hell are they for"? Then I'd tell them to hop in and I'd show them ;-).

Then in '65 I got a chance to drive a '59 Morgan. Even beat to hell and needing a complete engine rebuild it still thrilled me to the bone and started a passion for English steel.

My 7 is a WCM S2K so I can't really say it's "English Steel" like the three MGA's I went through over the years or the Jaguar I still have but it does thrill me to the bone every time I drive it, just like that first drive in '65.

We "older" guys still remember when cars didn't handle like they do now, or run as fast without having to work on them constantly. That said, we also remember how simple they were. I think a lot of what we get from our 7's is that feeling of being able to build, modify or repair then without twenty patch cords, a laptop and a room full of "special tools".

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loved 7s for 50 years and finally got one 3 years ago. Of all the many cars and motorcycles i have owned over my 71 years, my r500 is by far the most fun. I hope to driving and tracking for another 10 years. Isn't that a SCARY THOUGHT?

 

 

Not at all, go for it. One guy in our SCCA SEDIV is now 81 and has just retired, not because he wants to or because he's slow but because of heart problems and doctors won't clear him. He's one of the most accomplished drivers I ran against, and he never knew what a brake pedal was for. And he's not the only driver I've run into who was up in years. Don't let age be a barrier, it's matter of how you feel and how much fun you're having.

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We "older" guys still remember when cars didn't handle like they do now, or run as fast without having to work on them constantly. That said, we also remember how simple they were. I think a lot of what we get from our 7's is that feeling of being able to build, modify or repair then without twenty patch cords, a laptop and a room full of "special tools".

 

Amen

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45 - had her for 4 years. Was introduced to the Seven idea back around the mid 90s when I started going to brit events in an MGB. Can't envision ever selling her. Any discussion of other sportscars by the Mrs.is always clarified by me as an add-to, not a swap.

 

This is funny, a short while back I had been out in the Seven for a few hours on a cool day and by coincidence a few days later I got a cold. "It's driving that silly car with no roof, doors and windows" says my wife. "Don't Lotus make a proper car with doors and a roof?" I tell her about the Elise along with price. With out any real delay she says, "OK so buy one" For a few seconds I think I'm the luckiest guy in the world, then she adds "BUT you have to get rid of the other one!"

So no Elise for me because the Seven is going nowhere!

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... That said, we also remember how simple they were. I think a lot of what we get from our 7's is that feeling of being able to build, modify or repair then without twenty patch cords, a laptop and a room full of "special tools".

 

Some the favorite cars that I have owned had the least amenities, just simple and pure vehicles. That is one of the primary reasons I got a 7, not much else out there this basic and fun. And incredibly fast, that's quite important too.

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Built my first one when I was 60. Bought my second one a couple of months ago and I'll be 70 next month. Still have them both plus on my second Miata MX-5.

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Built my first one when I was 60. Bought my second one a couple of months ago and I'll be 70 next month. Still have them both plus on my second Miata MX-5.

 

Jack,

 

TWO Stalkers! . . . . that's just wrong on so many levels. :drool:

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At the risk of being a sh!t disturber am curious why both the previously pictured Stalkers are wearing what appear to be Lotus emblems on their noses....

 

It's an ugly, uncontrollable disease known as badge-itis. Unquestionably, such infections are found among the majority of replica car owners and their rides. Ferrari, Porsche, Shelby, not a single, well-known make is immune to such desperate brand mimicking and tomfoolery; no, not even Lotus. For the average Seven enthusiast, it most often stems from an owner and his car wanting desperately to pay homage to the man, the company and the very automobile that first stirred their passion, and obsession, for all things small and quick. The sickness normally begins by attaching a 7 emblem to the grill of the replicated Seven. It’s an install that seems harmless enough, but from there, striking quickly and without warning, the insanity grips the owner and the madness morphs to the top of the car’s nose, possibly to the steering wheel, and sometimes, even to the rear of the car. Nothing less than a genuine Lotus 7 badge will suffice. And a sure sign that a Seven replica and it’s owner have gone over the edge—to the point of no return—are clams; beautiful, curvy clams.

 

I had two Cobra replicas and I, along with both cars, suffered from a similar ailment. Each of those cars ended up with real Shelby badges on the nose, the sides and the trunk lid. Sadly, I and my Stalker now suffer from the same dreaded contagion that has infected so many other Seven replica owners and their cars. Tragic and distressing, I know, but . . . . . 'tis my car. :jester:

Edited by xcarguy
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