Rotus Press Release 1984

[solder_guy]

ROTUS LTD

 

7315 Parkview Drive

"Eastview"

Frederick, MD 21701

 

 

ROTUS SEVEN - The Great Get-a-Way Machine

 

The car you have just seen is a Rotus Seven. A car quite obviously derived from the venerable concept of the "wind in the face" English Ford powered Lotus 7. We of Rotus Ltd. have labored to create a motor car with some of the technical and physical problems of that Old English Forebearer and to engineer into our car the legendary reliability of the Japanese Toyota automotive componentry in conjunction with our state of the art formula car suspension geometry.

 

The Rotus Seven is available as a kit car, consisting of every single piece needed to drive your finished vehicle away with about one easy weekend's worth of your own effort in installing a new, used, or rebuilt Toyota Corolla 2T or 3T engine and transmission.

 

If you have an older Toyota Corolla whose body has seen better days, with our kit is is very easy to transform its still healthy mechanical pieces into an exciting Rotus Seven roadster. You may instead wish to source such pieces from your local auto salvage yard where an even lower mileage newer care may lie waiting to be recycled.

 

Although the Rotus Seven has been designed for a bolt-in any of the various versions of the 1600 - 1800cc T series motors, any mechanically inclined individual can fit whatever motor he wants, within reason. Yes, a Datsun, Mazda, Porsche water-cooled, VW Rabbit, Pinto, Chevette, Volvo, MG, Triumph, etc. motors will fit. No, a 350 Chevy, 302 Ford, or Chrysler Hemi won't. There is, however, enough bay space to house one of the new lightweight Cadillac aluminum block V-8's, or one of the old aluminum Buick/Olds/Pontiac V-8's will work - if you simply must have cubic inches.

 

Of the T-series motors, an older stock 1600 of about 70 H.P. will make a reliable, dependable day-to-day fun car. The 1800 cc version of the same engine is about 90 H.P. The Japanese 2T/TEUG (see sources) motor is about 1600 cc double overhead camshaft engine of about 115 H.P. and that engine with a set of 85mm pistons and a 3T crankshaft will end up at about 2000cc which with proper camshafts and a carburetors can produce 155-165 exciting horses.

 

The car was designed with the 3T power train; however, because for many years the "T" series cars were the largest selling models in the entire world and there are many such power trains in late model, low mileage wrecks at reasonable proces and excelleent condition in the salvage yards of the U.S.

 

The most recent version of the 3T motor is found in the home market Toyota Celica and Cressida models where it is doing duty as an 1800 cc double overhead camshaft - 16 valve - electronic fuel injected - Turbo charged - 170 H.P. power plant. The American market will probably receive their version at the latest in 1986 and possibly in a 1985 vehicle. This "strictly stock" engine will undoubtedly transform a Rotus Seven into a veritable Tiger of a road car.

 

The rear light assemblies, radiator hoses, brakes, ignition system, brake and clutch master cylinders, instruments and switches are all stock items from either a used Toyota or new from your nearby Toyota dealer, as are the tires and wheels should you choose not to go the custom after market route.

 

What makes the car outstanding, however, is the inboard mounted coil-over rising rate front suspension system engineered by A. Lee Kaiser. Truly original amongst road cars, it is the common to the finest handling race cars of the world. It is this highly sophisticated front geometry that enables the Rotus Seven driver to drive both safely and swiftly over any road surface. With a modified Toyota Tercel Rack and pinion steering assembly and another pair of famous Koni coil over shock absorbers at the front end of the car, it's superb handling qulities are almost limited only by the competency of the driver.

 

All four fenders and the nose cone of the body are of molded fiberglass. The chrome Quartz - Halide head lamps sit low between the front fenders and the louvered aluminum hood.

[slngsht]

good read! thanks. Where did you find this?

 

 

 

 

[solder_guy]

good read! thanks. Where did you find this?

 

 

 

That's my transcription of a document image from an eBay auction about 6 weeks ago. (I had to transfer it from my palmtop to my desktop.)

 

 

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

 

 

[solder_guy]

[Here's another transcript of a Rotus Brochure currently on eBay - Rob Mitchell]

 

 

 

Those of you who are reading this have already demonstrated your enthusiasm for high performance machinery simply by your presence here at Summit Point Raceway this weekend.

 

 

 

We of Rotus Ltd. appreciate very much your participation and hope that if time permits, you can stop in and visit with us sometime during these few days of racing. There will be several of the products we have created present here at the track and perhaps some of the projects in progress too. We have just completed and delivered Rotus Seven #14 and #15, #16, and #17 are currently in the shop being made ready for August and September deliveries.

 

 

 

On the subject of performance cars in general, let me say this. When one speaks of truly outstanding performance in streetable motor cars, there are always those who will wildly wave the banners of 0-60 times or 1/4 mile times, or even ultimate top speed figures, as being the only effective yard sticks for comparison. However, when all the initial shouting dies away, the conversation finally gets down to the fact that rarely are points A and B in the same straight line as the local dragstrip. Most of the roads in this part of the planet indeed seem to have things called "curves" in them, between teh straights no less, and that getting from A to B swiftly also involves going around curves well, too.

 

 

 

Now, you have from time to time as race goers, witnessed racing cars with racing suspensions and racing tires and racing motors go very quickly around the "curves" on the track. Indeed, a properly set up car can achieve well over 1-G of lateral acceleration (one times the gravitational pull of the earth on that object). You can do it with lots of objects actually.

 

 

 

Tie a brick to a string and whilr it above your head in a circle - you too can generate 1-G of force. Now take the string away and make the brick do that same trick. It gets a bit more difficult to do, doesn't it? We did it recently. No strings, either.

 

 

 

We took a stock Rotus Seven on production B.F. Goodrich Comp T/A Radial tiresm mounted on B.B.S. rims and complete with license plates, did that elusive 1-G on the street. Well, actually on a huge skid pad in Ohio, but we were able to do that because our cars were created with one of the absolute trickest front suspension geometry's that you will ever find outside of a race track. A dual coil-over rising rate - in board mounted - Koni damped - wonder that sticks better to the road than almost anything you have ever driven.

 

 

 

B.F. Goodrich got 6 kit car manufacturers together to see if any of them could generate sufficienty lateral side force to get the claimed 1984 Corvette "record" away from them. For G.M. had been saying that the "vette" could pull a G on the street tires in street trim, and everybody at B.F.G. knew that that very probably wasn't quite so.

 

 

 

Features of the Rotus Seven

 

 

 

+ TIG welded, fully triangulated steel tube space frame

 

+ Riveted aluminum Monocoque body

 

+ Fiberglass fenders and nose cone

 

+ Inboard mounted, rising rate coil-over formula car front suspension

 

+ Koni dual adjustable shocks, front and rear

 

+ Dual brake master cylinders plus balance bar

 

+ Saddle fuel tank of 13+ gallon capacity

 

+ Sufficient luggage space for practical touring

 

+ Designed for bolt-in drive train from 1600-1800 Toyota Corolla

 

+ 5-speed full synchromesh Corolla gear box

 

+ Toytoa Celica rear axle and brake assemblies

 

+ 4 leading link rear suspension plus panhard rod

 

+ Engine bay and transmission tunnel designed to accept virtually any 4 cyl engine as well as most V-6 and several aluminum block V-8 power plants.

 

 

 

ROTUS LTD

 

7315 Parkview Drive

 

"Eastview"

 

Frederick, MD 23701

 

 

 

For further information on the Rotus Seven motor car as concerns options, pricing and delivery schedules, fill out and mail.

 

 

 

_ Please send me complete information package.

 

_ I am interested in the purchase of a sports car this year.

 

_ Please contact me so that we