Lotus Seven

The Lotus Seven is a small, simple, lightweight two-seater open-top sports car, which has been called 'a motorcycle on four wheels'. It is characterised by extremely high acceleration (0 - 60 mph in 3.1 seconds) and a mid-range top speed (155 Mph), handling also is breathtaking and the ride is 'uncompromising'. The drag coefficient is around 0.7, mostly because of the flat windscreen and the wheel arches.

Related Topics:
Lotus - Sports car - Drag coefficient

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The original Lotus Seven was launched in 1957, powered by a 40 bhp Ford Sidevalve 1172cc engine. The Lotus Seven Series 2 followed in 1960, and the Series 3 in 1968. In 1970, Lotus radically changed the shape of the car to create the Series 4, which was not widely loved.

Related Topics:
1957 - Bhp - Ford Sidevalve - Engine - 1960 - 1968 - 1970

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In 1973, Lotus decided to try to shed its kit car image in order to concentrate on its more up-market models. As part of this plan, it sold the rights to the Seven to Caterham Cars. Caterham had been a Seven dealer since the very early days, and at this time they were the sole suppliers. After a brief period producing the Series 4, they reverted back to the Series 3 car, and have been making, and refining, this car since as the Caterham Super Seven.

Related Topics:
1973 - Kit car - Caterham Cars

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The Series 1 was mainly intended for club racing, but the Series 2 and subsequent models were production cars intended for public roads.

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Since the design of the Lotus Seven is so simple, there a number of replicas and sevenesque cars have been built such as:

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• Locost by Ron Champion
• Stalker V6 Clubman by Brunton Automotive
• Several models by Westfield Sportscars Ltd
• Raptor by Tornado Sports Cars
• Several models from Robin Hood Enginering Ltd
• Donkervoort from Netherlands with Audi-Turbo-Engines
• HKT from Germany also with Audi-Turbo-Engines
• Hauser from Switzerland with BMW engines
• Tiger Z100 from Z Cars Ltd
• MK Indy from MK Engineering (using Ford Sierra parts)
• ESTfield from RaceTech (using Lada parts)
• Esther http://www.esther.se/
• Dala7 (a taller and wider design using Volvo parts) http://www.dala7.se/
• Rotus, built in Florida with Japanese components
• Gregory
• Fraser Clubman from Fraser Cars Ltd

The Series 2 car was featured in the opening credits of the television series The Prisoner.

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Lotus Seven: Mechanical details ►