Untitled

I
r
f
azda-Ebrahimi is ruggedly
handsome.unlailirrgli'afla_
ble, remarkably gerierour,
extraordinarily clever, and
certifiably ir-rsane.
A software
enp;ineerby trade, he's also a
madsc.ientistwho'scrarnrned
c!.ryLS1V-B,hr,r-'"
pi.l"J.,p.rl
1l:"F"s
eBal
inro e rinv,opcn_u
F
o _.l .
, 1.,
t ..t.a. trror*nL.J
k t t c r r l o o s e l yb a s e , de 1 1r h e s p i n r l l l
Lonrs
Seven.That alone isnt .Ud""..
of l,ir.,r.v; i,
fact, it's_pretry much par fo. ,h. .o;;;;;-'';
steamyJuly morning in the Srnol,y.Mountains
of No_rdrCarolina, where the o*'r..r.i;;;;;
slxty Lotus Sevens,Caterhams,and
LSiSs_
Lotus Seven-inspired sports cars_have
con_
grcgdfedIor rodry! 7_7_7celcbrarion(
lulr 7.
luul. gcr it:) olthe fifrierharuriver.rrry
,,iC.lin
belovecl,,four-wheeledr";,;;b,k;.,,
_Chapman's
N.o, th9 proof that Ebrahimi ought
t. b;l;;;
r uuorralized
is his inexplicable
*iilingnes.ro lcr
r'ncdnve his beaston thc -tlil of the
Dregon.:r
nororious secion of U.S. Highway
f Zi tn.t
probrbly leanrresnrore picturesq,i"
r*i.r.l
3.18in elevenmiles_ani vehicuiar
dol-""I other public road in the .,l.rrfi'..".''
"rrutr._
V y b u n i ^ s . u e d g erdg a i n s tt l r e a l u m i n u m
^
rloorDoard
of his so-callcdR,rtusbcceuser_he
c o c k p i ri \ f o o c r a m p e dl o r m e r o , , , r n i D u l r t.
t h e p c d a l sw i r h r h e s c a ti n s r a l l e dT. h e
en si n c
bav a'd ffansrnissiont'nnel are.h-;#;;
s o m u c h h c a rr l r r r I F c elli k c a s a u s a g e
. " .L ;;
o n a c h - a . r c ogr rl i l l . \ s w . l u g a l o r r " g
b c h i "J ;
pairof HrrJevshoggirrgr he sun_dlppied,
Lr.._
t r r e d n 4 o - l r n e ,I s n c r k a p c e k a r 't h e
di e i r e l
rnstrumentpanei_it looks like something"out
o f V i c r u s u l i F l i g h tS i n r u l a r o r _ r h r t
Ebrahirni
n t s t r s n r o n c do u t o l a c a s t o f F
p o l i c e _ i r su c
Srt is to fill ,i.,.f.,r,.
ffifi
tl3rrcllscreen.
J r a td r s p l a y rs]l
h r o r t l ep o s i r r o no l . lI p e r c en ta g e
D a s r sr.h e . r e b ys a m p l i n ga l l o f t h e
rrrodiliid
l n o r o r s 4 {U h o r s e s .\ A 'i r h a g o o d
l a u n ch ,
E h r r h i m i f i g u r e sr h e t r h e R o r u ss h o u l d
r ,r a r
lrum 0 ro 60 mph in J.5seconJs.
When we hit a rare straightaway,I punch
.
dre throtde and hurtle past,t U...i.'ff,"."^.
"
suspenstonis buckboard_stiff,
and the tail
lurches violently as the colossat
..r, tir"._
305/3_5\R-18siio- ,r., old Corvette
207_
claw for ftaction. I grab third gear. The
accel_
eraoon ts alrnost disorientilrg.
Am I in a
ALTfO,\,IOBILEX{]\G,CO.\I I rI3
End
Beginner's
Straight
Revenuer's
Rocket
Corner
TheWhip
Pearly6ates
Dragon
0verlook
HoqPen
B-end
Little Copperhead
Whio
Cbrner
GR E AS
T MOK YMOUNTAI NS
N A TION APLA RK
Cattail
Straight
6prd
Killboy
Shadetree
Corner
,e*Rail
I
cliff
Parsonl
Curve
Swift
Corner
ThunderRoadBend
Picnic
Table
Calderwood
Dam
DaltonEsses
Carousel
corner
n*d,!F
Basn : .,i
trasn
street-legalroad car or a rocket ship ieaving the
launchpad?\Mnd whips so fiercely through the
bathtub-style cockpit that I can feel the skin of
my neck flapping like the sail of a tacking sailboat. "You got full throtde that time," Ebrahimi
shouts.This, I suspect,is his polite way of alerting me that the next corner is signposted at
20 mph, and ifl dont clobber the brakespretty
soon, we're going to end up in Temessee. In
lots of smoking, disconnectedpieces.
Like Ebrahimi, I've caught a bad case of
what another sufferer calls Sevenitis.It's a rare
disease,but it's making the rounds here in
North Carolin a. The 7-7 -7 confab at the Thil
of the Dragon is the largest collection of Lotus
Sevensand LSiSs ever amassedin this country. It's also the motliest collection, with a
i "'
t'u
anayoffactory-builtandDrY
mind-boggling
chassisand enginesranging i.o- rn antique
Datsunand obsolete.British-specFgt*-,^11
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TollBooth
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Ebrahimi'sRotusrise and fall on the A-armshe
L{a
designed after modeling them in a computer
^
programhe wrote himselt,I find myselfwon- '
.
..
, ,,*{
'd.ri".rg
'"'-*..=
Straight
Cooper
*h"th.r Chapman is dancing a jig in ,-o
'u*
,,,.,lS\
';,"
snorts
car heavenor soinning in his gravefaster
r,,,r-.,,,rr'nr,ra
,portr'.rrh.ruenorspir-inf;r";;;;';ir:,";
.r.i
ilil.;':113ffi1ffi::Ji:'i#;":?;;;ff[i
Locost-and,
",{5"
enginepoweringthe
Deal'sGap'''.J
motorcycle
motorcycleenginepoweringtheLocost-and,
not a tl.po-fashioned by
y"t, thri's ,
-irqu..
and his father, Terry, out of uro*o''''
Faul Brocious
square tubing, the dregs of an '87 Mercury ui
Time
Crossroadsof
Cougar, and seatsfrom a Pontiac Montana.
whose iconowas
wdJ
a
d freethinker
l l sl ( l l l l l N
Chapman
U
l l a Pr l l a l l
1 ,.
,
:; i ;;
Hl: l.; i+'41
clastic genius underpinned watershed designs
r-.,a r^.^^.
Fl
,' "e+!
BeoinneriEnd
Fr$.+$'
tr'fi
{#;fi-fi
fil'"q}a
;:*n"tffH:'j"(f#%Hfiff.n'"i:
Lotus
alded the ground-effects age). But the
Seven,the bare-bonesproduction version ofa
kit car designedwhile he wasworking asa civil
engineer, was the ultimate expression of his
famous dictum: add lighmess. Featuring an
ingeniously triangulated tube frame, the Seven
was essentiallya road-going formula car with
crude two-seat body'r,r'ork,which made it per-
;J:ffJ:;;"#:'?#;'ffi:iffiffi
z
The car debuted in September 1957, and in
one form or another, it's been in production
ever since. "It's the ultimate sports car," says
z
II4 I AUTOMOBILE
fu'til"*n0".
J!
To R'BB'NSV,LLE
cHEnoHnu SKYWAY
@ Miremark
r
Jhsysufs
NO\EMBER 2OO7
Scott Nettleship, who owns a 1970 SeriesfV
finished in traditional Lotus livery, "and itt
utterlv impractical for anything other than
having fun."
For Chapnan, the Lonrs Seven was just
the beginning. As he raised his aspirationsto F1, to exotic cars, even to boats ancl airpl:rnes-he lost interest in the l-romely,lowbuck, no-tech Seven, which was, in many
respects,the polar oppositeofthe glossyengineering sophistication that Lotus calne to
symbolize. After developing four iterations
over sixteenyears,he wasreadltto tossthe car
on the junk heap. Ard there it would have
rusted were it not for Graham Nearn of
Caterham Cars,the patron saint ofthe Seven.
In 1973,Nearn bought the rights to the car,
and while no conlponents are carried over
frorn the Lotus years,Caterham remains the
"ofEcial" manufacturerof the Seven.
But the Sevenis asrnuch a concept asit is a
car, and the template for a long-hood, shortdeck roadster with c1'cleor clamshell fenders
and exposedheacllightshas taken on a life ofits
own. Although Caterhaur zeaiouslv
guardsits intellecnralpropertyit'.sgone to court almost asoften
x Lnu dr Order prosecutorJack
N,IcCot-clozens of small firms
have sprung up to pursue their own
vision of what's sometines referred to asthe
Se7en.LSiS manufacturersare all over the n-rap
in terrns ofgeography anclresources,and with
production numbers ranging fiom a feu'dozen
a year to one a century design,engineering,'and
build qualiry r.ary widely.
If authentic Lotuses and (laterl-ramsare at
the top ofthe food chain, then the accurately
named Locosts are at the bottorn. Basedon
planspublishedby Ron Champion in his subversive classic,Build YottrOzunSportsCnr.fbrns
Little as f2i0, Locosts tend to be shrclc-tree
specialsthat reflect the talents,or lack thereof,
of their builders.Mark RiveraandJeffUnderlv'ood engJinecredtheir cars-fitted with a
rurbochargedMiata rnd a YatnahaR1 engine,
respectivelv-primarily for autocross duw,
II6 I AU]-OMOB]I-I]
and .both of thern go like stink. But Jon Winterhalter'sprincipal goal wasbuilding a car for
lessthan $2000, and he and his son, Andre\ r'
managedthis unlikely feat by doing dreir own
metalwork (hencethe lumpy aluminum nosecone)and cannibalizingasmuch asthey could
from a junkyard BMW 320i. "I call it redneck
engineering,"Winterhalter declaresin a parking lot li11edwith pristine Sevens,loucllywondering wl-ryanvbody would spend ten, twenty'
or even thirty tirnes as much as he did.
Sponsoredby dre marque-inclusiveUSATs
Club and organized largely by the ir.rdefatigable Al Navarro, 7-7-7 has drav,n
nu[lerous
"&;
fl. :
r . :,
\' r
tttnainstreamtt
NO\EX,IBER ]OO7
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LSiS rnanufacnrrersto the Dragon, and Westover the Dragon. "It is an absolute hoot to
bors; it'll just convince ther-r-r
that you're weird.
field, Birkin, Brunton (Stalker), Wrorld Class drive," White confinns. "Arrd 1'611don't have As with any cult, tl-rere'.s
a certain appeal to
Motorsports (Ultralite), anclDerlan are rept o bc h a u l i r r gf i s st t r h r \ e l - u n . " being;part of a select group of coglroscenti.
resentedwith carsthat feel rock-solid.I drive
C)ther thln l-ravingfun, drere'sno sensible But as I chat with o\4,-ners,
I realize that Seva lovelv orange \4restfie1dthat evokesmernoreasonto ow-nl Seven.Ancl unlike a Ferrari or
e n i t i s i s n i a s i c k n e s sl.r ! a p l ssi o n . r r o r so
ries of rny SpecMiata, but with half the mass. a Porsche,it doesn'tcorneu.ith much cachet: mucl-rfbr the cars but for u'hat
the car-sallow
Meanwhile, a Dernan pou'ered by a turboO."vningI Seyenr,vor.r't
impress your r-reigh- thenr to do, which is to drive conbt io, whether
cirarged SR20DET-the JDM fave of the
drift crowd-and a Super Stalker motivated
by a superchargedPontiac V-6 are both r,vild
enough to cmse my head to sl:rrnoff the race
sert ltith ever-vrrpshiFr.
Each manuf-actureroffers its own selling
points. Generally speaking,Caterhams are the
priciest rnodelson the mtlrket. -lhey're beautiftilly finished, often trimrred in carbon fiber,
with nArro\r, lines and trin'r dimensions. The
nost conmon modern engine choice is
the Ford Zetec, which makes anl,u.herefrom
150 to 230 hp. A hot-roclded Caterham will
treversean autocrosstrack f-asterthar-ranything
TWTNTAM
FoRD
1600
ffi'
snzoorr
', ',,ffiItisaH
siror:tof a forrnula car packing JAIC) rockets.
Theengineof manyearlyhot-rodded
Sevens,
this Thisturbocharged
beast.commonlv
foundin drift
You want power oversteer?Tickle the throttle.
classic
street/race
motorgivesViviani's
Caterham machines,
putsout nearly5OOhp and reportedly
Neck-stretching stopping pou'er? Hamrner
plentyof popalongwithauthentic
periodfeel.
propelled
BobDryeto 6o mphin 2.7seconds.
the brakcs. In su,'itchbackscctions, the car
changesdirections quickly enough to make
your eyeballsspin.
But you real1ydon't need much power to
get your groove on in a Seven. Chaprnan'.s
original formula-rninirnizing u.eight and
rnaximizing rnechanicalsirnplicity-rclcls up
to a renurkably pure car that raisesthe prosaic
act of driving to something approaching l religious erperience. I take a spin in Tim l44rite's
Birkin, which is fittecl with a 1.5-liter I)atsun
four-bangerwith a pair of mesh-coveredSUs
peering out froln the alurninum hood. It's not
junkieTimWhitefittedhisBirkinTheenginepowering
Longtime
Datsun
Chuck
Spera's
Ultralite
is
stunningly quick, but all the inputs are so
witha 1.sJiter
engineout of a Datsun
210.Fuel normally
foundin a HondaS2OOO.
Supercharged,
direct, and the bark of the exhaustsounclsso
delivery
iscontrolled
by a pairof SUcarburetors. in KevinBoulton's
screamer,
it makes3oo hp.
goocl, that I don't vl'ant to give it up after a mn
NO\tsI,lB[R:00/-
ALTTOT\IOBILE\,LA(].CO\1 I tt7
it's slicing through the essesat Road Atlanta or
motoring briskly along the undulating roads
crisscrossingthe Carolina foothills.
"I drive it almost every day, unless there's
snow or ice on the road," sayselectrical engineer Cherik Bulkes, who drove his 1999
Caterham-which has 68.000 miles-to the
event From his home in
Wisconsin. "My
'ffi;.
nerson'rlcrrtoff is
25 degreesFahrenheit. Your
question shouldn't be, 'Why did I drive
my car here?'It should be, 'Why did the others trailer their cars?' Why on earthwould
anybody miss an opportunity to drive such a
wonderful car?"
On Saturdayevening,the SeTensgather for
a group photo that's both a postcard image of
sports car nirvana and a documentaryrecord of
group psychosis.Afterward, the carsslowly peel
off, carrying their owners to dinner or a last
blast over the Dragon, until only one car is left.
Fittingly, it's the oldest participant at 7-7 -7, a
right-hand-drive 1958 SeriesI, chassisnumber
487-the model run besan with number 400built in tle originalLorus work in l{ornsey,
Englard. The green paint is chipped, and the
aluminum hood bears the natina of a halfcentury ofenergedc use.A tent and a sleeping
bag are bungee-corded to the rear deck.
The owner,JamesWilson, is a graphic artist
with a white beard and genteel manners. Back
in the day,he racedAustin-Healey Sprites,Formula Fords, and Sports2000s.Now, he satisfies
his jones with his largely unrestored Series I.
"It embodies everything I fell in love with when
I was a ten-year-old kid," he recalls. "It's
friendly. It's quick enough to be interesting. It's
timeless.It's the quintessentialsports car."
At the moment, I'm driving a 2007 Lotus
Elise, which is as close as you can come to a
modern take on Wilson's classic.The Elise is a
wonderful machine-wicked fast, reasonably
comfortable, a paragon of utility compared
with the Seven. But I doubt it will be venerated, much less still in production, fifty years
from now. And as I watch Wilson motor off,
with the fading light glinting againstthe spokes
of his wire wheels and the blatty exhaustof his
low-rewing four-pot Ford echoing among the
hickory and magnolia trees, I realize that as
long aspeople drive carsfor pleasure,there will
always be a place for Lotus Sevensand their
derivatives.And come 7-7 -2057,I wouldn't be
surprised if dozens of survivors reconvened at
the Thil of the Dragon to mark the centennial
of Chaoman'sfour-wheel motorbike. I
Miata+Kit=FMWestfield
four-banger
intoa Lotus
Droppinga Japanese
is hardlya newconcept,
but
chassis
Seven-style
final
brakes,
usingthe steeringgear,suspension,
clusterfrom a
drive,andeventhe instrument
MazdaMiatato get
first-or second-generation
is.Thegangat
thevintageLotusexperience
sellsa
Colorado,
FIyin'Miatain CrandJunction,
in England-for
kit-sourcedfrom Westfield
aboutSlzooo thatallowsyouto builda Lotus
sportscarusingcannibalized
Seven-inspired
Miatabits.Andevenif you dont own a clappedout Miatathat you wantto useasthe sacrificial
Iamb,youcanbuyalltheMazdapartsyouneed
to completethe Westfieldkitfor aslittleas
the kit for
S28oo.Flyin'Miatawill assemble
do it yourself.
aboutg5oggFllij.Vqu-ran
II8 I AUTOMOBILE
grownmen
Theresultisa carthat causes
At
andwomento gigglelikeschoolchildren.
Westfield
t3to pounds,the FM(Flyin'Miata)
looo poundslessthana
weighsan impressive
Miata,so,evenwhenfittedwith a stockr3o-hp
Mazdaengine,the FMboogiesto 6o mph in less
Asfor top speed?We onlysaw
than sixseconds.
at that rate,it felt as if
aboutL00 mph because,
theturbulence
waspullingourbrainsout
throughourears.
Clearly,
the FMis not a carfor the casual
enthusiast.
A LotusEliseis aboutthirtytimes
timesquieter).
morerefined(andaboutthirty
Thatsaid,the Westfieldtsimple,lightweight
designhelpsgiveit a decentridedespiteits
modeststructural
rigidityanddampersthat
aren'ttunedfor choppyroadsurfaces.
Naturally,
wherethe Westfield
really
it'son a racetrack
and
shines.Pushthroughthe initialundersteer,
assumes
a perfect,slightly
thisfeatherweight
cornering
attitudethat is easily
tail-happy
adjustable
with a wiggleof your bigtoe or a flick
of yourwrists.Afterdrivingthe FMfor a few laps
aroundWaterfordHillsRaceway
nearDetroit,it
seemedlikeeveryothercarwe flungaroundthe
trackwasas
and
overweight
sluggishasa fat man
amblingupfor his
fourthhelpingat Old
CountryBuffet.
MarcNoordeloos
NOVL\IBER 2OO7
h