Lotus Seven S1 - the sporty dugout from the island

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Lotus Seven S1 - the sporty dugout from the island

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Created on April 17, 2020

Text:

Daniel Koch

Photos:

2019 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

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Bruno von Rotz

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Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - minimalist sports car for maximum driving pleasure

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Fast racing machine

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - The roll bar is a tribute to today's minimal safety requirements

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Still competitive today

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Classic Seven side line

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Also cuts a fine figure on the country road

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - right-hand drive with Brooklands disks

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - lightweight construction par excellence

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Most opponents will have seen it only briefly in the rear-view mirror

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - There is a little space above the tank in the rear for small luggage

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Tight interior for two

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Retrofitted H-belts

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Faithful Smiths instruments

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - St. Christopher took a ride with us

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Retrofitted emergency circuit breaker for the power circuit

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - aluminum body on tubular trellis frame

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Weight was even saved on the exterior mirror bracket

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - With classic Dunlop racing tires

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Riveted license plate from Italy

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Apparently also raced in the USA

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Front suspension from the Mark 12 formula racer

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Painted spoke rims with center lock

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Front with independent suspension

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Coventry-Climax engine, as used in the Elite

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Back then, Lotus was still at home in London

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Coventry-Climax engine with 75 hp

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Lotus Seven S1 (1957) - Was originally delivered with a Ford engine that was just under half as powerful

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Lotus Seven Coventry Climax (1958) - early version of the popular leisure sports car - at the Swiss Classic British Car Meeting Morges on October 4, 2014

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Lotus Seven Coventry Climax (1958) - Arrival - at the Swiss Classic British Car Meeting Morges on October 4, 2014

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Lotus Seven Coventry Climax (1958) - minimalist sports car - at the Swiss Classic British Car Meeting Morges on October 4, 2014

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Lotus Seven Coventry Climax (1958) - Interior - at the Swiss Classic British Car Meeting Morges on October 4, 2014

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Lotus Seven Coventry Climax (1958) - trademark and reference to the engine - at the Swiss Classic British Car Meeting Morges on October 4, 2014

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Lotus Seven Coventry Climax (1958) - ploughing its way through the crowd - at the Swiss Classic British Car Meeting Morges on October 4, 2014

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Lotus Mk VI (1954) - with Ford 1000 cc engine

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Lotus Seven (1958) - almost free-standing wheels like a formula car

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Lotus Seven (1959) - the creator Colin Chapman with his sports car

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Lotus Seven (1958) - Chassis of the sports car

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Lotus Seven S1 in front of the Lotus Elite (1958) - At Goodwood

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Lotus Seven (1960) - often used in club sport

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Lotus Seven (1960) - minimalist sports car

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Lotus Seven (1958) - the talented craftsman received this kit

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Lotus Seven (1961) - still with steel wheels

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Lotus Super Seven (1963) - View into the engine compartment

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Lotus Super Seven (1963) - one headlight had to be enough

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Lotus Super Seven (1969) - Front view of a late Seven at the Geneva Motor Show

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Summary

The Lotus Seven was launched in 1957 and continued to be built in many stages throughout its life. Today, Caterham still produces the sports car known as the Super Seven, which can still demonstrate its advantages of light weight combined with sufficient power at club races, on Alpine passes and country roads. This report tells the story of a 1957 Series 1 model and shows it in current and historical pictures and original sales brochures.

This article contains the following chapters

Beginnings in the capital of Great Britain
The trick with the Mark VI kit
Beauty next to spartan sports car
Successor with improvements
Lightweight construction at its finest
Engine selection
Featherweight class
Impressed by the specialist press on the continent
Rare series was a bargain at the time
Optimized racer

Estimated reading time: 6min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Hardly any other sports car can look back on such a long history as the small, open Lotus with its (almost) free-standing front wheels. Exceptions include the Porsche 911, whose production began in 1963 and which is still being built today after many evolutionary stages, or the four-wheeled four-cylinder Morgan, whose career began in 1935 and which is still in production today. Over the decades, far fewer changes have been made to the Morgan than to the Porsche. Since 2019, however, almost everything about the Morgan has been new, as aluminum has been used for the chassis instead of steel since 2019. And the wooden frame that previously supported the body panels has also been replaced by aluminum.

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