True to the original down to the last detail
03/16/2021
There are cars that have usually been pampered, cared for and kept as they were delivered right from the start. Hardly anyone would have thought of bolting wide ATS wheels to a Ferrari 330 GTC or applying a wild paint job.
Not so with the Lotus Seven. It usually passed through many hands and each owner left their own personal mark, be it by fitting harness belts, attaching more or less matching alloy wheels, replacing the windscreen with Brooklands discs, fitting semi-slicks or even optimizing the aerodynamics. And quite a few Ford engines had to make way for the Lotus Twincam version, or vice versa. The paintwork also frequently changed several times and the steering wheel was often replaced by ultra-small versions.
Of course, this was the freedom of the owners and everyone was allowed to have their Seven the way they liked it. But there are exceptions!
One of these exceptions is the Series 3 Lotus Seven that Bonhams is offering at the MPH auction (see the extensive announcement that has just been published ) .
Not only did this Seven, still equipped with the original Ford Escort Kent Crossflow engine, cover only a few miles after it was delivered to Canada in 1969, the car was also largely left in its original condition.
However, the Seven also had to put up with a few improvements, such as more modern Caterham fenders or new tail lights, but all this was corrected after its return to Europe, so that the car now stands as probably one of the most original Lotus Seven Series 3.
The illustration comparing an early photo of a Series 3 Seven with the red example from Bonhams shows just how far it has been taken. Even the battery looks like it's from the late sixties.
Let's hope that this Lotus finds a new owner at Bonhams on March 20, 2021 who appreciates this originality ...
