| Seven-esque Kits |
The Lotus Seven is the very beginning of all the Seven-esque cars we know now.
It was a small, simple, lightweight two-seater open-top sports car which sold over 2500.
The British tax system of the time of the Lotus Seven meant the car could be supplied as a kit without attracting the tax surcharge that would apply if sold in assembled form. Tax rules specified assembly instructions could not be included, but with a stroke of clever thinkin
Today there are many kits all based around the original Lotus Seven. All of them have their own individual tweaks and all fit their own little part of the market.
Below we aim to list a few of the kits and highlight their own features:
|
Caterham
After Lotus ended production of the Seven, Caterham bought the rights to it, and today make both kits and fully assembled cars. Caterhams are sold in 20 countries today!
Caterham have five versions in their current line each with varients underneath them. The cheapest being the 'Clsssic' which comes with a 1.4 K series engine, 5 speed box and De-dion suspension. This is the 'old school' model which harps back to the original Lotus Seven.
Top of the Caterham line up is the CSR260. This is the 'Ultimate road and track performance' featuring a Cosworth Duratec engine, a 0-60 time of 3.1 seconds and a power to weight ratio of 472bhp-per-tonne! This is also the car which lapped the Dunsfold test track (the top gear track), in 1:17.4, unofficially taking the record from the £300,000 Koenigsegg.
|
MK
MK Sportscars have become one of the main players in the Seven-esque sports car market. They started by making suspension parts for other cars, mainly the home built 'locost' cars.
In 2000 they had developed their own car based on the Sierra - the Indy. Today they keep on developing the Indy and they have the all new IndyR.
Both cars use pars from the Sierra and can use a wide range of bike or car engines but are more commonly seen with fireblade or R1 engines from bikes and Pintos or Duratecs from cars.
|
MNR
MNR produce very well engineered and very distincive Seven-esque cars.
MNR or Marc Norden Racing is a company who have been involved in motorsport at top. They have successfully raced or engineered cars for the British Touring Car Championship, Clio Cup and MGF Cup as well as worked with drivers such as Colin McRae, Matt Neal and Jason Plato.
The cars they now produve are the result of extensive knowledge and experience, and boast many features and components designed to enhance safety, durability, and performance.
The MNR VortX can accept either a car or bike engine, features inboard suspension on all but the base model (we use base very begrudginly - basic it isnt!) and they all feature some of the most unique bodywork on a Seven-esque car.
|
Mac #1
Mac #1 Motorsport produce the Type ZR and the Type 9R.
The Type ZR is a Zetec based Seven-esque car with the advantage of a well designed engine compartment giving ease of install and good ballance to the car.
The Type 9R is the car designed for motorbike engines and gearboxes and has suspension designed to give great handling with these powerplants
Both the Mac #1 Motorsport cars offer the driver greater comfort with the well designed chassie, flexible engine mounts and slightly roomier cockpits.
|
Dax
Dax cars (DJ Sportscars LTD) is a family owned business who started off in life producing fibreglass parts and bodywork. They now produce some of the most entertaining Seven-esque cars around. They have three models in the Rush line up. The first is the car engine Rush and can use the ford ovc and dohc engines as well as the cosworth turbo and the beutiful V8 engines. Even better, suspension wise you can have De-Dion, IRS or 4x4 (quadra) based on the Sierra Cosworth running gear!!!
The other cars in the line up are the bike engine chassie, available with lightweight roundtube and camber compensation system, and the unusal long wheel base Rush which allows people over 6' tall to drive the car comfortably.
|
Westfield
Westfield began life in 1982. They started out with an excellent Lotus XI replica. Their first Seven-esque was the Westfield 7SE which was an exceptional success.
Their current line of cars include the excellent MegaBusa utilising the Hyabuse engine and the top of the range SEiGHT which has 320Nm of torque @ 2600 rpm thanks to a 3.9l V8!
|
|
|
