1965 Lotus Seven Simplifies And Adds Lightness

By Steven Symes Jul 17, 2019

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By Steven Symes Jul 17, 2019

This amazing roadster is only a hair’s breath away from a go-kart.

Even among legendary cars, this 1965 Lotus Seven is a giant. Well, it’s actually quite a small car, but that’s part of the brilliance in the simplistic British design. By being small and lightweight, this little roadster handles, accelerates, and even stops like a champ. You also get an open-wheel experience, something that’s often only reserved for racetracks.

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Don’t worry if you’re tall, because the previous owner extended the left-hand driver’s footwell so someone up to 6’3” can actually fit. Housed under that long, vented hood is a high-performance 1700cc Ford SuperSprint engine enhanced with a dry sump, headers, twin Webers, and a ¾ race cam. To take full advantage of that powerplant, this roadster has a close-ratio manual transmission, limited-slip differential, and Spax adjustable shocks. This is definitely a classic meant to be driven, not just garaged and hauled on a trailer.

While many of these Sevens shipped and were kept with just a polished aluminum body, this one wears green paint on the fenders and nose. While it still polishes up nicely, the paint is old enough there’s some spidering you can see upon close inspection. If you wanted to do a paint restoration, that could be corrected, making the car that much more impressive. Panasport alloy wheels and Khumo high-performance tires add to the old-timey look. Black leather seats and a simplified interior with fresh carpeting rounds out the tight presentation.

Lotus made the Seven from 1957 to 1973. You will see some modern versions of the car made by Caterham, which bought the rights from Lotus. Plenty of other companies have tried to copy the simplistic design of the Seven, a testament to how legendary and lust-worthy the little roadster is even today. Original models continue to climb in value, so grabbing this one would be a wise investment. This classic Lotus is available thanks to Silverstone Motorcars.

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