The cars ran 100E sidevalves but, just like today, some owners wanted more

You have to wonder what Colin Chapman would have made of the success of the Seven (née Mark VII) today. Conceived and designed one Sunday evening in 1957, it was nothing more than a cheap, light, straightforward competition sports car to replace the successful but by then long-in-the-tooth Mark VI. At that stage the XI was doing well, but its streamlined aluminium body made it expensive to buy and repair. So after Sunday dinner – to avoid the washing up – Chapman and fellow engineer Gilbert ‘Mac’ McIntosh set about creating something based on the XI but far simpler. By ten o’clock all the stressing was complete, and a week later the first car had been built.
 
To quote a former Lotus Components employee, the Seven was ‘thrown together when there were no race cars to work on’. Formula Two and getting the fibreglass-bodied Elite into production were the priorities, and Chapman would surely have expected the Seven, like all competitive cars, to last no more than a few years, by which time there would have been something better – probably from his own pen. The thought of it still going strong half-a-century later would have been implausible.

That triumph of longevity stems from the original design principle: it was just so right. The car was not only the fastest thing on the road but it was cheap enough for that performance to be accessible – and that remains the same today. Want supercar performance without the expense? The Seven still delivers. And while you can find faster track cars and faster road cars, nothing transfers between both disciplines quite so effortlessly – and the simplicity and lack of weight ensure that the driver is essential to the show. No bit-part players here!

Factory records show the build of the first Series One (as it was later to become known) prototype began on July 31, 1957. It was supplied to an Edward Lewis just in time for the Brighton Speed Trial on September 7, where it finished second in class with a time of 29.72 seconds. This car (which incidentally won at Prescott the next day) was in effect a racing special; production models would not be ready until December.

Those first cars ran Ford 100E sidevalves producing 28-40bhp, a three-speed gearbox, a Nash Metropolitan rear axle and drum brakes. Potential buyers looking for something they could drive to work during the week and compete in at weekends persuaded Chapman to junk the Burman steering boxes for the considerably more suitable upside-down Morris Minor racks. But, just like today, some owners wanted a little bit more…

Derek Harvey was one, and TVB 350 was the result. To him, a BMC 948cc A-series engine would be a better option, particularly as it came mated with a four-speed ’box, so on the second day of the 1957 Motor Show he attempted to order a basic kit minus an engine. Sales manager (and later the Formula One team manager) Peter Warr refused, saying the car had to have the Ford unit. It was only when Harvey later approached a younger salesman (and said he already had a 100E) that the order was placed.

With the car complete and racing successfully, Harvey made one of his many trips to the Lotus factory in Hornsey, north London, this time to buy a windscreen. Chapman invited him into the office for a coffee, which was unusual for the Lotus boss. At one point Harvey looked through the window and noticed an engineer measuring up his own engine. Shortly after that, the Seven was re-worked to run with the A-series. Coincidence? Probably not: Chapman was looking for a cost-effective alternative to the 100E, as the Americans were unimpressed with the ancient sidevalve motor found in the Anglia and Prefect.

This car, then, played an important role in the Seven’s early history – and this seemed an appropriate time to return with it to the little Hornsey worksheds at the top end of Tottenham Lane. When snapper Gus Gregory and I pitch up we don’t know what we’ll find; I half expect to discover it has long since been knocked down. It is something of a surprise, then, to see the old assembly sheds and stores, although the site is now a builder’s yard and the showroom has long been boarded up. Tucked next to The Wishing Well pub (formerly The Railway Hotel and owned by Chapman’s father Stanley), it’s clearly the right place, as not only does the building look the same as in archive photos, but there’s a Club Lotus wall plaque, too. There are plans to set up a Lotus museum on the site.

We arrive before dawn one September morning to reunite the Lotus legend with its birthplace. Today we will be travelling 50 miles south through over 50 years of history, as later we have an appointment with Caterham’s Anniversary model at the firm’s Surrey showroom. Before then, I want a traffic-free blast in the original – and in London, the only quiet roads are over at Silvertown.

Drop into the seat and cram your legs below the huge steering wheel, and you realise that in a bid to keep this car as minimalist as possible Chapman gave the driver all the space needed to work in and no more. The A-series engine thrums easily into life with a twist of choke, but there’s only just enough room to the left of the steering column for your foot to squeeze the direct-action clutch. This all makes the essential double de-clutch downshifts awkward at first, but the extra concentration means it’s all the more satisfying when everything snicks into place.

While not shockingly rapid by modern standards, the Seven is easily quick enough to keep up with traffic and accelerate out of tight spots. The motor always revs freely: in fact, Harvey once fitted a 1098cc but found it no faster because on track he could spin the 948cc up to 8000rpm. He raced at Goodwood, Silverstone, Brands Hatch and Mallory Park, and remembers dicing with Graham Hill in a Speedwell A35. Harvey was beaten on this occasion but at another Brands meeting he held off Peter Gethin, who later said: ‘I was going to try and pass you round Clearways, but your back end was hopping around so much I thought you’d clobber me!’