Caterhams 7s often go for more money than original Lotuses... really!
Exception would be a Lotus 7 with some "history", and obviously if one of
the original 13 Lotus Seven S3 Twin Cam came up for sale, I guarantee it
will be expensive! Apart from Caterham, Lotus clones seem to have little
value on the used car market, and are very difficult to sell. I have seen
good ones though, especially the cars from South Africa (Birkin). If you
are not worried about resale value, you could have great fun with a clone.
Last year I had a very long drive in a Birkin (live axle) and a Caterham (De
Dion axle), both powered by a stock Zetec. I actually prefered the Birkin,
but its owner and builder was a German engineer, who really knows how to
build a car!
Cheapest of the original Lotus 7 are the Lotus Seven S4, then the A series
engined cars. The S4 has a better drive train and more cockpit space than
the S1/ll/lll, but the earlier cars look better.
If you want a Lotus Seven, I recommend you go for a Series ll A series
engined Lotus Seven. Fun to drive, and fast enough considering the car
weighs a tad over 1200 pounds. If you want to go faster and the "squarish"
rear end does not scare you off, go for a S4. The S4 Twin Cam is faster than
the 1600 crossflow car, but the S4 with the Ford "Kent" crossflow engine can
easily get the same amount of power for less money - parts for the Twin cam
are expensive and can be difficult to obtain.
You could pick up a Lotus Seven S4 for as little as $8,000 (one sold for
that price in Arizona not that long ago), and a series ll, A series engined
car, for about twice as much.
JLC
1970 Lotus Seven S4 Twin Cam, 115 hp at the rear wheels (6400 rpm) and 1310
lbs laden.
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