plans still on track

I have neglected posting to this blog and it may seem that I've lost a bit of the vision of seeing my Lotus 7 chassis being transformed in this year. I admit that there have been many distractions but my dream to build and drive my own Lotus 7 is still strong.
I have noticed an increase of sevens driving around PE, I hope to post photos of some of these on this blog in the near future.

spit and polish and a bit of sweat

Ray Moody (Builder of Lotus 11)

This morning I helped my friend Brendan Lennox get his Lotus 11 replicas ready for a photo shoot. His cars will be featured in the Weekend Post (a local Port Elizabeth Newspaper) in the 'My Car' section.
We had great fun getting them ready for the photo shoot in spite of the fact that we had to push the cars around as none of the batteries had life in them.
The Lotus 11 replicas are beautiful cars that Brendan's father Ray Moody and a friend built 25 years ago. They took 15 months to complete which is not long considering that they were built from scratch. The only 'plans' Ray had was a small picture of a Lotus 11, the rest was imagination and hard work. The chassis is along the same lines as a Lotus 7's chassis.
The cars both have 1500 motors in them, one a Ford 1500GT and the other a Lotus 1500 Twin Cam.
Brendan and I decided it was time that the cars get out onto the road again and soon we will be giving them a complete service so that at a turn of the key they can be taken out onto the roads of PE. So start exercising your neck muscles because these cars turn heads!
Photos I took of the cars can be viewed by clicking on the 'Lotus 11 Replicas' link under the Links on this Blog.

Thanks Brendan for including me in the fun, I look forward to seeing the article in the Weekend Post.

an afternoon of inspiration

Marion (my wife) and I visited Craig and Heather Fouche today and what an inspiration they were!
On recovering from a time of illness Craig started building a 'Locost 7' with his wife Heather. The result is an amazingly neat car that could be on a showroom floor.
Craig took me for a spin in the seven and it was smooth... the 1600 motor packing plenty of punch.
On leaving Heather gave me a bag of u-brackets for my build... thanks!

Photos of a recent gathering of PE Lotus enthusiasts that they attended, can be found here

Thanks Craig and Heather for the inspiration and encouragement you gave me.

In the beginning...

A number of years ago I started building a Lotus 7 replica based on the plans given in the book by Ron Champion "Build Your Own Sports Car". I teamed up with Ray Moody from Oudtshoorn in South Africa and so began an adventure.
I have dreamed of building my own car from my teen years and finally it was to happen! However a move from Oudtshoorn to Port Elizabeth put the project into mothballs and now the chassis of my Lotus 7 Replica hangs mournfully from the rafters of my garage.
So this year (despite an acute lack of financial backing for the project) I have decided to continue the project... I can hear the "it will never happen!" comments already! I have my doubts at times but I've done many things in my life that went against the odds, so what's new?
I will post some old photos of how it all began and who knows it might not be long and the photo journal will continue!
I will also post photos of friend's Lotus replicas and any others that I happen to come across.
Keep watching this Blog... you may well see the birth of another Lotus 7 replica!