I autocrossed Detroit V-8s against those 4-wheel motorcycles AKA Lotus 7s in CA, mostly unsuccesfully. I once asked the owner of one why he only competed locally. He said, "I'm 29 yrs old and I want to preserve my kidneys and spine for old age. Drive my Lotus 7 200 highway miles to an event? Not a bloody chance! I would need hospitalization."
In reply to TR8owner :
Modern cars will beat old ones by the stopwatch. But the old ones connect drivers to the road in ways new ones don't. It's all about the feel, for me. I had a Bugeye Sprite. What joy!
FWIW, while Lotus 7s are very light nimble cars they did have one weakness. Those front fenders, I raced my old MG inn the days when vintage racing was new where I live (late 1970s) against a Lotus 7 driven by a friend. H would have been an outright winner in any low/medium seed contest like a slalom/solo event, but when we got out on the track and hit around 80 mph together, it was as if a large hand had come out and yanked him backward as I motored away from him.
Those front fenders were anything but aerodynamic (a bit surprising given Chapman's excellent and aerodynamic Lotus Elite), and at least at that time, cutting slots in them to let the air out wasn't allowed. That didn't prevent me from watching episodes of The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan motoring along in his green S2 Lotus 7 with bright yellow nose.
The Elan is a lovely design and you can still buy complete chassis to replace rotted ones, so one could keep them running indefinitely. Of course the thought I'd have of fitting one with a turbo Ecotec engine to update it would have the purists after me.
The Elan for me. I am a sucker for a pretty face and the Elan actually has decent body styling rather than the (by comparison) terminator style exo look of the 7.
You'll get far less rocks in the teeth with the clamshell fenders.
Ideally, you'll want one of each - a Seven and an Elan; every car has its purpose.
SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:You'll get far less rocks in the teeth with the clamshell fenders.
Ideally, you'll want one of each - a Seven and an Elan; every car has its purpose.
I'd settle for a Europa with a 300 bhp Ecotec drivetrain....... 
In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
Same. Different cars for different purposes.
Regarding the "old car fast" thing, I remember one of the times I was driving my mother around on errands in my Spitfire. Near her house is a road that goes up a somewhat steep hill from a traffic light. I was winding the engine out climbing up that hill and happened to get a glimpse of "that look" on her face. As we crested the hill, I mentioned "we're going all of 40 MPH right now..." (the speed limit is 45). Between the noise and the fact your butt is about 6" above the road surface, the sense of speed in a Spitfire is far greater than your actual speed.
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