Colin Chapman has been called a genius by those who know. He was the God of Lightness, engineering cars that were lighter in weight and thus, with the same power, faster than anything in their class. His suspension concepts were equally brilliant. Early in his career Chapman produced the Lotus Seven: fast and responsive, the little cycle-fender, tube-frame 2-seater weighed a mere 725 pounds. Fifty years later the Seven remains a favorite with drivers and collectors and is still in production, albeit under the Caterham name. In 1973 Caterham Cars acquired the manufacturing rights and now builds the Super 7, arguably the quickest small sports car in the world (0-60 in 3.7 seconds).

John Carroll, whose small collection of equally small sports cars we've been featuring in a series of blogs (that's his Ginetta on the left of our photo), is currently rebuilding a 1978 Lotus Seven made by Caterham, powered by a twin-cam Cosworth Ford. It shows a respectable 108 hp on the dyno but John estimates that when finished, 126 hp will be more likely. Transmission is a 4-speed unit. The most interesting reveal behind this car is that, until John found it on e-Bay, it had spent its entire life in Japan. A Lotus Seven built in England, always driven in Japan, finds a new home in Canada: now that's what I call globalisation at its finest.

[Photo: Philip Powell]