Building a Lotus 7

Back while looking for, fixing up, and driving a TR3, I inevitably learned a lot about the engineering history of roadsters: decisions made, technology introduced, and so forth. An important milestone in that history was the Lotus Seven (designed in the late 50s and produced until the early 70s):

The Seven is extremely minimal, with the focus on light weight and balanced handling, and intended for F2 racing. It was later sold as a “kit car” that would be shipped to and assembled at the dealership. Like other cars of the time, its drawbacks include a lack of independent rear suspension or limited slip differential,

The second milestone is the Mazda Miata (released in 1989 and still produced today):

Here’s where things stand now:

The rest of these pictures show some of the process: at some point I’ll organize these with descriptions!