The Lotus Seven and its modern progeny, the Caterham Seven, are iconic motor cars on par with the Volkswagen Beetle, the Land Rover Defender, the Mini Cooper and the Ford Mustang. What most people don’t know is why the Lotus is called the Seven, and that there was a Lotus One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six that came before it.
The team at XCAR recently decided to tell the story of the Lotuses that came before the Seven – and in their typical style its an entertaining and well researched short film, full of interesting historical trivia. By the time its 12 minute run time is over you’ll be very well versed in the history of the Seven, and you’ll probably be heading directly to the Caterham website.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
The Rickman Metisse Triumph is one of the most thoroughly British motorcycles we’ve featured in some time. Not only does it have a British engine and transmission thanks to Triumph, it has a Rickman frame and bodywork, and just to cap things off, it’s parked outside the Ace Cafe in London – the original home…
The Kellison J-4R was the brainchild of USAF pilot James Kellison, a man known for his exceptional intelligence, his deep love for cars, and his fascination with lightweight composites. In the 1950s the latest and greatest composite was fiberglass, a material that was a precursor to modern composites like carbon fiber, and that offered excellent…
The Porsche 959 is remembered a technological tour de force that forever changed the direction of supercar engineering, but in a wonderful twist of fate this pristine supercar was modified for rally, and sent off to compete in the world’s toughest race – the Paris-Dakar. The Porsche 959 The project to design and build the…
The Pontiac GTO Judge The Pontiac GTO Judge is a car that very nearly didn’t exist. It was originally intended as a cheaper, entry level version of the Pontiac GTO called the “E.T.” that would compete with the less expensive but no less popular Plymouth Road Runner, however this plan didn’t survive its presentation to Head…
The Mini Cooper is probably the most famous giant killer in motorsport history, it was the performance version of the classic Mini, a car that had originally been designed in 1957 by Jack Daniels and Chris Kingham, with head designer Alec Issigonis doing the lion’s share. A Short History of the Classic Mini The design brief…
This Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Competizione Group 4 was a period competitor between 1971 and 1972 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 6 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Watkins Glen 6 Hours, and the Road America 500 in Atlanta. The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Competizione Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona…
