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On January 7, 2003, I received
the following email...
Hi John,
Pat Kelly just put me on to your web site. I put an ad in North
American Pylon to sell my seven and she thought you might put
it on your site. My scanner is down, so if you have a picture
in red, that would be good.
What everybody
wants - a "seven in a basket". LSB 2325 SIII, bill
of sale from Lotus/Norwich, California title (1967). Highly modified
complete car with equipment from Tilton, Speedway, Aeroquip,
Bean, JFZ, AP, Racing Beat. Comes with a 220 hp 13B Mazda rotary,
pushrod front suspension, bright anodized aluminum panels and
many spares. Weighs 925lb in race trim. Gorgeous but only somewhat
original. Take it away "as is." Jim Gallagher
I forwarded his message to the
Lotus Seven email list at [email protected] and someone there
immediately asked - isn't this car rather famous? In fact, Jim
Gallagher and his 'Rotary Seven' were featured in Dennis Ortenburger's
'Legend of the Lotus Seven' -- a book highly revered by Lotus
Seven owners the world over. I immediately asked Jim if he would
provide additional details of the car that I might publish a
bit of its history on this site...
 This then, is the story of Jim Gallagher
and the Lotus Seven he bought new in England in 1968. He has
enjoyed, used, modified, updated and "except for perhaps
a 5 year break" competed in the car continuously from then
through 2002.
His Lotus Seven, a special car
to begin with, became a highly developed Solo II racer, incorporating
the experiments, lessons and ideas, wild and tame, from some
30 years of competition. Jim did not keep a detailed photo, specification
or competition diary - he was too busy working on the car. In
January of this year, when he decided to call it quits in the
SCCA Solo II race scene, he emailed me asking if I would list
his car for sale on the SimpleSevens web site. I forwarded his
message to the Lotus Seven email list. Almost before I had a
chance to reply to Jim myself, the car had been sold to a member
of that list.
Since that time, Jim has shared
many memories and what photos he could dig up of the car. This
story is written by him, with very minor edits on my part. The
photos Jim provided came from a variety of sources. I have done
my best to credit photographers where I could. The photo above
was taken by Dennis Ortenburger about 1974 for his book 'Legend
of the Lotus Seven' a worthwhile read for any Lotus Seven owner
if you can find a copy!
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