Category: Chassis

We had been considering switching tires as our 145/80 tires looked somewhat small. The Seven Series 2 was delivered with 520 x 13 tires, with a width of 14 cm and a diameter of approximately 58 cm. Our 145/80’s were not too far off regarding width but had a diameter of only approximately 56 cm, even with their relatively high 80 profile. Our narrow wings leave very little space for larger tires but we decided to give a set of 155’s a go. We had been quite happy with our Uniroyal RainExpert tires but stumbled on a set of Retro Classics that have a very contemporary look. The diameter of the 155/80’s is approximately 58 cm and they fit nicely within the narrow wings.

We are not sure whether our Seven had a roll bar when delivered. The one we have on the car was fitted when the car was restored in the 90es.

Besides the (debatable?) safety improvement of having one fitted, the roll bar is of course a topic for purists, as the look is more clean without and as most Lotus Sevens were not delivered with one.

For a long time we had been contemplating switching to narrow rear wings from the somewhat wider wings that were on the car when we acquired it. Opinions differ as to whether the narrow rear wings are actually too narrow, even when using wheels and tires in line with original specifications.

A common ‘trick’ back in the 60es seems to be to simply cut away part of the rear wing edge, which can actually be seen on the 1968 picture of SB2237 with Elan wheels.

Having changed from wider Minilites to Elan wheels and also fitted narrower tires, the wider wings did look a bit odd.

So we decided to give the narrow wings a try. We sourced new wings from Redline and we are quite happy with the result.