What's a Lotus 3.5? A Half-Done Lotus Seven Clone

Lotus Seven kit for saleLotus Seven clones hardly count as replicas as the Seven hardly counted as a car. Simply a motor, cockpit and minimal chassis coverage to get the job done, they embodied “simplify and add lightness” better than anything before or since. Caterham will gladly sell you a new one, but why pay so much for such a simple thing when you can build your own? Someone took that attitude and bought a kit from the now defunct Demon Motorsports of Canada, but didn’t quite see it through…

Here you get a complete frame with a Miata drivetrain mounted inside. Obviously the most critical part would be an in-person inspection of that frame’s build quality; without a good frame you’ve just got a pile of scrap. Next, completing the suspension, brakes, driver controls and wiring will fall to the buyer. Honestly, none of that sounds too tough, given that we’re working on an open-chassis featherweight car and all (mostly) new parts. As someone wresting with a 53 year old rusty black widow sanctuary, that half-built orphan chassis looks positively delightful.

Auction ends today with a $5,000 buy in. Too much? Too little? What do you think?
Lotus 7 Kit – eBay Motors

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 64 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here

  1. smalleyxb122 Avatar
    smalleyxb122

    At the current $5k bid (13 minutes left), it’s a bargain, if you were ever planning on building a Se7en.

  2. smalleyxb122 Avatar
    smalleyxb122

    At the current $5k bid (13 minutes left), it’s a bargain, if you were ever planning on building a Se7en.

  3. Bret Avatar

    That was very well bought. I’m glad I didn’t see it before the auction ended.

  4. Tanshanomi Avatar

    When I think about unfinished projects…
    https://media0.giphy.com/media/B6JHpx3wVV7bO/200.gif

    1. smalleyxb122 Avatar
      smalleyxb122

      Generally good advice. The difference here is that this is a barely started project. This is almost like buying a fresh kit, just cheaper. You wouldn’t be buying someone else’s project, you’d be buying your project. The only real open question is of the quality of a (now defunct) Demon Motorsports kit.

      1. Tanshanomi Avatar

        It’s not just other people’s unfinished projects. I would include kits, or even the unfinished projects in my garage. Sooooo much work needed, so little time…

      2. Vairship Avatar
        Vairship

        You have to hope they didn’t lose a piece somewhere. Some tiny, unobtainium part that you’ll never find on eBay…

    2. dr zero Avatar
      dr zero

      You have 6 fingers?