introduction

1968 - 1972

1973 - 1974

1975 - 1977

1978 - 1984

1985 - 1989

1990 - 2000

2001 - 2003

conclusion

 

I believe it was '91 when I was at SCCA Nationals driving in A modified with the rotary. Unlike Dmod, Amod allowed unlimited size wings. I put a wing together out of aluminized 3/4" construction foam which was 32 square feet in size. It also had substantial side plates. Salina was quite windy that year as I launched the car downwind at the start line. Turning roughly 90 degrees at the far end, I had a cross wind which nearly tipped the car over. As I turned toward the finish and into the wind, the wing disintegrated just as I was approaching a worker station. The car bicycled as it shed wing fragments, and the workers scattered! That's the short version of the "Exploding Wing" story.

Moving to Salt Lake City in 1982 put me in the Utah Region of SCCA which classified the Rotary powered Seven in SCCA's A modified, the unlimited class, unless ballasted up to 1500 lbs. The car was outclassed against the blown winged bottle rockets in Amod so after a few years of struggling I acquired a BDA, moving to Dmod with the rest of the Lotuses. The BDA brought Judy her National Championship in '92, but it was a mild 1600 and a bit low on power, so the YBM went into the car next. With the
new engine and further chassis refinements, the car was unbeatable on the track in '94. The only thing it could not beat was the SCCA protest committee!

I don't like to get into the protest thing. I built the car in good faith, the protester acted in good faith, and the Solo board was misguided in its ruling. We were all misguided by the ambiguous language in the Solo rule book. The protest held at the time, but the rules which had been vague were clarified to allow the car to compete the following year.


1992 before Judy won the Solo II National Championship

Bear Hollow Hill Climb, 1992
I used many different wing and spoiler configurations over the years and this one (left and center) was welded to the top rear frame tube. Note the severely shortened original Triumph steering rack. Necessary with the long a-arms.

Here we have the new pushrod front end and the circle track midget open tube rear end. With the YBM Cosworth offset under the hood, 10" and 14" wheels, all the movable mechanicals in the passenger compartment, the car at 1150 lbs became ferocious! I could change from Cosworth to rotary power overnight.

The pictures with the teeth indicate a large rear mounted radiator with an electric water pump and electric fan. Cooling was no problem, but although I ran an alternator, battery capacity was occasionally a problem.


University of Utah
March 1993
Alex Groves Photography


Evanston, August 1993
Alex Groves Photography


1994

The car was placed side-by-side with a stock Lotus in 1999 to insure the frame was correct dimensionally. I still allowed for a 16" engine setback and different suspension, but it looks correct and still has some original Lotus content including Universal Radiator frame pieces and Triumph uprights. Yes, the car had a Universal Radiator frame which was welded vs. the more common Arch Motors frames which were brazed. A very strong 220 hp rotary is ready for the engine bay and fresh bright anodized aluminum skin is ready to be riveted onto the frame. I still have the bill of sale from Lotus, a 1967 California title, the Lotus chassis tag and the Universal Radiator frame tag.

ECTR 2000.

With the engine no longer offset, bodywork back to stock dimensions, 8" and 10" wheels and a restored passenger compartment. Not as quick.

 

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