Widebody S4 Lotus Seven

[Oldfart]

Trevor, PM sent

[Patrick.Harlow]

Below is all I know about the Bainbridge at this stage. I have a lot of other rumors and unconfirmed stories. It is an excerpt from the Auto Age magazine printed in 1985. A full reprint of the article has been uploaded to my thread "NZ Cars A cottage Industry as I did not think it appropriate to put it in this thread. The car shown as part of the article is an Everson Eagle not a Bainbridge.

Part 1


Part 2

[Binzy1]

Patrick - thanks very much....all interesting to me (selfishly!) as when bought it I didn't really comprehend it's history and have subsequently enjoyed pulling together snippets of info.
Lindsay

[Patrick.Harlow]

Then perhaps Lindsay you can confirm that the car above is a Bainbridge and perhaps post some different pictures of it.

[Binzy1]

Patrick - I can't confirm if a Bainbridge or not but can confirm it's not mine as mine is a S4 widebody chassis from the Steele's jigs they bought and has the S3 'styled' body to fit over it. The one on the cover looks a bit too compact by comparison....and the dash is different. I believe they MAY have built a couple S3 chassis but unsure if ever finished them in to a working car.
Lindsay

[MikeP]

I heard Malcolm at Bygone Autos currently has the Black Widebody for sale in his workshop.

[jim short]

Hi Paul do you know what diff ratios Steel bros. offered for their cars?? did they ever get into the 3s??

[MikeP]

Not sure if Steel Bros were the same but the English service handbook I got for my car says 3.77:1

[jim short]

Thanks I got the last set they had in 1994?? for my SS and can not remember but it was the fastest they used?/

[jamie]

A MAZING I orignley built the car for SEXEY REXEY but the motor would not stand 9000rpm at Wigram all sorts of nasty things escaped from inside the block so i fitted A BDA bottom and dry sump it but with the TWIN CAM head but it was still not fast enuf for REX JAMIE A

[Nzwomble]

Paul, your car doesn't look too bad. Maybe some seat covering and a bit of carpet, and she would be ready to shoot the breeze. What state is the engine in if it hasn't been run for a few years? I think I would be tempted to have some fun in it. Might be a long time before the house is paid off!!!!!!!

Hi Paul. Saw this thread by accident and thought I should add to it. My father (Bob Harden) was the first owner of the white wide bodied 7 he drove it up from Christchurch new in November 1978 nego number JA7334. Your car was built at the same time. Car came with 7 inch hot wires and had the most ridiculous mud flaps under the front wings, that were discarded strait away. Car was wrecked by fire in 1990 I think and dad bought it off the insurance company. Was then sold to Harry Hawkins who was going to rebuild. Remember your car back in the day was very fast but unreliable as I remember.

[Nzwomble]

[Steve Holmes]

Agreed, looks great on those wheels!

[Chrionyx]

The other car wasn't bad either... This is another photo of the same Seven with a different line up...

[Chrionyx]

Nice one of the front end...

[Steve Holmes]

Fantastic photos!

[Chrionyx]

It was a fantastic car as womble will attest. I was more familiar with the back of the car or commonly known as the parcel shelf.. as a young kid womble and i would sit in there and be driven around... good fun.. (ah the good ol days)

[W154]

Hi Paul,

I also have a wide body S4, the ex- Murray Bryden car that ran in the Australian Sports Car Championships (when it was for Production Sports Cars) in 1980 - 81. A mate has just finished a wide body conversion on a Norwich S4 and there is also the ex- Dick Smith S4 still running around out of Canberra.

My car ran 1840cc TC, injected and 5 speed Hollinger though laterly it ran with a Pinto 2 Litre and 4 speed. I will be putting it back to TC as time and funds allow.

Do you know if Steele Bros actually produced a wide body version or did Charlie produce a one-off?

I would be interesting to compare notes. I will scan some photo's.

CCR

Aussiemonza
I have just found this site whilst browsing The Nostalgia Forum" on Autosport and came across this forum which I have a VERY personal interest in. I have read through all the comments and I think perhaps a few of them need to be discussed further.
In my opinion any resemblance between the MB car and a Lotus Super 7 Series 4 was purely coincidental. To this day I still don't know how it ever got a CAMS Group D log book. I did a hell of a lot of research on S4 sevens and went to Pomgolia to purchase the real thing after mant discussions with "the powers that be at CAMS". I got my log book only to find that MB then got a log book for what was basically a "hot rod". My memory was that it was powered by a full house Cosworth FVA or BDA can't remember which one and the chassis bore no resemblance to a S4 chassis. Any way that is all in the past, he got away with it so good luck to him. He certainly kept the 934's on their toes at the tight circuits!
As for my old car in Canberra. I converted my race car back to a road car( ie bolted on some road wheels and tyres) and sold it to a chap called Ian (?) McLaren. I was told on good authority that he was killed in the car when it took off on the Westgate Freeway in Melbourne and hit a road sign and burst into flames. If that is not the case I will be very happy to know that Ian and car are still OK.!! My car was a Lotus factory built 7 and had the chassis plate to prove it so if anybody has any info on "current" owner wouldn't mind contacting him/her as I live just down the road on Vic/NSW border.
Will post some more info to set the record straight about racing 7's and some photos of my car undergoing "wide body conversion" and build if any interest.
DS

[aussiemonza]

Aussiemonza
I have just found this site whilst browsing The Nostalgia Forum" on Autosport and came across this forum which I have a VERY personal interest in. I have read through all the comments and I think perhaps a few of them need to be discussed further.
In my opinion any resemblance between the MB car and a Lotus Super 7 Series 4 was purely coincidental. To this day I still don't know how it ever got a CAMS Group D log book. I did a hell of a lot of research on S4 sevens and went to Pomgolia to purchase the real thing after mant discussions with "the powers that be at CAMS". I got my log book only to find that MB then got a log book for what was basically a "hot rod". My memory was that it was powered by a full house Cosworth FVA or BDA can't remember which one and the chassis bore no resemblance to a S4 chassis. Any way that is all in the past, he got away with it so good luck to him. He certainly kept the 934's on their toes at the tight circuits!
As for my old car in Canberra. I converted my race car back to a road car( ie bolted on some road wheels and tyres) and sold it to a chap called Ian (?) McLaren. I was told on good authority that he was killed in the car when it took off on the Westgate Freeway in Melbourne and hit a road sign and burst into flames. If that is not the case I will be very happy to know that Ian and car are still OK.!! My car was a Lotus factory built 7 and had the chassis plate to prove it so if anybody has any info on "current" owner wouldn't mind contacting him/her as I live just down the road on Vic/NSW border.
Will post some more info to set the record straight about racing 7's and some photos of my car undergoing "wide body conversion" and build if any interest.
DS

W154, PM sent.

MB ended up running an all alloy 2lt Alloy Twin Cam on injection in 1981 (he tells me) but sold the car in 1982 to the Alan Jones Driving Centre/Jim Murcott without the Twin Cam, 5 speed g'box, and centre-lock wheels. Murcott put the Pinto in, 4 speed and Rebels. That's how I got it after being fire damaged.

CCR

[Steve Holmes]

Aussiemonza
I have just found this site whilst browsing The Nostalgia Forum" on Autosport and came across this forum which I have a VERY personal interest in. I have read through all the comments and I think perhaps a few of them need to be discussed further.
In my opinion any resemblance between the MB car and a Lotus Super 7 Series 4 was purely coincidental. To this day I still don't know how it ever got a CAMS Group D log book. I did a hell of a lot of research on S4 sevens and went to Pomgolia to purchase the real thing after mant discussions with "the powers that be at CAMS". I got my log book only to find that MB then got a log book for what was basically a "hot rod". My memory was that it was powered by a full house Cosworth FVA or BDA can't remember which one and the chassis bore no resemblance to a S4 chassis. Any way that is all in the past, he got away with it so good luck to him. He certainly kept the 934's on their toes at the tight circuits!
As for my old car in Canberra. I converted my race car back to a road car( ie bolted on some road wheels and tyres) and sold it to a chap called Ian (?) McLaren. I was told on good authority that he was killed in the car when it took off on the Westgate Freeway in Melbourne and hit a road sign and burst into flames. If that is not the case I will be very happy to know that Ian and car are still OK.!! My car was a Lotus factory built 7 and had the chassis plate to prove it so if anybody has any info on "current" owner wouldn't mind contacting him/her as I live just down the road on Vic/NSW border.
Will post some more info to set the record straight about racing 7's and some photos of my car undergoing "wide body conversion" and build if any interest.
DS

I too would love to see pics.