Car & Classic Premium Auctioneer

Iconic Auctioneers Ltd

The Forge, Harwoods House, Banbury Rd, Ashorne, Leamington Spa

CV35 0AA

1959 Lotus Seven For Sale

To be offered by Silverstone Auctions as part of the live online ‘Silverstone Classic' sale from 11:00am BST on Saturday 1st August 2020. Please see the Silverstone Auctions website for full details of how to book an appointment to view between 16th to 30th July and register to bid.

The 'SA-30 Collection' - 30 exceptional vehicles chosen to celebrate 30 years of the Silverstone Classic and all excitingly offered at No Reserve

One of approximately 243 Series 1 cars built and consequently now very rare
Purchased and built by period Lotus stores man Jay 'JJ' Hall on 20/ 11/ 1959
Immediately entered a long competition career, with period film capturing some events
Relocated to Scandinavia in the mid 1960's and bought by Per Roxlin in 1985
Roxlin undertook a full restoration and upgraded it to ‘Series A’ spec with the desirable BMC ‘A’ Series 1098cc engine and 4-speed gearbox. The bodywork was restored by Williams & Pritchard, original Lotus coachbuilders
Repatriated in 1995 by Rod Leach and remained in a private collection for around 20 years
Fabulous period competition history (separate panel) and eligible and welcome in historic motorsport today
Still immense fun on the road, and nicely restored with great history, this is a charming example of the embryonic Lotus Seven
Typifying the maxim that a whole can be greater than the sum of its parts, the Lotus Seven was introduced at the 1957 Earls Court Motor Show. Based around a multi-tubular spaceframe chassis, the aluminium-panelled newcomer was powered by a choice of Ford 100E, Coventry Climax FWA or BMC A-series engines. Popular with sporting motorists and club racers alike, the Lotus Seven evolved through Series 2, 3 and 4 guises before the design rights were sold to Caterham in 1973.

Sevens dominated club racing in the late 1950's and early 1960's, and with Team Lotus starting to give the established ‘Scuderia' cause for concern internationally, the fever to go racing was rife for Lotus’ in-house store's man, Jay 'J J' Hall. Astonishingly, our research into this car led us in early 2020 to catch up with Jay, who is now in his 80s, and discover the story of this Lotus direct from the source.

Jay started working for Lotus in 1958 and, like all new recruits, was told upon his induction not to have any wild fantasies about ‘staff discounts’. So when the itch to race needed scratching, Jay and some like-minded and highly talented colleagues sought to build their own cars instead. Led by renowned car designer Len Terry, the group’s resulting sports car specials were known as the Terriers and they proved very effective. Too effective, in fact. Several wins and podiums not only upset Lotus owners, who disliked being beaten by something built by the factory workers, but Colin Chapman himself was furious. Len Terry was fired over the fiasco and, on the advice of Mike Costin, Jay sold his Terrier back to Len so that he could “build a demon Seven instead.”

Jay ordered this Seven as a complete set of un-assembled parts from Lotus Components, which was an option many Seven owners took as it saved the new car purchase tax that was applied to a car completed by the manufacturer, and was released from Lotus’s new Cheshunt factory on 20th November 1959 – Jay’s birthday. Lotus had moved its operations from Hornsey earlier in the year and Jay had found accommodation at the nearby White Horse Inn, negotiating the use of its garage in the process, and it was here that Lotus Seven chassis No. 787 was delivered after Jay had pulled a favour from Lotus’s van driver.

Jay also persuaded Hertfordshire’s registration office to allocate him the very appropriate registration number ‘787 JJH’ – the car’s chassis number, followed by his initials!

All that was left to do was build it. The build was gradual, using spare weekends and evenings, and completed with the help of Lotus colleagues who all helped each other build their various projects. Jay would later ease the financial burden by selling a share in the car to colleagues Peter Hutcheon in 1960 and Mark Roberts in 1961.

A ‘Series F’ car this Seven was fitted with the ubiquitous and reliable Ford 100E engine and 3-speed gearbox, and its 40bhp was more than enough to make this sub-500kg Lotus a real giant-killer. Once built, all that the Lotus needed was a livery and Jay commissioned sign-writer Roy Elmore to replicate the scheme adorning his traditional pudding bowl crash helmet: pale blue with a central white stripe.

Jay and his ‘shareholder’ Peter Hutcheon spent their first three race meetings finding their feet at Silverstone over May & June 1960 and, in this evocatively innocent era, taught themselves to drive quickly using a book called ‘How to Drive a Racing Car.” This culminated in a 5th place for Jay in the 10-lap scratch race on 18th June. Jay and Peter continued entering as many events as possible throughout the summer and into September and even entered the hotly contested 1172cc Chapman Trophy series. Their exploits were captured in a number of stunning images, a film recording and a few column inches in Autosport. By the end of 1960, 787 JJH’s scorecard read: one win at Silverstone, a third at Snetterton and 12 further top-ten finishes.

Having campaigned no fewer than 26 races, 787 JJH required some attention in preparation for 1961. Mark Roberts, Jay’s best friend at Lotus, took over Peter Hutcheon’s share and as an extraordinary engineer helped Jay improve the Seven by canting over and boring its engine. Mark Roberts went on to found his eponymous film and TV camera company, which was awarded an Oscar for its innovation before being acquired by Nikon.

The time spent working on the Seven left little time to race it in 1961, but Jay and Mark crammed in no fewer than 10 race meetings between August and October. The highlight was Jay taking his first win at Mallory Park. Jay sold the Seven after 1961, a consequence he says of getting married, but a chance encounter saw him reunited with it a few years later in Brighton, where he’d gone to see the finishers arrive from the Veteran Car Run and recognised ‘his’ Lotus parked on the seafront. From that point in the mid-1960s, the Seven relocated to Scandinavia and was the property of Mr Per Roxlin by 1985. Recognising it as a rare and very special Series One, Roxlin undertook a full restoration of the Lotus and upgraded it to ‘Series A’ specification with the celebrated BMC ‘A’ series 1098cc engine and 4-speed gearbox. The bodywork was carried out by Williams & Pritchard no less, who were the original coachbuilders for Lotus.

Repatriated in 1995 by the classic car dealer and AC Cobra specialist Rod Leach, the Seven was in a private collection for around 20 years before being acquired by our vendor.

Eligible for and positively welcomed in historic motorsport today, the Series One is the purest, prettiest and most coveted of the breed. Still immense fun on the road, and nicely restored with great history, this is a charming example of the embryonic Lotus Seven.

Please click here to view the race results for this car.

This advert has now been removed through sale or otherwise.
Please see the list below for similar live adverts.

Similar Adverts

New cam belt and head gasket fitted 600 miles ago New discs Toyo proxies fitted 200 miles ago Short shift gear change and stainless exhaust. Suspension metal work cleaned treated with kur rust and sprayed with dinatrol. Retrimmed in 2004 Lots of history and Mots to support the milage . At the moment it wrapped up in a ...

80,600
9 Feb 2024
Cambridgeshire
Private

Restored Elan +2S 130 with 4speed gearbox. 1558cc Big Valve engine (126bhp) with twin WEBER carburators. Very impressive car fully functional. Video at ytchannel YDClassics Invoices and bills of restoration come with the car. Can be delivered worlwide.<br><br>

56,700
12 Mar 2024
Greece
Private

1991 LOTUS ELAN SE 1.6 TURBO ONLY 88k MILES MOT MARCH 2025 JUST SERVICED, TIMING BELT DONE BY US ALONG WITH REPLACING ALL ROOF SEALS AT GREAT EXPENSE! ANY PART EXCHANGE WELCOME. FULL DEALER FACILITIES. WE ARE DELIGHTED TO HAVE THIS STUNNING LITTLE LOTUS ELAN SE TURBO IN OUR SHOWROOM. IT IS IN FANTASTIC CONDITION. IT HAS ...

88,992
24 Feb 2024
Scotland
Private

MkVII-422 Sold new as a kit - 20th February 1958 23rd Seven ever produced An authentic piece of Lotus history History known, owners identified Coming with a very significant file filled with 500 pictures, John Watson letters, invoices... Many more details of its history to check on our website Still fitted with ...

99
10 Mar 2024
France
Verified Dealer (see stock)

This is a great opportunity to get into Lotus Elise ownership (or add to your collection…) at an effective price. The car is for sale on eBay by auction: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166668023281 2002 Ruby Red Lotus Elise S2 Sports Tourer 89,388 miles MOT until 11th March 2025 Extensive service history (see below) Cat ...

89,388
21 Mar 2024
Scotland
Private

Lotus Esprit S1 project. All running and driving but will need repaint and some prep work. Interior at the trimmers currently having tartan fitted, around 60% at the moment but being worked on now. Orange carpets with the car along with new boot wood and engine bay carpet set. Wheels all refurbished with new tyres, ...

83,000
19 Mar 2024
Devon
Private

For sale my lovely lotus elan which I have owned for 15yrs the elan has had complete rebuild new spider chassis, total engine rebuild and balanced, carburettor overhauled, new rad , all dials serviced and calibrated, new battery and tyres, new carpets etc , transistorised ignition, new suspension, new carpets , and so ...

5,000
9 Feb 2024
Hampshire
Private

Lotus Esprit V8 GT Finished in Calypso Red With Grey Leather and Grey Alcantara Interior Atspeed Racing Chargecooling System Fitted – Producing 400bhp+ Gearbox Upgrade with Close Ratio Gearkit (GTO) Quaife ATB Differential Twin Plate Clutch Upgrade Air Conditioning V8 Sports Exhaust System Rear Round Light ...

42,161
31 Jan 2024
Surrey

A 1969 LOTUS ELAN + 2 COUPE 70459 miles, 1558CC Petrol, two former owners, in good condition, purchased by the current owner in 1984. Not been used for many years and so few jobs to sort. Won the 1st prize in 1984 at the Lotus Lakes show.<br><br>

70,459
25 Mar 2024
Cheshire
Private

Lotus Elise 111R Touring, 2004, 3 previous owners, 29.5k miles, FLSH, handbooks, 2x keys, past invoices for all work. Storm Titanium, Black Leather, Electric windows, A/C, Nitrons, Fully refurbed shadow chrome alloys with 4x new Yokohama tyres. Major service done 2k miles ago inc plugs, transmission oil, brake fluid, ...

29,500
29 Feb 2024
Yorkshire
Private

TO SEE A FULL VIDEO OF THIS CAR PLEASE CLICK ON THE ADVERT LINK IN THIS AD OR GO STRAIGHT TO YOUTUBE AND TYPE IN NORTH EAST SPORTS SALVAGE 1970 LOTUS SEVEN SERIES 4 ..... 1970 LOTUS SERIES 4, WITH FULLY REBUILT ORIGINAL LOTUS TWIN CAM ENGINE ULTRA RARE CAR SOLID CHASSIS , RUNS AND DRIVES SPOT ON , TAX AND MOT EXEMPT BUT ...

77,335
3 Mar 2024
Northumberland