The Lotus Super Seven is perhaps the simplest and most elemental of sportscars. It is wheels, engine, seats, a pop-eyed face like a praying mantis, and bodywork like an early aeroplane. Conceived in 1957 as a very low-budget club-racer, it found a home racing on the decommissioned WWII runways of England. Ultimately, it’s a cave-painting of a car, the most stripped-down idea of what one should be. Ook. Sportscar. Colin Chapman’s creation would go on to spawn endless copies and variations on a theme, from Caterham to Donkervoort to the TMC Costin.
