50 Years of the 7

Norfolk Showground, September 2007

The first Lotus 7 left the factory on the 7th September 1957 and is still in production today as the Caterham 7. The Norfolk and Suffolk Lotus 7 Clubs (affectionately known as 'Carrotland') decided to hold a celebration to mark the Golden Jubilee (1957-2007) of this famous marque at the Norfolk Showground and other venues near Norwich. A great time was had by all and the following gives you a good idea of what we all got up to!

The above photo-montages, showing the history of the Seven, were displayed in the welcome area where we all registered and collected our event memorabilia.

On the Saturday morning, we met back at the Norfolk Showground for the start of the early morning blat to Southwold. Armed with our route maps, we set off at timed intervals and headed through the Norfolk and Suffolk countryside to Southwold Pier where a pre-arranged breakfast was laid on for us.

After breakfast at Southwold, we blatted back to the Showground and had a look at the Concours Area where there were models from practically every year of Seven production (Lotus and Caterham).

We were privileged to meet Edward Lewis who, according to 'Autosport' of Friday, September 13th 1957, won the Sports Cars 1501 to 2500cc class at the event in a time of 29.72 secs. The event in question was the Brighton Speed Trials on 7th September. The write-up in Autosport goes on to say "E. Lewis in a new version of the Lotus described as a Mark VII and fitted with disc brakes and a de Dion rear end, yet closely resembling the dear old Mark VI, really did motor sideways and came very close to travelling over the payment and into a very rough sea." In the first photo, he and his wife can be seen chatting to Maggie about our car which was entered in the 'used and abused' section.

A few general shots from around the Showground.