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My interest in the ‘Lotus 7’ style sports car started when I saw the original Lotus 7 in the mid 1960s. At the same time, I became interested in diy car mechanics whilst servicing and repairing the various cars I drove / owned, specifically Ford Popular E93A, Morris 1100, Morris Minor 1000, Austin Healey Sprite Mk1. Much later (mid 1990s) I began to research the various kits available, with the aspiration to build my own ‘Lotus 7 Inspired’ car at some point in the future. This involved buying kit car magazines and visiting kit car shows. I took the opportunity to visit the Westfield factory and later the Tiger workshop in Charlton, where Jim Dudley took me out in a Tiger Super Six. I had already begun to favour the Tiger, both for the styling and the price, but the visit and demonstration convinced me this was the one for me. Just as I was approaching the stage where I could think about preparing to order a basic chassis / body kit, the company I worked for began to run into difficulties and eventually I was made redundant, causing my plans to return to the ‘back burner’. By early 2008, I began to rethink my ambitions and envisioned possibly buying a completed example which might need some ‘fettling’. I started to look in the For Sale sections of kit car mags then in June of that year, having received an unexpected bonus of some back pay, I spotted an ad for a part-built Super Six kit in Essex. I was ‘persuaded’ by my wife to go and have a look. The kit turned out to be hardly started (chassis panelled, live back axle hung and brake lines just started) but included 2.0 pinto (allegedly ‘breathed on') complete with Dellorto 45s, Type 9 gearbox and most of the remaining donor parts needed. The kit was with its second owner, who had done nothing with it since he bought it from the original purchaser. He was asking £2000 and I persuaded him to throw in delivery to my son-in-law’s farm in East Yorkshire. The kit was delivered in July 2008 and deposited in the corner of a large grain store, with the plan being to work on it only on infrequent occasions initially (we live 40 odd miles away!) and look on it as a ‘retirement’ project. I also took the decision, after talking to Jim Dudley of Tiger, to strip it back to the chassis and start the build again from scratch, |