Editing Lotus Seven (section)

==Mechanical details==

===Engines===
Originally equipped with the [[Ford Sidevalve engine]], the Series 2 received the new [[Ford Kent engine]]. The original "Super Seven" received versions of the Kent unit with [[Cosworth]] modifications. Later, the Kent engine was updated to the [[Ford Kent engine|crossflow design]]; this 1.6-litre engine was the most commonly installed one in the Series 3 as well as Series 4. A limited number of earlier cars received [[Coventry Climax]] FWA engines, while the later cars were offered with the [[Lotus-Ford Twin Cam]] engine.

===Frame and body===
The Lotus Seven was designed with racing in mind, and lightness was of primary concern to Chapman. Like racing cars of the time, it was therefore built around a multi-tube space frame with high sides to allow a stiffer frame (longer lever arm). The Series II and later road versions had simpler frames than the more race-oriented Series I.

A front-mounted engine driving the rear wheels (a similar layout to most cars of the day) and a very lightweight steel spaceframe was covered with stressed aluminium panel bodywork.<ref>Owner's manual</ref> The body panels were mainly flat to avoid the expense of more elaborate curved bodywork, and the simple cloth lined plastic doors were hinged from the windscreen. The nose-cone and wheel arches were originally aluminium parts, but these were replaced in the later S2 and S3 models with painted or self-coloured fibreglass.

===Weight===
Early Lotus Sevens weighed around 1,100&nbsp;lb (10cwt/500&nbsp;kg). Although the weight crept upward as production progressed, it remained remarkably low for a production car of over a litre displacement.

===Suspension===
The front was by "A" arms and coil springs with an anti-roll bar serving as the front half of the top A-arm. The rear had trailing arms, a triangular centre locating member, and a solid rear axle.