Editing Lotus Seven (section)

==={{anchor|S4|Series IV|Series 4}}Series 4===
{{Infobox automobile
| name           = Fourth generation
| production     = 1970–August 1973
| image          = Lotus7-S4.jpg
| engine         = {{ubl
  | 1298&nbsp;cc ''[[Ford Kent engine|Ford Kent]]'' [[Overhead valve engine|OHV]] [[Straight-four engine|I4]]
  | 1558&nbsp;cc ''[[Lotus-Ford Twin Cam|Lotus Twin Cam]]'' [[DOHC]] I4
  | 1599&nbsp;cc ''[[Ford Kent engine|Ford Kent]]'' OHV I4
  }}
}}
In 1970, Lotus radically changed the shape of the car to create the slightly more conventional sized Series 4 (S4), with a squarer fibreglass shell replacing most of the aluminium bodywork. It also offered some luxuries as standard, such as an internal heater matrix. The S4 Seven could be supplied with 1298 or 1599 cc [[Ford Kent engine|Kent engines]] or the [[Lotus-Ford Twin Cam|twin cam]].

Until now, most Sevens in the UK had been sold in kit form in order to avoid paying [[purchase tax]]. However, once the UK joined the [[EEC]] on 1 January 1973, the [[VAT]] system was adopted instead so the tax advantage of the kit-built Lotus Seven came to an end. Accordingly, in 1973, Lotus decided to shed fully its "British tax system"-inspired [[kit car]] image. As part of this plan, it sold the rights to the Seven to its only remaining agents [[Caterham Cars]] in England and [[Steelbro|Steel Brothers Limited]] in New Zealand.

Caterham ran out of the Lotus Series 4 kits in the early 1970s. When this occurred and in accordance with their agreement with Lotus, Caterham introduced its own brand version of the Series 3. They have been manufacturing the car ever since as the [[Caterham Seven]]. Steel Brothers Limited in [[Christchurch]], New Zealand, assembled Lotus Seven Series 4s until March 1979 when the last of the 95 kits provided by Lotus was used up.<ref>Steelbro innovations keep it in front of the competition, The Press, Christchurch, 14 September 2007, Fairfax Media</ref><ref>New Zealand Classic Car magazine, Volume 22 Issue 2, page 67, ISSN 1170-9332</ref> Steel Brothers had a much wider range of factory options than the UK models with carpet, centre console glove-box, radio, window-washer and hardtop. Sold largely to competition enthusiasts, the NZ cars also had engine modifications, close-ratio gears, and adjustable suspension as factory options. As such, they were very successful in local racing. With officially licensed production stopping in 1979, the last Lotus badged Seven, a Series 4, was therefore produced in New Zealand.<ref>{{cite magazine | url = http://www.clublotus.org.nz/Edition%2057.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181221214740/http://www.clublotus.org.nz/Edition%2057.pdf | archive-date = 2018-12-21 | title = The last Lotus 7 | page = 12 | publisher = Club Lotus NZ Inc. | first = Rex | last = Oddy | number = 57 | magazine = Edition }}</ref>

Steel Brothers Limited attempted to make a wider, modernised version of the Series 4, the Lotus Super 907, using the twin cam [[Lotus 907]] engine. In the spring of 1978 it was announced that this was to be sold in the United States<ref name=NZA>{{citation | ref = NZa | title = Assembly: New Zealand Car Production 1921–98 | last = Webster | first = Mark | publisher = Reed | year = 2002 | page = 146 | location = Birkenhead, Auckland, New Zealand | isbn = 0-7900-0846-7 }}</ref> - but the American importer had no funds and the project came to naught.<ref name=GGL>{{cite web | title = Super 907 | publisher = Golden Gate Lotus Club | work = Chapman Report Online | last = Rosner | first = Jon |date=June–July 2003 | url = http://gglotus.org/blog/2010/09/super-907/ | access-date = 2013-04-15 }}</ref> The single finished Super 907 was moved from New Zealand to the United States in 2010 to undergo a full restoration.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gglotus.org/blog/?p=1570|title = Super 907|date = 20 September 2010}}</ref>