In the often snooty and arcane world of replica and kit car building, one of the more amazing and humanistic stories around is the groundswell movement started by Ron Champion's 1996 book Build Your Own Sports Car for as Little as 250£ (And Race it!), which UK price in pounds back then translated to about $445 US dollars. The team at Canadian Online Locost Distributors (COLD) are among a large group of gearheads from all over the world who have revered this little volume as "life-changing," "revolutionary," making it the basis of their company mission to provide parts and support for building the Champion Lotus 7 replica as a low-cost project that the average Joe can accomplish and enjoy within a minimal timeframe.
The Langley, British Columbia company founders are unashamed apologists for the Champion Locost Lotus replica movement, and offer products, parts, documentation and every kind of support--especially moral--in translating Champion's UK-contexted instructions to North American builders. The Canadian company calls their Lotus Locost replica the Sevenesque Roadster by COLD, and the three principals, Christopher Bush - Sales and Marketing Director, Erik DeBoer - Head Fabricator and Director of Operations, and Jim McSorley - Principal Designer and Engineer are a team dedicated to "Speeding Your Dream to the Road."
The COLD website tells customers at the outset to read Build Your Own Sports Car for as Little as 250£ before researching their kit replica. Some readers gushed, "I never expected it to be that exciting," exhorting car enthusiasts to "read it from cover to cover, and then read it again!" But be warned, at least one addict said, "It gave me the bug to build the car! I haven't slept well since I read it." Such is the power of the book that started the "Locost" Lotus 7 replica phenomenon, which somehow gives a lot of people the confidence to put together their own racing roadster for under $10K with readily available parts and a can-do attitude.
Get Racing in 3 Months, or in 30 Days!
The book itself was self-published and re-published many times, and a few copies pop up on Amazon and eBay from time to time, running a pricey $160 last time I looked. Simply put, the book tells how to build a roadworthy two-seater open sports car in the style and spirit of a Lotus 7 replica for a fraction of the cost of a kit car, using donor parts from a range of garden-variety autos. And, if you get your ducks all in a row, which the book instructs you how to do, you can have your car ready to roar in less than 90 days!
The COLD Sevenesque Roadster target customer is one who wants to do a straightforward build of his Lotus 7 replica car and be out club racing and winning in a few months max. With company assistance, a Sevenesque design can be fabricated to any level of completion that a customer desires, based on a wide variety of available donor parts. The original UK book was based on a Euro Ford Mk2 Escort donor which was never available in North America, so the COLD website helpfully lists other American greatest donor hits such as: the Mazda Miata 1.6 or 1.8, Toyota Corolla GTS 80'-87' RWD version, Mazda RX-7, all 3 generations, Nissan 200sx and 240sx, Honda S-2000, and of all things, older Mazda, Nissan or Ford Ranger Pickup trucks.
Judging by the multitude of Ron Champion-centered chat and forum websites, it is estimated that at any given time, hundreds and perhaps even thousands of dedicated builders are working on their locost racecars in places all around the world. COLD has stepped into the gap of expertise and professional assistance that may be needed by many of these builders. By merging the quality of fabrication provided by the shops at COLD along with bolt-on suspension and improved overall geometry; a Sevenesque design keeps the costs low and gets builders on the race track in record time. COLD build guidances assure that the individual, regardless of mechanical prowess, can complete their car in as little as 3 months with the Sevenesque 40% Progress Kit, and as little as 30 days with the 80% Progress Kit. In the labor-intensive world of kit and replica car building, how close to instant gratification is that!
