In the never-ending quest for its history, I've heard
from a previous owner of my '61 Lotus Seven... Does
any of the following ring any bells with anyone?
"The car was built/imported by Ray Walley (or Wally) I
understood without an engine. He installed an 1147
spitfire engine on the AH gearbox and drove it to New
Jersey autocross championships in the 1960s. Ray was
based near Princeton New Jersey and in the early 70s
was proprieter of Z and W Mazda of Princeton (being
the W.) Ray sold it to one of the employees named John
Heseltine"
Curious is the fact that the Lotus record shows my
chassis number having sold to Kaback, a New Jersey
dealer, with a 948 Gold Seal motor. I suppose Walley
could have ordered it from Kaback, and Kaback could
have pulled the motor prior to selling to Walley... or
did the motor come out before it left the factory...
or was it slated for installation and never installed?
I also have letters from DSK that refer to the
Sptifire motor in the early 1980s so that jibes with
the story above...
Any and all insights or leads appreciated!
Cheers,
John Donohoe
SimpleSevens.org
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