KEMPTON PARK, South Africa — The latest in a long line of Lotus 7 replicas, the Millennium 7 has been designed and built in South Africa and has made a showcar debut at the Zwartkops racing circuit. Now the car is to be available in kit form, but its maker is also setting up a dedicated assembly operation to make it available to a larger public.
The Millennium 7 is the pet project of Chris Carstens, who readily admits that the Lotus 7 of 1957 is "probably the most copied car of all time," with more than 90 variants built around the world since then. Carstens of Safair Technical, Kobus van der Walt of SAA Technical and a team of others from the South African aircraft and aeronautics world are "living their dream" by building the Millennium 7.
The Millennium 7 has a complex space frame made of cold rolled square tubing, covered with aluminum stressed skin panels and fiberglass bodywork that weighs less than 90 pounds. Two changes from the original Lotus are a cockpit "far larger" than the original's, "to accommodate the larger build of South Africans," and a windscreen that is more steeply raked, at 55 degrees, and mounted with carbon-fiber A-pillars. The front wheel fenders, inspired by those on aircraft, are partly enclosed. The Cobra seats are also widened for South Africans.
The company put a modified 1.6-liter 20-valve Toyota four-cylinder engine into the Millennium 7, mated to a Toyota T50 gearbox. It has laid in a supply of 2.0-liter Ford Duratec engines from the Focus to team with a Ford Type 9 gearbox in the planned production model. One customer used a Mazda RX-8 rotary engine in his.
The kit is priced at the equivalent of $20,300 and includes frame, bodywork, suspension, brakes and tubing, pedal box and master cylinders, steering system and a basic wiring harness. The engine, gearbox, differential, driveshafts, radiator, steering wheel, instrumentation and wheels and tires are all extra-cost items. The car can turn into a track-day racer with the addition of a bolt-on roll cage and lightweight 15-inch wheels with Dunlop semi-slicks.
To date, 20 Millennium 7 cars have been built or started, Carstens says, and one of those has been sent to Australia for homologation. Export to other countries, including the U.K. and Japan, is envisaged. Carstens promises a "new business model" to be ready early in 2010, with no word on how quickly production will follow after that.
Inside Line says: Some great things just need to go on and on. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent
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