Introduction

A sevenesque roadster can be defined as any sports car that resembles a Lotus Seven either visually or in spirit. The Lotus Seven was originally designed by Colin Chapman in the late 1950's. For nearly 50 years, dozens of manufacturer's have produced everything from basic instructions for the do-it-yourselfer, to no-holds-barred, turn-key rocket cars that are highly customized, but can still be easily identified as "sevenesque". A typical home-built sevenesque roadster can accelerate from 0-60mph in under 6 seconds and usually costs anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 depending on the skill and tastes of the builder.  Turn-key and kit-based models typically range from $10,000 to $30,000 and more.

This website is dedicated to building a sevenesque roadster based on the inspirational writing in Ron Champion's book entitled, "Build Your Own Sports Car for as Little as £250" from Haynes Publishing. To distinguish Ron's design from other sevenesque roadsters, Ron adopted the name "Locost" (pronounced 'low-cost') to reflect the similarity with the Lotus design while reminding us that building a sports car from the ground up can be done on a minimal budget.

Today there are hundreds of builders around the world that have created, or are in the process of creating their own sevenesque roadster with nothing more than basic shop tools in their home garage. Each car develops it's own characteristics as the builder is challenged with a unique combination of budget constraints, parts availability, mechanical knowledge, and even government regulation. For those who desire an even greater challenge, the "750 Series" in the United Kingdom is dedicated to racing Ron Champion's Locost design. Similar creations also compete in the Sports Car Club of America's Solo II, D-mod classification (SCCA) with great success and a healthy dose of controversy. A competitive application of the sevenesque roadster is also gaining ground with the Grassroots Motorsports' officially recognized Locost class at their $2004 Challenge.

In addition to full CAD drawings of the "book" design to assist the Locost builder, this website contains drawings for alternative designs, an interactive 3-dimensional model of a sevenesque chassis, a list of builders from around the world, and step-by-step documentation of a sevenesque build through the assembly process. Please share my enthusiasm for the sevenesque roadster and contact me with any suggestions for improving this website.