Lotus - Lotus 7
The first Lotus 7 was powered by the side valve Ford 1172 engine, and was an instant success with it's extremely light weight and good performance. It was produced in many variations until 1973 when the rights to the manufacturing were sold to the Lotus agent Caterham Cars. Caterham carried on building the Lotus Seven Series 3 and developed and evolved it as the years went on.
Due to the length of time the Lotus7 was made, there were many sizes of tyres used and listed below are some of the sizes that would be useful :
The original Lotus 7 had 15" wheels up to 1961, and 13" wheels thereafter. With the earlier cars that originally fitted 5.20x15, you can use the radial equivalent 155HR5 tyre all round, while many people like to fit the slightly larger 165VR15 size to the rear axle. For 1961 when the Lotus7 was now using 13" wheels, the correct tyre size was 145R13, while the later Lotus7 Series 3 and Series 4 were fitted with the 165R13 tyre size. Another useful size available that customers often ask for is our wider version of the 165R13 size which is the Blockley 185/70VR13, but nothing fatter than the 165HR13 Blockley is required for the Lotus7. Blockley also produces a 175/70VR13 tyre which we have been asked for, so we list this below also:
