You learn to love the seatbelts in Art Rutledge's Lotus Super Seven as soon as he takes a corner in it. The 1960s British sports car, which is barely bigger than he is, almost launches you out of your seat as it whips around turns at top speed. The engine growls as it hits the straightaway, and your head snaps back as its absurd amount of acceleration kicks in. The wind whips past at ludicrous speed, as does the ground, which, as your butt reminds you, is a mere three inches away.
"This one has the same power-to-weight ratio as a [Dodge] Viper," Rutledge says, casually, but a fraction of the weight. "Because the brakes were made for a much heavier car …" Errt! He stops on a dime. "… It stops real fast."
Rutledge, who lives in St. Albert, built this reproduction of a classic British car himself. It's one of the hundreds of slick rides that will be on display this Saturday at the 10th biannual Alberta All British Motoring Society Field Meet.
Bitty British beauty
Rolly Burton parks his butter-cream 1968 Triumph Spitfire next to Rutledge a few moments later. The 67-year-old regularly drives the car around St. Albert, and is one of the organizers of the field meet.
The motoring society has held field meets every other year for 20 years, Burton says, and has about 100 members. Those drivers will have about 150 classic British cars and motorbikes at Edmonton's Victoria Park this weekend, including MG-As, Austin Minis, and Brough Superiors. Anyone with an interest in British cars is invited to attend.
"The English built their cars for speed, not necessarily to be practical," Burton says. Almost all the British manufacturers are now gone, making cars like his a rare sight on the road.
Burton says he got his car in 1992 because he wanted to teach his sons the basics of car repair. The car has a very simple engine, unlike today's models, and its whole front end flips up, allowing easy access to every component.
He gets thumbs-up from everyone he meets when they see the car, he says — if they can see it from the seat of their huge SUVs, that is. "The comment [they have] for my car is the same as it is for every Spitfire driver: 'Geez, I had one of those when I was going to university, I sold it and I wish I hadn't!'"
Automotive Frankenstein
Rutledge was a member of that crowd growing up. He always wanted to build a Lotus Super Seven from a kit when he was a kid, he says — just like Patrick McGoohan did in the TV show The Prisoner — but he could never afford it. Years later, he picked up the plans for the car on a business trip to Wales and set to work.
There followed 18 months of rooting through scrap-yards to find the parts he needed. "There are parts from almost every make, model and brand you can think of in here," he says, including Ford, Chrysler, Subaru, Harley and Honda. "There's part of a filing cabinet in here," he says, tapping the floor, and the wood dashboard is from a packing crate.
He finished the car in 2005 and now drives it all summer long. It's not the most comfortable ride, he admits — the wind makes anything over 60 kilometres a bit like riding in a blender— but it's light, nimble, and drives circles around any American car of its time.
It was cheaper for him to build a Lotus than buy one, he says. "A real Lotus of this vintage is probably worth $25,000 to $30,000," he says, while his replica cost less than $10,000. Besides, he adds, he always wanted one, and he likes to build stuff.
"Sometimes it's not the destination; it's the journey," he says.
The meet runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. this June 6. For details, call Burton at 780-458-6666.
