Al Olseen's 2006 WCM Ultralite XR7c - Light, Simple, & Swift

Lotus Cars of Hethel, Norfolk, England, produced the Lotus Seven from 1957-1972. The Seven embodied Lotus Cars' philosophy of achieving high performance derived from being lightweight and simple. To avoid Great Britain's excessive purchase tax rates, the Seven could be bought Completely Knocked Down (CKD) as a kit, or fully assembled, which required customers to pay Britain's tax surcharge.

Caterham Cars, the remaining sales agent for the Lotus Seven, purchased the rights to produce the Seven from Lotus Cars in 1973. Caterham still manufactures several variants of the original Seven today. In addition, there are numerous replicar companies that reproduce the sports car.

Noteworthy among the replica Seven manufacturers is a company in Lancaster, Texas, called World Class Motorsports (WCM). WCM builds two versions of the Seven, the S2K Ultralite and the XR7 Ultralite. Honda S2000 engines and six-speed manual gearboxes power both models. The XR7c on these pages is the lightest and best-performing variant of the two Ultralite models offered.

Fittingly, Al Olseen of San Jose, California, owns this superlative XR7c, which he had WCM paint British Racing Green. He was a professional snowmobile racer as a young man. Al later campaigned a 1,100-pound Dan Gurney Eagle Formula Ford open-wheel race car and a Formula Russell car that topped 150 mph and had a 200hp Mazda engine.

Given the Formula cars that Al used to campaign most successfully in SCCA events in Northern California, his XR7c should be very familiar to him. The Honda S2000 engine produces 240 hp, the car weighs less than 1,100 pounds, and it's scant inches off the ground. As you might expect, Al bought the XR7c Ultralite to enjoy on the unlimited twisty and scenic roads that characterize much of Northern California. But he also intends to exercise it on the track. In fact, KIT CAR made a special junket to San Jose to photograph the WCM before Al's first scheduled track event. We wanted to make sure the photography was pristine. Though roadrace rash looks cool on a race car, there's definitely something to be said for getting a car photographed fresh from the paint booth and before it has spent time at speed. We don't need to see any road rash in the British Racing Green paintwork to know this car handles on rails and is scary fast. The WCM Ultralites have run strong at the last several Run 'N' Gun events, outperforming and handling sports cars with over twice as much horsepower and torque.

Knowing Al's driving and racing prowess, we can't think of anyone better suited to owning such a fabulous replica racing machine. Al, have fun tearing up the tracks and taking on the twisties! And thanks for letting KIT CAR feature your award-winning WCM Ultralite XR7c.

At 8,300 rpm, the Honda S2000...        read full caption At 8,300 rpm, the Honda S2000 two-liter engine produces 240 hp and 153 lb-ft of torque at 7,500 rpm, which is more than sufficient for the 1,047-pound WCM Ultralite XR7c to be a swift machine.
	Tan vinyl-trimmed aluminum-framed...        read full caption Tan vinyl-trimmed aluminum-framed layback racing seats have a power tilt feature and are equipped with Ultra-Shield racing safety harnesses. The rollcage is both SCCA- and NASA-approved.	The rearview mirror not only...        read full caption The rearview mirror not only attaches to the dual windscreens, but it is also where the hood's rear holddown pin is located.
A full complement of TPI-Tech...        read full caption A full complement of TPI-Tech instruments fill the dashboard.	Al removed the hood so we...        read full caption Al removed the hood so we could show that the pedal assembly is adjustable fore and aft via hydraulic pistons.
Custom 1 7/8-inch 4-into-1...        read full caption Custom 1 7/8-inch 4-into-1 tubular headers feed into a catalytic converter with dual oxygen sensors back to a stainless steel muffler.	The Subaru WRX limited-slip...        read full caption The Subaru WRX limited-slip differential is suspended with a 10-link independent rear suspension system that has adjustable rod ends and aluminum uprights.	J Line Custom wheels are 17x8...        read full caption J Line Custom wheels are 17x8 inches in the front, as shown, and 17x9.5 inches in the rear. Drilled 12-inch Wilwood rotors with forged aluminum four-piston calipers stop the front rolling stock, while 10-inch Wilwood inboard drilled discs and forged aluminum calipers halt the rears.

Facts Box
Al Olseen
San Jose, California
2006 WCM Ultralite XR7c
www.wcmultralite.com