The British sports car manufacturer Lotus produced the legendary Seven between 1957 and 1973 in four model series. The two-seater was offered as a "Kit Car," which allowed buyers to avoid the consumption tax that applied to fully assembled vehicles at the time. The only catch was that no assembly instructions could be included with the kits. However, Lotus exploited a loophole in the legislation and provided buyers with disassembly instructions, which could simply be followed in reverse order for assembly. The Series II of the Lotus 7 was launched in 1960. The models featured a newly designed chassis, modified rear suspension, and smaller 13-inch wheels. The nose cone and fenders were switched from aluminum to fiberglass-reinforced plastic.