Mid life crisis I guess - but I quite fancy having a Caterham for the summer. Realistically it probably won't happen (not least as I have nowhere to garage it).
If it did, it'd have to be cheap-ish and I'd like to recover nearly all my money at the end of the summer, or next Spring. Is this a likely scenario?
If so, what should one look for? Or are there alternative suggestions which would work better? (This, maybe? tinyurl.com/44bmc).
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Smokie old boy,
Your link doesn't seem to work.
Caterhams are the only kitcar that will hold their value, so if you buy at a good price you should do ok.
As for what to look for, I don't think there are any 'dud' Caterhams, but I personally don't like the look of the old style clamshell wings.
Just right for the trip to LM eh? :-)
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Do a search on Se7ens digest on google good bunch on their which run all manner of 7 type cars. I don't get on with Cats as I don't fit! Was building a Westfield which tends to be a tad softer. The other one I'd look at is the Fisher Fury which is not open wheeled but a similar thrill.
Jim
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There is also the Dax Rush.
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Never was that keen on the looks of the Dutton
If your considering Caterhams, then you must surely consider Westfields as well. Amongst others that I think are better looking are the Sylva Stryker and Sylva Fury, but there aren't many about - just make sure you know what you are getting if it is a 'kit car' - I seem to remember there was at least one Lotus 7 lookalike (Sherwood ?) that was bodied with plywood....
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Sorry about the link. Here's another tinyurl.com/4smn8 . It's the first car on Autotrader if you search for Caterham's.
"Have Caterham performance and ability for a fraction of the price! Presented in Ruby red metallic with stainless steel panels. Fitted with a fully rebuilt and balanced piper cam Ford Pinto 2000 cc OHC engine with twin Dellorto 40's Carbs giving this fantastic car an output of 150 BHP. Spec includes; close ratio 4 speed gearbox, cross drilled ventilated front discs, crossed drilled rear discs, brand new 17 inch 225/40 ZR Alloy wheels and tyres, stainless steel side exhaust, hydralic "flyoff" rear handbrake, competition harness for both seats, painted engine detailing, full tonneau cover, proper heating system, push button starter, full instrumentation."
Truckosaurus, yes, it would be great for Le Mans (do I know you??) but performance and style would be spoilt by the caravan...
I thought that there would probably be a better place to look that Autotrader...will go to the Se7ens site for a gander...and also scout round for the other recommendations.
These seem mostly to be owned by ppl with lots of technical know how or lots of money. Being somewhat challenged in both departments, am I taling too many risks?
Interested about the "don't fit" comment. I might not either... I need to find someone with one to take a closer look!!
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> Truckosaurus, yes, it would be great for Le Mans (do Iknow you??)
You spoke in my defence on the CA site the other day, when my (real) name was taken in vain...
Back on Topic, I'd be wary about buying a random kitcar as they'd be harder to sell on, and might not work out any cheap in the long term. Plus, you'd have the devil's job finding all the correct parts... "now where do you think this wheel bearing came from?"
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I've seen some Westfields in action at a hillclimb event - similar to Caterhams, until a 5-litre V8 one snaked and spun its way up the hill, that is!
Cheers, SS
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Most of the current kits have a vast following and are reasonably resaleable things. When I sold my part built Westie it sold literally in minutes!
All kits are based on production mechanics with a few exceptions and they're so damned expensive if you can afford it you won't be worried about scouting for bits. Huge knowledge around about kits so finding your example wheel bearing would take minutes thats if you can't work it out yourself. Local garages happy to work on kits, Sierra or Cortina bits mean cheap spares. Older ones have dodgy wiring and can have flakey build but MOT covers the real disasters and SVA covers the new ones. Caterhams aren't the bees knees they are well known by those outside the kit community however things like Furies win most of the competitions. As regards big engines in kits then the cat is bad, Westies and the others rcan run big engines! Did a rolling road session with my TR7 & 20+ other Lotus 7s & lookalikes. One Westie drag races with 4.2 litres and an Auto box and gave 299BHP at the wheels. The nearest the cats got was an RS500 witha 1.8 K series which gave around 280 @ 9,200RPM!
Jim
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If you can get the cash together for a Caterham then go for it.
They are unbelievable fun to drive on a sunny summers day. Minimal depreciation and low insurance and running costs if you do the servicing yourself.
Don't go the cheap route and opt for one of the cheaper options unless you are capable of doign more maintenance work yourself. The vibration in all of these cars tend to cause bits to shake loose much more often than anything BL produced in the days when Red Robbo ran the production line.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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