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In the “Photo of Your Car You Took Today” thread I mentioned the wife won a sealed bid auction for a 1981 Triumph Spitfire 1500. A local LBC (Little British Car) club known as the Boot ‘n Bonnet Car Club inherited the one owner, low mileage 1981 (build date was June, 1980 but VIN model year is “B” for 1981) Spitfire as seen here: Spitfire Auction n.pdf . She beat out the next nearest bidder by $19.80 because she used the cars build date of June 1980 in her bid. It had been sitting for over three years before the club took possession. Because of this it has some issues. The club member who was storing the car said the automatic choke was stuck on and would cause the engine foul the plugs and stall. It would require removal and cleaning of the plugs before it run again and of course he’d have to repeat this after so many engine starts. When we first went to see the car we noticed the rear end was damp as were several other areas. We knew it would need some things done like replacing dried gaskets and seals and rubber items like wiper blades and tires. The wife had a devil of a time getting her insurance company to honour their quote. Three phone calls and over three hours and they still won’t sign off on what they had quoted. Five minutes on the phone to a Hagerty rep and her new car was on our policy with all the same items including Road Side Assistance. She also had a fight at several Service Ontario Centers trying to get the ownership transferred. They all required a new appraisal. They would not accept either of the two that came with the car. Finally she called a friend in the business. Was able to do a quick appraisal using the Governments 1 page form. He did note all the items that would have to be repaired or replaced in order for it to pass safety. We went back to a Service Ontario Center and they accepted the paperwork without questions. So Linda finally got the ownership transferred into her name as an unfit vehicle and a temporary plate good for 10 days to allow us to drive the car home and to the shop that would do the safety check. With everything now done we arranged to pick up the car. The day came and we went over everything with the cars recent custodian. We decided to drive the car home from where it was being stored because I wanted to give it a good shake down. The plan was for me to drive it part way home and stop to fill up with fuel. I would go over everything I had learned with Linda and then let her drive it the rest of the way. I pulled out of the driveway which was on a step hill and put my foot to the floor. Clouds of grey black smoke billowed out of the exhaust pipe and I could not get it above 30 kph it was running so rich. After a couple of kilometers it started to clear itself and before I knew it I was doing 80 kph in top gear. It seemed to be running fine. I made it to the first stop sign and turned south onto the main road and the little Spit hummed along rather nicely as the engine temperature had started to rise. However, it died after only 6 kilometers. We phoned the chap we had just left and he came with some tools I did not have. He snapped in a spark check viewer and there was plenty of spark. Next we pulled the plugs expecting to find them fouled yet they were clean but DRY. They should have been wet from all the cranking so the verdict was fuel starvation. Lucky for us a call to Hagerty and a flatbed was there within the hour. It was delivered to the shop that is doing the safety. They will be going over the car and get it running as well. I expect there will be a list of items that we will have to address. It has been sitting at the shop for week now as they were backed up. Tomorrow it is supposed to be first in. Being Friday I don’t expect to see the car until sometime next week. Little British Cars, they always need something, right? I’ve attached some photos we took on our first visit to see the car. These are not in the ad I linked above.

First attempt is Triumph because the Ital is a wider Standard 10, lots of parts compatibility and the best chance of the part interchange. If a Spit back plate and hub dont go straigt on without backspace issues, it's not worth making major alterations. OEM still works. I just think Spit drums will be lighter, better balanced and more proportional to the 7. As a bonus, there are Spit finned alloy drums available.

Hagerty just increased my premium from $555 to $1200 annual after one year today. I’m shopping around now. The sales rep on the phone said “kit cars” in California have been “reclassified” as the justification because they are more popular now, whatever that means. I’m relocating to Colorado soon and the quote there was $900. will try Grundy I guess. Quite annoying as I couldn’t even get through the quote process with them last time since the system was down. How does one find a broker? Worth it?

How about Sprite/Midget brakes? They're in that size range. note--drums would need re-drilling

The plate USA 7S is registered to a Grey 2014 Mini Paceman Cooper 4x4 which the last MOT showed having 76,862 miles. No personal info available. Sound like a car owned by anyone here?

Bumping this, and a new question. I am asking if Marina/Ital 8" rear drums can be changed over to Spitfire 7" drums? Doing this offers a few benefits: Spitfire parts are easier to source. Front ans rear brakes are copesetic with a common vehicle. The brakes are smaller and lighter for a lighter car.

It would be cool if it was someone on here, but it could be a Rugby plate too.

Good morning All, Currently in the U.K. on holiday. We were in the Bedford area heading to the train station when I saw a car, not a 7, parked in a drive way with the registration number “USA 7S”. Wasn’t fast enough to get a picture, but wonder if it belongs to someone on here?

The CA SB 100 was, among many things, desirable about this Caterham. But I’m happy, within a week, a passionate Minnesotan flew out to make a deal.

This was the connection at issue (factory wired side)

Got this sorted. Ended up being the Caterham installed connectors (on both sides) that were not fully seated. Improved my multimeter skills! Wish I found it sooner…

Shame to see that SB100 sticker leave CA... pure gold right there. How many SB100 CSRs are there... not many I'd wager.

Black Beauty (her name from before my garage) had the best ergonomics for me of any car I’ve ever driven, even if your feet are skewed a bit to starboard. The layout made great sense, decent luggage allowance and a spare tyre. To my eyes one of the best body designs ever. And arguably the most fun to drive in it’s responsiveness. These pics from LOG 34 in A’ville. Bob Dance checking her out. We’d met him a in 2012 at Classic Lotus in Hethel, after Lotus were the featured marque at Goodwood Festival of Speed. Getting three cars ready to show was a fun day.

I was gonna ask about a "better" app for planning rides, but it got away from me and I just made something. Vibecoded, anyway. The app itself is just planning; actual turn-by-turn routing is Maps or Beeline (or anything that can use GPX export). Who wants to help me test and share feedback? The concept is a fairly straightforward maps (Google maps) experience to add a series of waypoints to build a long route. Once the route is set up, it can be shared, edited, or navigated. Smaller routes (<10 waypoints) can go straight into Google Maps. Each leg from here -> Waypoint can be navigated (click -> send to maps). The whole route can be exported, then imported into Beeline or anything that reads GPX. For Beeline it's a few clicks to create a new ride from the export. Mobile experience is the same, works surprisingly well on a handset. The sample route below should be viewable here: https://route7-prod.web.app/route/Bj6Gm4GZKw3U Message me a gmail address and I can whitelist for editing.

It’ll be going East to Minnesota!

Dang Darren, was hoping to see you with this car in person at least once before it went! Is it at least staying local?

Beautiful car. Enjoy your new ride! When I went to check out an Esprit V8 earlier this year, the owner has a white Europa Special in his side yard, completely taken apart to be restored. The owner also has a Esprit S4 and a Elise. He said the Europa handles the best among all these cars.

Caterham fish and chip run 2026 lots of Caterhams

@Colorado7er Josh, have anything?

It's hard to tell, but the first photo looks like it has lowered floors.

Assuming you have the Standard 10 rear axle and brakes, the following link to a resource in the library here should be helpful. As Scotticus recommended, Ken Gray at Dave Bean may be a very helpful US resource. As may Ray at Rzd Enterprises. But if neither have what you need, Google around for Standard 10 resources in the UK - there is a Std 10 club that is quite useful. When I replaced mine a few years ago, new old stock was readily available - though I don't remember if through one of the above resources or through ebay. Also check Kelvedon, SJS, and TTR. If you have a different rear axle, you may need to find alternate resources.

https://www.caterhamlotus7.club/forums/topic/261100-headlight-dipped-and-main-beam-problems/ this may give you some ideas on where to look. Although it’s likely a bit different wiring layout. maybe use a tracer to find where the cut out is happening. https://a.co/d/07OC6834

Hey all - nearing the end of my 360R build and am trying to sort out an issue with the main beams (high beams). Dipped (low beams) headlights work with the switch. But when I turn on the main beams, either with the dedicated switch or the flash to pass switch, the main beams do NOT come on, though the dashboard indicator does come on. Here is what I’ve tested: - Headlight relay works - Main beam fuse is fine - multi meter shows power at the fuse and at the relay as expected. Somewhere along the line, power is being interrupted to the headlights. Given neither main beam works and neither switch works, I’m guessing a connection somewhere. Thanks in advance for any thoughts. Full build can be found in the build threads…

I'm thankful this sold quickly, saved me from making a terrible decision 😂

Tim, you have to go to the Triumph guys for the cars that used the 7" (Stanpart) Standard 10 ,TR 10 axle and shop for those parts. There are many here who have S2s who could give a quick answer. I hope they do. Tony Weale writes, "The series 2 use the cheaper but similarly sized axle from the standard triumph, eight, ten and companion range of cars , which was almost out of production by 1960. Axle supplies, though , lasted for another eight years." If that is what you have. Rear brakes may have been changed out to suit the 7 and another owner may have so checking that is something. I reccomend pulling a drum and measuring the inner diameter and brake shoe width. Get any part numbers off the shoes, drum back plate, drum, and axle. An interesting factoid, a Standard 10 axle from the 60s still has a lot of part interchangeability with the Ital/Marina axles of the 80s. I will look for the info for the Triumph Standard 10 brakes. Another thing, what you find will not likely have the correct shoe compound. Shaving down the middle of the shoes may help prevent lockup. Here is a relining specialist https://porterfield-brakes.com/manufacturer/brake-shoes/ From Tony Weale Per Weale, rear brake shoe PN for 60-68 S2 Standard Axle is "MGR21", which may be an early Caterham catalog PN. Per the Caterham Lotus 7 S2,3&4 Service Manual reprint, Section J 10, Rear shoe PN for "M.S.1"= "120131", which may be for S1 Metropolitan axle. Then M.S.3 =8260. Unfortunately in the illustrated key to axle components list, he brake shoe PN is not listed, sec H 5. But it would be a Lotus PN. The Dave Bean catalog gives this You may want to call Ken @(209) 754-5802 Must join the club to buy. Excellent prices https://www.standardmotor.club/standard-8-10-etc/braking-system-1/brake-shoes-adjusters-brake-springs-and-fitting-kits So far, it appears that the Spitfire 7" rears are identical to the Standard 10, but the back plate may not be. I don't know if there is any offset issues with springs, etc. I will update this post with new info.