Kitcat

I have seen a Seven on the road exactly two times in my life: for a while in the late 60's there was one parked near where I attended law school, and last year at the Sevens meet at the Dragon. No wonder eveyone stares and smiles.

One of the more amazing little tidbits abt the state of our economy that I read in the NY Times recently is this: There is a device called a credit swap (I probably have the details all screwed up) that companies issued to prevent huge losses. A mammoth market developed for these things with them being sold and resold, to the point that the money invested is 7x the value of the underlying obligation. These are now so over capitalized that they are 2x the value of the entire US stock market! That can't be good.

I must say that anyplace called Kerville (curve-ville?) sounds like an ideal destination for a Seven! Is this also known as Kerrville? If so it's just 1250 miles from Cincy, then 800 miles on tour there, and another 1250 back. Too far for me, probably, but wouldn't mind knowing the exact location, just as a point of idle interest.

It's starting to thaw out in Cincy and, after a few more good rains, the salt that's everywhere will hopefully be gone. So it seems like a good time to see who does the most driving around here. I propose that we jot down our mileage now and compare notes next November 1 (the useful driving season in this part of the world). No prizes, but maybe braggin rights. I know a car from west Texas will probably chalk up 7K miles by the end of May alone. Then there is the fanatic in Wisconsin who apparently uses his Seven to plow his driveway in the winter, so he will be a factor too. Tow mileage doesn't count so I propose a second category-those who towed their Sevens the farthest. Of course its all honorary and besides, its the quality of the driving, not the distance, that counts. But, why not? I am at 18, 097, and counting!

Last I heard, my son's AirTran stop-over thru Atlanta airport yesterday was delayed til 2:30am today:(.

Think of it as a backup vehicle for those not so rare occasions when your Seven dies at a track day. Just hop in this little baby and head back out onto the track and never miss a beat. No cussin out the Seven or developing a bad vibe toward it . Plus no issue as to how to get the Seven home either! I know it is an impure thought and I would never do such a thing. Still....

Driver skill is a huge factor. But you can always challenge them with your "straight line driving skill":). My Caterham has a top speed of 105 mph which, between the noise, wind, proximity of the asphalt, etc., I find to be pretty exciting. I can not imagine 130 mph!

As you noted in the for-sale section, it's a $65K car. Assuming you let it go for $40K, the depreciation hit has occurred. So the buyer can anticipate years of (exhilarating) driving and then selling it for not much less (or possibly more???) than the purchase price. Are you listening prospective buyers?

How did your car compare to Flyin Miata's Westie? Their site says they were top dog. They are also running turbo Miata power and both Bill and Keith are experienced drivers.

I frequently do-with ear plugs!

Al: What would yours cost if purchased, assembled, new? My guess is $55-60K. Your price range seems very reasonable. The car is like new, barely broken in, all the gremlins have been exorcised, it's registered, available now, not in 6 months, etc. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I bought my Crossflow for $22.5K but due to a serious case of "up-graditis" am now closing in on the $30K range, and I am not done. And when I am done, I still wont have a car that compares with yours. Just some thoughts for any prospective buyers out there.

I checked Ohio traffic law and you are right. Either headphones or ear plugs are illegal & I do both. So far no problems with the law tho. Ditto my practice of not using the mandatory front license plate. I will continue to flaunt the law as preserving what's left of my already age-diminished hearing is important. I have not noticed any problems hearing sirens etc. The system I use cuts the outside noise down to a level probably equivalent to the reduction caused in a normal sedan with the windows up, and air conditioning & radio on.

I should add that anytime I am in my Seven, I wear foam ear plugs AND a protective set of noise reducing ear-muffs-purchased at the local hardware store. Like you might use if operating a power saw/lawnmower, etc.

What a car! 80 hours on the wiring alone? I am exhausted just reading about it. It has obviously been a labor of love. The engine bay is amazingly tidy. My Crossflow's looks like an industrial dump by comparison. Amazing power too. How do the relatively skinny 205 tires (same as on my mighty 100 hp Crossflow) put down so much hp? I assume wheelspin is an issue in the first 3 gears? How'd she do at the track?

The exhaust on my Caterham runs along the side of the car and under the rear axle and out the back. Other cars' exhausts end at the driver's left elbow, like the Birkin pictured just above this post. Maybe that makes a difference with the intensity of the sound?

Skittishness over bumps seems to be a Caterham/Birkin trademark. I don't think the weight of the car would cause it. My theory is it is stiff (track oriented) springs or stiff (track oriented) shock valving, or both. I assume the springs can be replaced with something softer, I am sure the Birkin experts here will know. The shocks can be re-valved to your liking. Places like Predatormotorsport.com will do it for about $100-$150 per shock, as I recall. They work on about everything. If you have Koni's, Koni of N America can re-valve (as can Predator, et al)

The only car I ever saw roll at an auto-x (without hitting anything) was a Datsun 2000 roadster with a "trick" suspension. Unfortunately, it was so trick that it went solid under hard cornering on sticky auto-x tires and over she went, right in the middle of the parking lot, 1/2 thru a hard right hander.

When I was a pup at the U of Ill, I was friends with an enginering professor whose specialty was concrete (Not much of a life). He said if we banned trucks, roads would last 1000 years.

We paid about $7.00 gallon last year for diesel in Italy. Our little Opel minivan got abt 35-38 mpg. As long as gas is, relatively, cheap at $3.00 gallon, the best selling vehicles will remain the Ford & Chevy pickups which seem to average about 12-14 mpg on a good day.Bump the price of gas to $4-5 a gallon and the diesel mini-van may make sense here too. BTW, the extra money for gas will be going to our buddies in OPEC, not for healthcare.

Yes Sevens v. bikers was big fun at our Sevens gathering at the Dragon last July. My little Crossflow was pretty competitive, at least until the throttle linkage broke:(. BTW, since we have been remiss at welcoming the newbies-Welcome aboard! Special shout-out to those 60+ year old dudes, like me, who haven't forgotten that life can still be pretty thrilling sometimes (Having a Seven definitely helps). I have owned mine for about 9 months so am still a newbie myself.

So I see the RA1's on my car should have been removed and stored inside for the winter. Yikes! Since I did not do that, I will report about any cracking/failure issues this next year.

Ford 109E, 1340cc? Perhaps prep'd by Cosworth? Described by"Lotus Seven and the Independents" as having an impressively short lifespan:). Or Ford 116E, a 1498 cc engine. Or almost anything. Some of the Lotus Seven gurus will have to speak up.

Do we even have an official greeter? I have to say I almost never look at that part of the Forum. Guys, it's not personal, I am generally just looking at the Sevens stuff that seems to relate to my car. My hunch is any questions you post in other sections here will be answered promptly, politely and enthusiastically.

Is it April 1 already? I understand the gas guage isn't 100% accurate, so I hope you are prepared to deeply discount the price.

Looks like the drive shaft from the aft motors to the forward propeller has to pass thru the cockpit. As in right thru the pilot. How does that work?