Kitcat

Well, you may have lost your job Shane (which truly $suck$), but obviously not your sense of humor! I am looking into getting an emergency order of Cincinnati's infamous (and that's putting it nicely) Skyline chili sent to you. That stuff never spoils (how can sawdust with spice spoil?). And, believe me, if you actually eat it, you will soon forget any other troubles you thought you had:).

Wow 7 days Skip! Same as it took the old Pony Express to deliver a letter from Nebraska to California. Mite have taken them longer to deliver a muffler than a letter tho:). Interesting debate now over whether to continuing funding for the U.S. Post Office past this Sept. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to establish the post office and postal roads. It doesn't say it has to use that power, it seems to be discretionary.

$55K, and-dealers few and far between, unacceptable reliability, unobtainable parts, BUT telepathic driving experience, etc., etc.(I'm in:)). BTW, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that it's soon to be an all-electric world. I don't remember voting for that! What I foresee is USA = Cuba in 50 years. Ancient internal combustion engined vehicles being held together by bailing wire and high end duct tape, still transporting the masses. Sort of the mid- 21st century version of '56 DeSotos in Havana today.

They tested everyone in a large Ohio prison a few days ago (2,000 inmates) and roughly 80% were infected, tho no reported deaths. Apparently if death occurs, it happens about a month after infection so maybe dire news is in the future? Or not, who knows? They did a fairly random test of 3000 people on the West Coast recently and infected rate was 50-80x as high as the expected rate based on projections founded on the sparse testing up to that point. All of which suggest everyone is really guessing when they try to base assessments on very incomplete testing.

Apparently you can't just park them and forget them. They need to be maintained to some degree on an ongoing basis. So engines have to be fired up, hydraulics checked, even the tires have to be tended to.

Hey Croc: There is an '82 Ferrari for sale on BAT that is your F-car's twin (except for color). Looks like you are about to get a market value for your car?

Squeegee: Not of Titanic proportions, but not bad for a first post:)! Congrats to you and kayentaskier! We expect photos, stories etc. Let's keep the chuffing going!

"Price upon application". Right, I need to apply for the thrill of being allowed to consider buying your vehicle. Sorry, I will pass.

I got my May issue of R&T and it has the latest installment in their Caterham build story. Some lovely pictures and maybe 750 words. Sam Smith, the author of the article, is also R&T's Editor at Large and in a second article he notes that he now lives 40' from the legendary Tail of The Dragon in TN. So I would expect a review of the new Caterham, once it is completed, in its "element" at the Dragon (where USA7s held its 2007 celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Lotus Seven). I wonder if I am the only surviving participant of that event who is still active here? I CAN say that the Dragon, and the equally excellent, tho less famous, nearby roads brought the best out in my Caterham and in the collection of other se7en marques who all gathered for the event.

Just checked the Google on the 23B. It was such a giant killer that when it appeared at Le Mans, the french scrutineers, found numerous technical issues (e.g., windscreen height, gas tank size, lack of a spare tire, etc) all of which were remedied on the spot. Except for the requirement of a spare tire. So the 23B was fitted with a 4 stud front tire spare. But that was rejected, as the rear wheel had 6 lugs and the "spare" wouldn't be usable. So a 4 lug rear wheel was designed in England and flown over night to LeMans. And that was rejected for being "unsafe" since the original design called for 6 lugs, despite Lotus offering engineering proof that it was well with in the performance demands of the rear wheel. Chapman vowed never to return to Le Mans, and didn't. Lotus did not return until years after Chapman's death. BTW-a Lotus Elite won Le Man's performance of efficiency award that year. Now you know:).

Your math is accurate Sean. But, why stop at 3 weeks? If you add another 3 weeks to that, the toll is around 10M people. Makes one appreciate the whole "flatten the curve" concept. And the ameliorative effects of social distancing, etc. Plus lots of wild cards: will warm weather slow/halt the advance, will more effective testing and the resulting more targeted social isolation be effective (see S Korea). Will the secret sauce in Frischs' Big Boy hamburgers, with a chaser of tonic water, prove to be a curative????

For the third time this week I am buying booze for the next two weeks. My body has absorbed so much soap and disinfectant that when I pee it cleans the toilet....

This helps explain why the turning radius of a cycle wing Cat is so much larger than one with clams.

I just read a story about a hospital in southern Indiana (abut 50 miles from me) that is currently unable to get badly needed test kits. Why? Because their virus numbers are so low in that rural area. And, the test kits are in such short supply that they are being rationed to areas of much higher need. So the doctor at the hospital asked the feds, how do we show what our infection rate really is? Advice-only by testing.... Yes, Croc, NYC, where you unfortunately are, is where the rest of the country is headed. Among the many scary aspects of this in NYC is that, in addition to inadequate supplies (test kits, ventilators, masks, protective clothing, etc.) so many front line personnel, including doctors and nurses, are getting infected that many are unable to continue to work, leaving the medical community even more short staffed and patients under served. In China, that was the experience as well. Then they seriously ramped up the protections for their medical staff and no further medical personnel were infected. Unfortunately, so far, we always seem to be one step behind the virus in every aspect, including having a well equipped, robust medical response.

The USA numbers are also misleading since they are based on incomplete testing. Now that testing is finally, although slowly, ramping up, we may have accurate numbers in a few weeks. But at the moment our country has significantly under counted the number of cases. For example, in Ohio, where I live, the governor's office suggests that there are 100x more cases than counted thus far. So although 867 have been verified via test, we likely have 86,700. And see NY City where the numbers have exploded, as has the testing.

I always have assumed that, with its 50-50 balance, a se7en would be more manageable on the track than the tail heavy Atom, esp in the hands of we amateur drivers. The Atom's 40-60 front/back distribution is similar to the 911's.

Vlad: What to stock up on? That is a good question for Croc. Croc, thoughts? I know you are pro-active with maintenance. I think have replaced everything on my 2 Caterhams but the frame and radiator, some parts multiple times. Here is a partial list of stuff that was hard to get quickly: rear half shafts, both sides, A-frame (locates rear susp), CV joints, panard rod, deDion tube, rear radius arms, "upgraded" rear brakes discs and pads (if you have them, regular brakes are more plentiful), front brakes/pads, clutch/flywheel, wheel hubs, wheel bearing kits, quick release steering mechanism (mine broke as I was pulling the car onto the trailer for an expensive pre-paid trip to the track. But no steering wheel, no racing). I even broke a steering wheel so I carry a spare. Sump gaskets(s), if you are wet sump, starter, starter button, alternator, accelerator cable WITH all needed attachments, brackets of all sorts, ditto rivets and fasteners. Of the above very partial list, the hardest to find items (6 month+ wait), were the half shafts, and upgraded rear brake system. Many of the other items were 3+ month wait. Typically, parts were replaced in the winter so no lost track time, but not always....

The dollar still is strong against the pound, so that's good from a Caterham perspective. Maybe now is the time for Cat owners to stock up on parts that will be needed over the next year or 2? It will be interesting to see what the Senate and the House end up passing to ameliorate the effect of the current calamity. There is supposed to be lots of help for small businesses.

My wife's work group uses Zoom to do virtual group meet-ups. You can select your background too, so one guy has himself on a beach with blue sky, perfect waves, etc, in the background. He added a Hawaiian shirt and turned on a fan off camera to blow his hair around a bit in the basement, err, sunny tropical beach.

And they put the tube of toothpaste you bought in a large plastic bag. Sometimes I think store clerks' bonuses are keyed to the # of plastic bags they use. But speaking of the virus, I asked my son, who is a brewer at a successful Cincinnati micro brewery, if the closing of bars, restaurants, casinos, etc., in Ohio had killed their business. He said nope, that they were working overtime, and that the panic buying also included huge amounts of beer (in addition to toilet paper). Imagine Croc's bathroom toilet surrounded by hundreds of 6 packs, and you get the concept:).

Anker: I hope your wife’s rentry to the states was easier than this crowd’s at O’Hare yesterday:3-7 hours in line to be “tested”

Hey Croc: Has this virus put a crimp in your peripatetic lifestyle? And, as a 73 year old who is squarely in the cross hairs of the Corona virus, I am practicing a self-imposed "social distancing" (Not leaving the house unless it's on fire), and experimenting with homemade hand sanitizer formulas:)). This will get old fast.

I agree Croc, kudos to Bruce. The lack of needed parts has been the biggest problem I have faced in my 10+ years of Caterham ownership. And I only wish the issue were the inconvenience of having to deal with Caterham UK and related time zone and shipping problems. But the bigger problem is they are often totally out of parts themselves and don't get them for many months. All the while my car sits on jack stands.I once had the temerity to ask how they were able to continue to build new cars if they were out of so many parts. I was told they had a separate, and adequate, parts supply for "production" purposes. Nice(:. I don't expect that Beachman Racing will have everything, but this increases our chances of getting mobile sooner, and with less hassle and $.

Hey Skip. As you suspect, that is the ex-scannon Caterham. It was there at a USA7's event, along with a bunch of other se7ens for which Croc graciously provided over night shelter.

I think the more challenging question is what are the other cars in the photo? I see a bunch of Porsches and, of course the Ferrari with its engine bay on view to admire. But not sure of the rest of those jelly beans, eps the bottom three on the far right (front) row?