Kitcat

A coupla shots of Croc's German Caterham....

As a member of the 70+ crowd, I have had lots of friends undergo knee/hip replacements. The hip surgeries seem to go the best. I think it is important to manage expectations. Most are glad they had the surgeries as they are in less pain, have more mobility, etc. But no one came close to returning to their baseline, pre-arthiritis.The recovery period can stretch out for 1+ year. And for whatever reason, many folks who have had once such surgery seem to soon need another-on the opposite hip/knee, etc. In other words, it can start to feel endless. I hate to be negative, I am sure there are many unqualified successes as my sample size is small.

I am beginning to think that the Caterham owner who derisively coined the term "Storker" should have copyrighted it:).

I love that MichaelD waives at the cameraman!

I am pretty sure forum member, and loyal NJMP se7ns gathering participant, WentMD brought back to life a damaged Birkin with more extensive damage than this one. I seem to recall he was able to salvage the gas cap, the windshield wipers, etc. So it can be done, tho it takes time and parts, and $, and the help of Tom Carlin, the Birkin USA distributor. Maybe Paul will comment?

GLWS! I can confirm that this is a very fast and very nice Cat. And newbies should know that the red rectangles on the front clams are air vets to help minimize any lift possible at higher speeds.

Or, we could call him MichaelD:). It shows how important getting the line right is: Dave entered the turn tight because of the pass and just didn't have room to finish it-in spite of truly heroic efforts to save it.

I was also there, in the first few months of my se7en ownership. I spent much of the event (and the following year) troubleshooting an intermittent problem with the starter not working. For instance, after the big photo shoot, above, I was the last car off the lot due to the non-start problem. I also learned to quickly put up the top as there were intermittent rainstorms there that weekend. I had a lot of fun perusing the many fabulous back roads that were part of the lure for that location for our group. Also met folks, like MichaelD, who would remain a se7ens friend thru today.

Plus a ball cap?

Great pix Croc! And Glenn...., what can I say, WOW!

Thx, Croc, fun to watch you coasting down the front straight and still keeping up with my mighty Zetec:)! Also informative to see how my unconventional line thru 3-4-5 did not allow me to pull ahead. In fact, just the opposite, you were closing with ease there. Time to rethink that. My lap timer showed I gained 4-6 seconds a lap by the end of Monday's special session compared to this vid, so practice makes perfect. Even then I was still far behind what became known as " the two red cars"(Seb and Simon). And wasn't that moving fender chicane in turn 5 exciting?

Great day on the track and off. How wonderful is this place: if you need ice for a cooler, the track has a person who checks periodically and delivers ice if needed. The food is varied, incredible and plentiful. Dinner on the river was fabulous, as always. Croc and Tom have also knocked themselves out, as always. And Se7en owners are a fun bunch, not a clunker in the group.

One less dream car to torture myself over:)! Hope sale goes though this time.

Does it have the butt-extracter option:)???

Also: do a search for the words bump steer in the search box. This is a popular topic, much has been written here. I know member JohnK to be obsessively thorough. His post on his Ultralight's bump steer, which he calls "ride steer" will no doubt be educational. Hopefully the (many) other bump steer posts will also help. What u r describing sounds dangerous!

Do NOT just rely on your GPS. Mine took me off I-76 and thru downtown Philly. Towing a trailer in Friday afternoon, pre 4th of July traffic. The ensuing trackday was a relaxing drive in comparison!

Gotta be "go faster at lower rpm's"? Or, get more top speed out of each gear?

This month's SCCA Sports Car magazine classified section has an '01 Caterham Superlight Zetec, for $35K. Street legal tho set up as an auto crosser. BRG, cycle fenders. Asking $35K.

Why not get an early used Formula V, (which this seems to look like) and drop your bike engine in?

I will hazard a guess that 9,000 is the mileage, not the dollars:).

MichaelD's amazing Cat is listed here for a bit under $35K (I think).

I think know Croc's plan B and I like it:)!

MichaelD: Is your car the next to go, or are you having 2nd thots abt selling?

Way cool! My longest road trip was to the LOG in Gettysburg in my '97 Super sprint. Maybe 7 years ago? And about 1100 miles also from Cincy, with detours and track days thrown in. As I recall, ambient temp of 93 degrees= about 120 in the driver' s seat! I had few issues also. I had to tighten a bolt that had worked loose that caused a truly evil self-driving phenomenon. And I had an engine that would sputter occasionally and need an "Italian tune up" every so often. Also got lost, far from cell coverage at zero dark thirty in the wilds of KY (Am I driving in circles, will I run out of gas, is my brain cooked from so much noise/heat/stimulation???). What an adventure. And every stop a cluster of onlookers teeming with questions.

If the mid-90's Caterham was a "short" cockpit version, it and the Birkin are 99% identical, size wise, for driver.