Kitcat

Second car owner is in denial. One would think that all the no-sales over all these years would convey the message that his price is too high. To be insulted is silly. I had some low-ball offers on the se7en I sold and on the one now for sale and have appreciated that someone liked them enough to try to buy, even tho I didn't sell to them.

Lots of smiles from the ladies. I was roaring in to work today in my Birkin and way off saw a female walker, who stopped dead in her tracks, put her hands on her hips and just stared w/amazement when I zoomed by. I pulled into our parking lot at work and a woman who was parking her new Audi convertible, saw my car and changed her parking spot, just to be next to my car. Also gave me a lovely smile. But, the most love comes from inner city folk who shout, wave, beg for rides and are generally entertained by the sheer craziness of the car. Next are boys ages 3-12, then boys 12-17, then boys... you get the idea. Certainly guys on cycles are huge fans as well. Recently a guy popped a wheelie for my benefit. Now that I think abt it everyone loves to see these cars:).

Yes, 1st is Southwinds7, 2nd the guy who thinks his $25K Caterham is worth $30k+ and it's theorized he keeps bidding it up himself. It has been sale for years, and over and over on E-bay. I dont buy the 3rd car's alleged bid either, I think they'd sell in a heartbeat if they really got that price.

Nice. Birkin America now sells a supercharged version of my Duratec. Or just upgrade existing car like mine for abt $4K. Similar spec to the Caterham. In theory, at least, a pretty low cost option as the base motor is $1K at local junkyard, so if blow it up (not that I wld do that), just replace engine with another $1K motor and transfer the supercharger to the new powerplant. A lot less expensive than blowing up your $20K Cosworth or Vauxhall of similar power.

Yes, definitely a few bucks: my replacement Caterham windshield was $600, without the heating element. That was after spending $200 trying to cobble one together out of safety glass. Caterham helpfully uses a thinner type of glass, so only its windshield fits in the windshield bracket.

Tony is at : tvacc@lotusowners.com. He is the current president of the US Lotus Owners club and very knowledgeable about Caterhams (He has 2 in his garage). If he had some involvement with this car, he is likely to remember it.

Beautiful shot (scenery isn't bad either). Anyone still on this Forum who was there in '05? It was before my time, tho I made the '07 photo at the Dragon.

I have a few small spots that look the same (but only 400 miles since film applied). I'd rather have the film scuffed up than the paint.

It cost me $2K to ship my Caterham from Seattle to Cincy, enclosed, 2 months ago.

RNR: Nice mix of beautiful cars, and good to see the west coast folks enjoying them in their natural habitat.

Mark-is that an offer for the Cat:)? My reason for the switch is the Cat is totally track prepped. It wld cost $10-15K to add all that safety stuff to my Birkin. For now I am enjoying both cars-really the best of all worlds.

Dyno day is 8/14, we shall see how much power the mighty Duratec is pumping out. This particular dyno is notoriously conservative, so I am not expecting a lot (My "135 hp" X-flow made 95 hp, simillar drop seen in my Miata when tested). So, maybe my "215 hp" Duratec will hit 155-165? Stay tuned (no pun intended).

Thx for the shout-out Marine7. There is a "glut" of beautiful Birkins on the market at the moment, so it's a great time to be a buyer. Any one of them will make its buyer very happy.

Money, not room is the issue:). Love the Avatar photo-time to post it in the "Best se7en picture ever" thread? Hope you are getting some blatting in up there in the currently unfrozen northeast, Paul. Mike

Sorry Michael, we are hosting a dinner that nite. And, I have 3 track days planned in August in the new Cat, so that part of my life is pretty full. Keep the invites coming, tho, it will happen eventually. I'd love to meet the legendary Folis Jones!

Two sevens!

Roadtrip!

Good stuff, keep it coming. (Helps explain my desire to have a full cage for track days).

Slomove-anything's possible:).

I was shocked to see my Birkin weigh in at 1112 pounds today!!!!!!!!! Eat your hearts out Caterhams owners (never mind, I am a Caterham owner). In all honesty, it wasn't the most precise system, unless you call a bathroom scale under each wheel precise. (Thx to my wife's and my periodic disbelief at what we weigh, we replace our scales with some regularity and are up to 4 now:)). I did swap scales out and consistently got nearly identical, nicely balanced readings. The 1112 lbs number is after I subtracted 50 lbs for 7 gallons in the tank, and 36 lbs off for the real mounted spare (which I weighed). I have also taken out all carpet and panels (abt 17 lbs per the bathroom scales) and replaced the 37 lb stock Birkin seats with 2 light, racing shell Caterham seats, another 22 lb weight savings. And my aftermarket 949 Racing wheels save about 9 lbs per corner (really, I weighed them). With a swap of the large battery for a lite weight model and replacing the windscreen with a wind deflector, I think I could get it under 1100 lbs. This helps explain why the car feels like a rocket ship. Coincidentally, I took my new (used) Caterham Zetec for its first spin today. It didn't feel as fast. It weighs 1340 lbs and has less power, so that is not a shock, just sayin.

Hank-I got hooked in '62 or '63 as a teen-aged Road & Track reader. It is mostly a fantasy-prices seem to be way up there ($80-$120K for cars w/doors that dont fit and laughably poor fitting warped fiberglass hoods (bonnets?). While, I DO occasionally watch the Elites that (rarely) come up for sale, so far they are getting further out of my reach, rather than closer. Maybe someone needs to make a nice clone (Westfield?). And I'd want to drive one to see how much of the fantasy was real. One of my biggest disappointments was finally getting to take another fantasy car for a spin (Porsche 356). Dull brakes, absurd shifter, no power, my low bucks stock Miata was better in every way. I have attached a copy of the closest I will probably come to Elite ownership: it sits on my desk here at work and smiles all day.

Pix/cost/why so rare?

Thx Hank, tho you are not doing anything to help me get over my Elite fantasies:).

Original Elite, my fav car of all time (esp if panel gaps are good, doors and hood fit), orig'l 7 is my 2nd fav. Wld love to see (lots) of photos of Elite when its done and hear your account of how it drives, compares to the se7en, compares to modern car, etc.

Some folks have asked for pix of cockpit and suspension so here they are. As you can see, the interior side upholstery/panals has been removed along w/original seats-I have then tho and they come w/the sale.