bigdog

That it does powderbrake. along with a full top. It also has a full & half tonneau cover. And a footwell and windshield heater. As I have been a BMW biker for many years. I was planning on installing power sockets to connect a heated vest for the wife and I. Much more efficient staying warm through a heated vest under a windblocking shell. And we might not look so much like the Michelin family. Each vest typically draws about 4 amps on high. Or about 50 watts @ 12V. Should be within the capabilities of the Caterhams electrics. I might even have to install a temp adjuster. As those vests are designed to be in the wind flow of a motorcycle. They might get a little warm inside the cockpit of the 7.

Just made all the bank transfers to England. My Cat should be on it's way to Germany in a few few days. Of course in Germany this time of the year the weather is generally rubbish. If it is. I certainly hope the transport lorry can park up at my house. This is the Cat. It has only had two prior owners. The current owner is the head mechanic at a classic car shop. http://www.mikeabbasclassiccars.co.uk/carsforsale.htm He has some cracking cars in his shop.

The bureaucrats in the government have never ever been able to run anything properly, fairly, Without mountains of red tape nor on budget. Why did the American people think all of a sudden they (bureaucrats) should try to run health care. You want to know why? There were enough poor people that heard the word free. That they were able to swing the election.

Good point. The last time I was at my local BMW dealer here in Kaiserslautern. There sat a nice looking, But very over priced Taiwanese made pedal bike.

I would concur that more effort should be focused on customer service in the USA. I have tried multiple times to call Caterham USA in Colorado. None of them were answered. I guess they are to busy playing to bother with silly customers. Fortunately. The folks at Caterham Britain. Seem to be more conscientious. As I have been told. Caterham did not start an F1 team. It (Caterham) was bought by an existing F1 team (Lotus racing) I have owned 39 motorcycles in my life. And have worked for a Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Aprilia dealer. The Caterham motorcycle wouldn't pass muster. I imagine the two pedal bikes wouldn't take much in the way of funding away from operations. The second pedal bike needs to lose the fake engine. Has anyone heard of the price range of these new toys?

a.moore That just shows how blinded and jaded most motor journalists are. If a car is not monumentally improved or faster than what they tested last month. It will get the do not buy this car. It's a POS recommendation by those journalists.

Thanks guys.

Has anyone added a heater to an already built Caterham with a X-Flow? Is it a PITA or is it a straight forward project? Thanks

Oops! I guess I should have done a little research.:blush: Caterham had a fair injection of cash then.

They seem to be making enough to have started a two car F1 team. For me. It's just more curiosity than anything. I haven't bought a new car of any kind for many years. I try to stick to buying a low mileage car that is a couple of years old. The sucker that bought it new can deal with the depreciation. For MoPho. Even if Caterhams were cheaper. They would still be rare simply due to being one of the most impractical street legal cars ever made. But I agree that it's nice to not see your self coming around every corner.

While I'm not trying to dis Caterham at all. Heck. I'm going to England next week to look at buying one. I'm just looking at the cost of a new one. As compared to the old one. And how they are built and what they are built of. I.E. An old corvette was much more basic than a new one. 5MPH bumpers, Pollution controls, Multitudness air bags, Multitudness computers controlling everything. With a newer car. One can see why they cost more. But the Caterham really hasn't changed very much. They still don't have bumpers, Airbags, TC/Antilock computers. And so the price difference across the range seems rather large given that one does not get running gear. Again. No disrespect to Caterham. It's just an Arsenio Hall moment on my part. "things that make you go HMMMM"

Personally as a newby to se7ens. I don't care for the direction of Caterham. Like most manufactures. They (Caterham) have been moving (price-wise) very up market. Seems once upon a time. A guy could order a kit for a reasonable cost and build a nice light weight sports car. To be honest. Caterhams have become a toy for the rather well off. If you want a light weight sports car that doesn't break the bank (like me). One needs to look at used Caterhams. (or other variants of the "7") As the new ones are very much over priced. $30K then YOU have to provide the engine and trans? Holy crap!

The Zed is actually a very nice car. But it is so smooth and easy to drive. That it tends to not be an interesting drive unless one is pushing way beyond most speed limits. Which will get me in a lot of trouble after I move back to Walla Walla from Germany. Plus, While the Zed is a good looking car. It just doesn't stand out quite the same way as a "7" does.

xcarguy, Been there done that. I did a few laps of the old nordschliefe in the Zed. Lots of fun. But one needs to stay on their toes. Of all the multitudness corners. There are only a very few that you can see the exit point. Playing grand tourismo does actually help learning the layout of the track. What the game can't even come close to doing is preparing you for the huge elevation changes. But to be honest. It's cheaper and still a lot of fun just driving the back roads. The Germans have a lot of great back roads. Their speed limits are decent as well. On some roads even at the speed limit. I felt like if I hadn't been in my Zed. There would have been no way I could have gone the legal speed limit on the road. That's why the Caterham will be loads of fun. It's why I traded my sport bike for a supermoto Husqvarna. I have more fun on the twistys than just blitzing the autobahn at 160MPH. (which I have done as well)

Just sold my 06 BMW Zed 4 Si roadster. Very nice car, Comfy, Fast, Well appointed. But. As nice as it is. It just doesn't stand out very much. Nor does it invoke questions from curious folk. Most assume your a snob because of owning a BMW. In the past. I owned a 356 Porsche speedster replica. Every time I drove that thing. It was a social event. Folks would ask questions, Want their pictures taken standing beside it. As I'm a friendly sort. I love all the interaction. As I don't care to go down the aircooled road again. I thought. What about a Lotus super 7. I've always admired them. But thought they were very unobtainable. But as I live in Germany right now. (wife's job) The "7" is very easy to find in England. So why not do it. Factory built de-dion 5 speed with only 28935 miles Fitted with a 1600cc Ford Super Sprint crossflow engine, twin Webers - unleaded conversion Chrome headlamps / Cycle wings / stainless steel sports 4 into 1 exhaust / Comfortable Caterham "7" cloth seats with detachable headrests / Luke seat belt harness / Minilites wheels / Full weather equipment including tonneau cover and half tonneau cover/ Aluminium radiator / heater / Fire Extinguisher / '7' Grille / Immobiliser Security System / Heated Windscreen / Caterham '7' Floor Mats Fitted / K+N Chrome Air Filters / Aluminium Locking Fuel cap / Stainless Steel Aeroquip Brake Hoses / Side Mirrors / Aluminium Gearknob / Caterham '7' Owners Manual Here are the old and new rides

What's with the welds on the next to last picture? Who did those?

Sat in a 1996 Caterham sprint classic SE last week in England. Very similar to the car Oscar has. http://www.hallmark-cars.com/vehicles%20sales/classicandsports_1.html It had the same standard seats but in vinyl. They are mounted directly to the rear passenger compartment bulkhead. Can't go back any further. Pedal box looks to be the only solution for more leg room. I'm 5'10" and it was spot on for leg room. Wish the car in the link was 6 years older so I could bring it back to America. Nice car at $15,000

While you do need to make money. Your primary job in this life is to support your family. I mean the kind of support that REALLY counts. Which is being there for them. Esp the kids. Your job is to provide guidance, Instill moral values. If you aren't there. They will still get guidance and their moral values from someone. It might not be you. But they will get it one way or the other. Your kids are far more important than stuff or a few extra dollars.

exactly. Even if one got it through. You wouldn't have a proper title. I think that the only exception is if one brought a newer car to the USA for racing. But one of the requirements is that you need to render it unable to be returned to street trim. That is a large grey area though.

The big issue is the paperwork. US customs will first look at the car documents. If it's less than 25 years old. You will have to produce all the required certification documents. If you can't. The last time I checked. You would need to post a bond for 2-3 times the value of the imported car. then you would be given a certain time to bring the car into compliance with the regulations for the model year on the cars papers. If you do not meet that deadline or fail to export the car from whence it came or register the car as a race car. You then would lose your bond. Thus losing 2-3 times the cost of the car. OUCH! Of course if you put the car into boxes in pieces. You still lose out. As you won't have any papers that a state DMV will recognize. The answer for the cars from USCaterham is on their web site. In order to comply with US federal regulations, all Caterham products are imported as “kits.” The registration process varies state-to-state, and even county-to-county, but typically involves: Having the vehicle inspected by a state authority to insure road worthiness and to verify the part numbers on the engine and chassis to insure that they are not from a stolen vehicle, sometimes called a “VIN” (vehicle identification number) inspection. Paperwork from the VIN inspection, bill of sale and MSO (manufacture statement of origin, supplied by Caterham) are turned into the local officials for inspection. After the paper work comes back from the officials, the vehicle needs to be taken back to a state official to have a state assigned VIN attached. The owner takes the paperwork to the DMV to complete the title and registration process as with a conventional car registration process. *Please note that some states and or counties require an emissions system inspection prior to registration. We highly recommend contacting your local DMV or state authorities to confirm the registration and emissions requirements in your area prior to purchasing a Caterham. Please let us know if you have any questions regarding this process or if there is anything we can do to help verify the process in your area. You can buy a 7 from overseas and ship it back as a running auto if it is 25 yrs old or older with no restrictions. I can pick up a 7 of the correct age in the UK for about 10-15k USD. Even with shipping it still ends up being cheaper than the majority (but not always) of 7's for sale in the USA. Here is a link to piston heads that shows the cars for sale that I can bring back in 2015 when we PSC back to Washington state. There are other sites that sell UK 7's as well. [url=http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?Category=used-cars&M=19&M=675&M=62&ShowSoldCars=True&YearTo=1990][/url]http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?Category=used-cars&M=19&M=675&M=62&ShowSoldCars=True&YearTo=1990

Just joined a few days ago. I'm an American living in Molschbach, Germany. I've lived here for three years now. Have two more to go before returning home (Walla Walla Wa.) I'm retired US Air Force. So I'm a stay at home husband. The Wife works for the Govmint. I joined to do a little research on buying a 7. I currently own a BMW Zed-4 that is for sale to fund a 7. The only drawback is that I can't bring back anything (non US spec) that is newer than 1990-91 model year. Fortunately. The prices for a 7 in Britain seem quite a bit better than in the states. And there's a lot of them as well. In Germany how ever. They are a little spendy.