bigdog

The wife and I are now back in the USA (Walla Walla Wa.) after having lived in Germany for the past 4 years. The Seven & Mercedes will arrive in Seattle in mid August. If anyone finds themselves in Walla Walla (a great wine destination) Just let me know, You're more than welcome in my home.

If it's imported as a kit sans driveline. Then you can get some traction. The Government really tries to make doing such things difficult for an individual. A business might have more luck as the government will see more dollars for them. You probably need to make a few more calls to customs and get more info. prior to committing. Probably the best solution from a legal standpoint is to buy an older 7 of the correct age in the UK. Ship it, then restore/modify to your liking. Then sell it before returning to Blighty. Would be less hassle in registering at the state level as well. But of course that might be a bit of a down grade to what you are driving at the moment.

I hate to rain on your parade, But you can't overcome any registration issues, As it would never leave the US port and make it to MA. unless it's at least 25 years old or has EPA, DOT approval. Or Buy one already here in the US. Or is made for the track only, Which means it has to be in a state that prevents it from being returned to street use. I'm doing that this summer. As the wife and I are moving back to America from Germany. Found in our research that the best prices on any seven or equivalent was in the UK. In the US seven's seem to sell for big dough.

While the policy of not disrespecting another persons asking price or their car is fine when it comes to a private listing. I will respectfully have to disagree about complaints lodged about caterham "the company" Why would you think that Caterham or any other professional car business should be protected from criticism just because we like or own the cars they sell. I simply look at the fact that a R620 with solid paint, Weather package, half hood, Heater, Batt. switch. Will set you back mid 90k. And that's with the good guy pricing on the drive train. When that deal goes. one is looking at 118K. Add in a fancy F1 paint job and your at 123K. That's Porsche Carrera, Audi R8 money. Personally if someone handed me 120K and said you can have what ever car you want for that money. I would NOT buy a new Caterham R620. I would opt for the Porsche or Audi R8 that is reliable, Comfy, Cool in the summer, Warm in the winter, Can be taken on holiday, Has a warranty. And are still pretty darn fast cars. When you price your cars at that level. The folks expect more than just a fast car. They expect a bit of service, Support, Warranty. If they were priced at reasonable levels folks would be much more forgiving of the Caterham companies customer support and their cars shortcomings. That's why I'm quite satisfied with my old Caterham. For the cost of the weather package with the carbon Aeroscreen & heater (3.5K) I could or just about fully fund a rebuild of my Xflow engine. My Caterham is 20K worth of fun. But there is no way on God's green earth that it is worth an additional $80,000 to shave my 0-60 by 2/3's. I don't see that as value for money. Esp as the top model is only different from the basic 4 cylinder model in speed. I can't speak for others. But I just see what Caterham is doing and I just scratch my head. I want to see Caterham be successful. But I wonder if they are pricing them selves into a hole. If we as a Caterham fan club are wondering what gives with Caterham these days. What the heck is a new comer to think? It certainly doesn't help that the Caterham F1 team is woeful at best either.

He was a racers racer. Brabham was also the only man in Formula 1 history to have driven a self-designed car (the Brabham BT19) to the F1 title in 1966. Just that feat alone qualifies him as a legend. God speed

Caterham could close it's doors tomorrow & it wouldn't effect me in the least. Nor any other existing owner. (other than making our used cars more valuable) Remember, Caterham makes very few if any parts themselves. As such we can still get parts from Caterham's suppliers. In fact, Caterham has such a rubbish reputation for parts support most use the very helpful blokes over at Redline components. Arch can make a replacement chassis. So one wouldn't even need to go through Caterham for anything. The only thing I've ordered from Caterham were some Tee shirts. I think that if stalker went belly up and you needed a new chassis. Where would you go for that? It's the in house hand made custom stuff that will get you. As someone who owns an older seven (1983) I look at all this from a different prospective. To be honest. It's like watching your child about to make a really bad relationship decision. Ultimately it will not effect you directly, but is still painful to watch. Caterham's attitude is reminiscent of the pre 2008 California real estate pricing folly. They feel they can price to the moon and folks will still line up to buy.

All that being said Randy. I suppose the over arching point I was making is that Caterham seemingly has a made a decision that they want to make a certain amount of money. They then divide that by how many cars they expect to sell. Of course I'm being somewhat factitious. I doubt that a car enthusiast off the street (that isn't a Caterham fan boy) would be able to tell the difference between a 240 and a 620. I'm sure they would be left scratching their head trying to tell what makes the 620 double the cost of a 240. The frame while probably a bit different, Would still be built on the same line, With the same tubes, same wheel base dimensions, with the same welder. Adding a few bits of triangulation to strengthen the chassis shouldn't add a huge amount of cost. furthermore, The changes to the seven have been evolutionary not revolutionary. Adding evolutionary improvements into the manufacturing process is I believe is cheaper than a clean sheet redesign/retooling. Remember the top gear episode from 2006? In kit form the car they built was 15,000 quid and 17,500 turn key. That's $25,000 & $29,400 which includes the running gear & 18-19% vat to the royal families bank account. I dare someone at Caterham to tell us that eight years later in 2014 the basic four cylinder seven model is so substantially different from the 2006 model that Caterham has to ask double the money (pre-tax) Only to be nearly doubled again if one want's the 620R. yikes!

Most but not all "rich boy buyers" will initially buy a fad of the day item (in their world) for the express purpose of showing those that can't afford it, that they can. The fickle part of relying on such buyers comes when after having shown everyone that they are richer than you. They will grow bored with said item unless the maker of that fad of the day "ups the ante". Just look at most Ferrari listings. There is a reason that most have less than 10,000 miles on a 10-20 year old car. They were purchased because it is what one does when rich. It wasn't about how good, fast the car is. They haven't sat unused because they were to expensive for the rich to operate. It was about ego gratification & projecting an image to others. Then upon a new more expensive Ferrari being released. The process was then repeated. It's very shaky ground for Caterham to be treading.

It seems to me that Caterham has said in a meeting. Hey we are a car company and the heads of car companies get millions in compensation. So we will price the cars in an effort to achieve this compensation level. As opposed to competitively pricing their product to increase not only volume but demand. Then when one has more customers than product that's when you can seek to raise prices to the current silly levels. Caterham seems to want to rely on the Simon Cowell "rich boy buyers" crowd whom are far more fickle and unforgiving of the lack of completely new models every year or two like Ferrari. Because the rich boy buyers that Caterham seems to be courting, Will "generally" only buy to impress others with the purchase price and the specs in the brochure. 620R perhaps? But the empty nest I have a few bucks stashed away folks are just happy to finally have a cool toy. Which does not require Caterham to re-engineer their cars to ever more expensive levels to keep the show offs happy. Of course this is just an opinion.

The $4500 price was valid only until Feb 2014 after which the price went to $10,700 for the 1.6 + 5 spd.

Judging by the MSRP on Caterham's web page. I'd say we are already caught up in the speculation. Remember, The first Lotus 7 car was 1000 quid or $2800 in 1957 using an inflation calculator that $2800 would be $23,900 in 2014. The 7 280 will cost $51,600 with no options. I'm no mathematician. But something sounds seriously amiss to be 115 percent higher than the inflation rate accounts for.

I always figured it was the chicken or the egg being first. If more folks bought diesels. Such as the TDI jetta's and such. It would stimulate the market to sell diesel. But I also think that because of the silly way the American makers tried to introduce diesel domestic cars was what caused the public to not accept diesels. A slightly modded V8 gas engine made to run on diesel just didn't work. They were very noisy and worse, they couldn't handle the cylinder pressures and fell apart. The tow vehicle that my wife and I just bought to import to the USA is the Merc GLK250 bluetec. I just didn't want to deal with rubbish fuel economy when not pulling the seven nor the typically crappy build quality & cheap plastics of the American trucks.

We have been to Stuttgart several times. Spent a day at the M-B museum. The wife whom isn't much of a car person even thought it was a great museum. The zoo was good also. But not up to the standard of the Berlin zoo.

I think so. It's just a stock photo of the GLK model we bought. We will pick it up in Stuttgart after a factory tour and lunch. Then they will ship it to Longbeach Ca. just before we leave Germany in a couple of months. Not bad for $36K. Tax free on the US side as well. Yoo Hoo!

The wife has accepted an offer of returning to her old position at the Army Corp of Engineers in Walla Walla Wa. So after living in Germany for 4 years we are headed back to the good Ole USA. Should be about the end of July when we leave Germany. We are selling the wife's 328 as we have bought one of these to haul the Caterham around. http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/k12lt/general%20stuff/image_resizephp_zpsc35a0dfc.jpg

My 1600 sprint that's rated at only 100HP or so came from Caterham with 30MM chokes.

At least most drivers do that only when technically feasible. I wish that was the case. I've come around a blind right curve and met a motorcycle on my side. Most that I see do a line crossing do so whether they have a clear view or not. The Germans are mostly good drivers EXCEPT when it comes to lane discipline. I always thought the fun of curves was to be on a curve, Not avoid it by making it straighter. unless one is in a race and needs to save time by avoiding curves. I.E. the racing line. Maybe I'm the odd one. But why buy a car that handles the curves then do everything to avoid them. Of course we all know the answer to that one. It's the Alpha male I must cross the finish line first no matter the cost. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a finish line on a public road. But that's the answer. (pecker waving)

The hood is a hit and miss thing. Mine came with one and a tonneau cover. your best bet is to buy a half hood. It will button onto the windscreen go up and over the roll bar and fasten at the roll bar base with straps. (Think Jeep bikini top) The full hood is a bit of a pain. It takes a full 5 minutes or so to deploy in the garage. I use it when it's cold as my Cat has a heater. But you would not believe the gyrations and double jointed contortions one has to perform to ingress a seven with the full hood on. The half hood with the full doors will protect you from most weather. To give you an Idea of performance. My X-flow at 100HP in 1983 did a 0-60 time that was nearly identical to my 2006 BMW Zed-4 3.0 Si. The one area that can bite you on a seven is the lack of safety nannies that we have grown to rely upon. You need to treat a seven like a motorcycle on the street. I.E. keep it smooth. I have a general German question for you. Do the German drivers in northern Bavaria ALWAYS drive over the centerline in a corner? They sure do in Rhineland-Pfalz. I have had more near head-on crashes in the four years of living in Germany than most folks would see in several lifetimes in the USA. They just love to drive like they are on a race track & will always use a racing line (on coming traffic be damned).

I was looking at anything that was unusual. Triumph TR's, Bug eye Sprite. I even thought about a 2cv Citroen. I imagine that if a 7 passed your Lotus on the Ring It wasn't an old 7. An old seven will normally have a ford X-flow or pinto SOHC. If you really push the engine to race levels one can get 150-160 HP. and a bit more from the 2ltr pinto engine. My 1.6 90-100HP x-flow might see 110MPH if you wring it's neck. You would have to get a monster 7 in the r500, 620r, V8 arena to easily hit 155MPH remember that Sevens are less aerodynamic than the average Hollywood 30 room mansion. My BMW Zed 4 (the car I sold for the 7) could do 155 with ease. And to be honest, After driving the Zed in unrestricted Germany for nearly 4 years. I hit 155 in it once. All 155 will do for you in America is net you jail time and confiscation of your car. For me the seven is all about corners & the uniqueness & just cruising around (except in the USA) where it's about how big an engine one can stuff in a seven. Which is always a hot debate when that subject comes up.:leaving: You could join the lotus seven club. They have an internet forum (Blat Chat) and a monthly magazine. It's a bit spendy at 49 quid or $60 per year. But there is a lot of info.

Your best bet is to email the guys at Redline components. They have been the supplier to the Caterham factory for donkeys years. And probably have the biggest stock of early parts around. And even more historic info they are happy to share. Great folks to deal with. sales@redlinecomponents.co.uk http://www.redlinecomponents.co.uk/

I have been having a lot of issues with my Caterham running poorly (as posted in the tech section of LSC UK) It turned out to be rubbish valve seats. When looking at the Cat prior to the purchase, The dealer stated upon my asking that it had an unleaded mod on the head. It turned out not to be the case and a valve seat regrind was performed to remedy the poor compression readings and jetting issues from leaky valves. I sent an email expressing my disappointment at having been misinformed on the head mod. Of course I did this without resorting to name calling or cursing nor doing the same on the internet. The dealer sent a reply today expressing that they felt bad about my issues and were themselves misinformed by the prior owner about the unleaded mod. They offered to send me a refund in the amount of the repair. It's nice to have a dealer stand up in such a matter. They could have told me to take a long walk on a short pier. As it wasn't direct willful misinformation on their part. But felt responsible for having told me the mod had in fact been done when they probably should have stated that the prior owner had said the mod had been done.

Well the dealership came through and is doing the right thing. I will post about it following this one. My car was delivered to my house and was included in the cost of the car. If you are near the ring you must be at Spang. where are you at? I would take the Ronald Reagen approach. Trust but verify. Which I didn't do. I got caught up in the wow factor and lost my objectiveness. I still would have bought my Caterham, But I could have used the unleaded head issue as a bargaining chip. Take along a spark plug socket and a compression tester. If the car is in good nick other than a bad compression test. One could use that as a bargaining tool. The engine while expensive to fix (esp in Europe) are the least of the worries when buying a seven. A bent or rusted chassis is a much bigger spanner in the works to deal with. If you are stationed at Spang. There is a nice fella that deals in Westfields & DAX in a town (Plein) near Wittlich on the west side of the Mossel river & the A1. His English is great as well. All his cars are right hand drive UK versions. I've been to his house twice. Between his home garage and a separate garage facility he showed me 12 seven variants= Westfields, DAX Rush's, Tigers. He also had one 356 Porsche replica, A DAX Cobra. He usually has something on Ebay.de Accept for right now. (figures) I found that the Older westfield SE are rather narrower than the equivalent Caterham S3. As the westfield has a very wide center tunnel whereas the Caterham has a narrow tunnel. As I'm older (Read fatter) and the SE was tight, The SEiW and the S3 were fine with the flat seats. My S3 long cockpit fits great and is very comfortable.

The soda vs beer is still valid. A pint of beer is cheaper than a pint of soda. Funny thing is, Prior to moving to Germany. I was a big fan of the specialty brews. (I still am) But I haven't drank much beer since moving here. If I did I'd weigh a million pounds by now. However, When it's hot out. The wife & I like to drink a radler beer. Which is a Pilsner with citrus soda added. Very light and tasty. Sometimes we will have a cola-weisen when it's cooler. My landlord (who is American) left his stock of alcohol behind. (most older German homes like ours have a bar in the keller) One of the bottles he left was a lowlands single malt scotch whiskey. I'd never tasted a single malt before. That's now what I prefer to sip. A further note on my car. Looks like the shop decided to use the old valve cover gasket instead of spending a couple of Euro on a new one.:toetap05: You can guess what it is doing. Freaking oil every where. It does run much better though. No hunting at just off idle when cruising at constant speed. But as the engine is healthy now. I can get to work on final jetting adjustments without the leaky valves throwing me off.

That's a big portion of it. 19% here in Continental Europe. 20% in Blighty (UK) Here's an example NGK BPR7EIX from autozone= $6.99 In the UK it's 8.76 quid which is $14.75. That's a fair bit more costly than the 20% tax could have added to the price. That's over 100% more costly. But hey! folks get things for free from the Govmint here. Well the average European THINKS they are getting free stuff. Buy a car, build a new house. That will be 20% added on. one even pays $25 a month in TV tax for every TV in the house. Gotta love socialism.

Just stopped by the shop to check on the Cat's status. Fortunately the cylinders & valves were fine. The valve seats were rubbish & needed refreshing & new guides. He also rebuilt the carbs after doing an ultrasonic clean. Also new HT leads, Iridium plugs. 1200 Euro total cost. Pretty reasonable by European standards. The most disappointing thing about the whole deal was the fact that the special classics dealer that sold me the Caterham. Answered me in a very clear YES When asked if the head had a hardened unleaded valve seat conversion. Well, seems he was fibbing. The seats are of the machined right on the cast iron variety. Car dealers.:cuss: They are almost as bad as politicians.