Anaximander

MightyMike, Thanks for posting your parts porn!

Mike, If you think Shane's farts are bad in your Storker, just think about flight crew issues where I have heard that his co-pilot has lost consciousness on a couple of occasions from the noxious fumes! Even Suave has been squaking Shane's farts in the garage where he is known to hang out. BTW, every time that I see more pictures of your Stalker, I marvel at how absolutely beautiful #159 is. And with the LS3 engine in the Colorado mountains, the power and performance must be intoxicating. Bob

Heck no. I just added a striped fringe surrey top from the windshield to the rollbar and I think it matches the steering wheel quite well. Mr. Caterham may be sick to his stomach with the additional flair I have added but I think it's quaint and goes well with my steering wheel. I don't think there is another Superlight 300r quite like it:jester:

Shane, It would have to be a C Section as we are not plumbed correctly for birthing. Yuk! Daniel, Congrats on getting through a lot of those gremlins. Your story reminds me of why I have not or will ever tackle a build. I just don't have the patience and/or expertise to pull something as complex as you are doing off.

The seller forgot to include the words "as you are screaming at the top of your lungs sliding off the course". "What, me worry about braking points?" Alfred E. Neuman

Mike, Thanks for the very informative assessment of this fellows ad. I have never heard of a Robin Hood aka GBS and had to look them up. It turns out that Robin Hood according to Wikipedia enjoyed a very productive rollout of its original 7's until Caterham won a High Court judgement that caused the manufacturer to falter. As I think about my Brunton Stalker and the time it took to sell only a fraction of the Robin Hoods that were made early on, it seems as if the manufacturer enjoyed great early success. A lookup on the Great British Sportcars ltd. website reveals a current company with sevenish qualities and an interest in continuing to refine their products in Great Britain. In terms of Bill's approach to sales, I would definitely have to say that his presentation would tend to be polarizing:puke:

That car still has International plates on it. The dealer says it is in his name but that doesn't mean much if he imported it illegally or it has a checkered provenance. The fact that he doesn't say much about it leads me to believe it is something I would tend to stay away from. He seems to have an attitude as well in his ad which is a turn-off.

Sometimes I can't stand the two-dimensionalness of the Internet. I chalk all of this up to Suave and his evil twin Suave Less who have been whispering in Shane's and my ears:dupe:I just completed my 69th lap around the Sun which means I am getting older by the minute like we all are. However, each subsequent lap around the Sun seems to bring new challenges in the way of physiological and psychological challenges. I wish that I had gotten into autocross at an earlier age in life but was doing other high-performance things with motorcycles at the time which were more affordable for me in the earlier years. When Shane was describing how challenging it is to do track days far from home, what I got to thinking about was how conservation of available human energy is a very important commodity and was for myself thinking how I can remain in the autocross game with improvements and how I might best approach tracking my new-to-me Caterham Superlight. At 69 years of age, one might begin to wonder if my perceptual/cognitive/physical capabilities are sufficiently up to the task and if so, how might I deal with these natty issues of human energy conservation as the years roll on. As a recently retired medical psychologist, I have a certain appreciation of how substances of all kinds, including food choices have an impact on my overall functioning. In this vein, Shane's story about the fatigue he was having to deal with called into question for me, how I could possibly best mitigate some of these external challenges? It is really a privilege to hang out on this forum with so many experienced drivers that are willing to share the good, bad and ugly of our enthusiast endeavors. The openness to share is quite refreshing and I suspect is helping many of us to more safely face the challenges we choose to pursue. So, I am not on any soapbox trying to convert anybody but myself in terms of figuring out strategies to maximize my performance within the numerous constraints that life presents to my aging carcass:deadhorse::nopity::bigear:

Shane, Thanks for the follow-up. Actually, I don't think I misread you and did not think for a moment that alcohol was anywhere near the track during runs and it did not sound like you all were having wild parties. I think I just moved the goal posts a bit for myself in deciding that alcohol and certain foods prior to grueling days at the track seem less interesting to me after thinking about the fatigue factors that can affect both driving performance and all of the other tasks required to have a successful day or two. With my Storker, I use that rapier sword for autox and find that here in the Deep South, hot days at solo events almost turn me into a rag doll from the heat and difficulties in staying hydrated. I find that when it is my turn to do solo runs, I am half in the bag in terms of fatigue and so I am thinking about modified strategies for staying as fresh as I can. This coming Fall, I hope to get my first couple of track days with my new-to-me Caterham Superlight 300r and will be very mindful of the ETOH/food issues to enhance rather than detract from my first track days. Unfortunately, even through November here in South and Central Florida, the heat can be quite intense and I am surprised at how much cockpit heat the 400r spec engine is making in my Cat. Bob

Shane, Thanks for sharing about the fatigue issues that set in and the events that took place over the two-day fun-filled USA7's day. Of course hind sight is usually 20/20 and something in your story really jumped out at me. I love fine alcohol spirits but given the risks associated with dehydration and the desire to operate our machines at peak performance, I think that when I participate in activities like this in the future that alcohol will not be part of the celebration before, during or immediately after an event. Additionally, I love fine food but also think that along with hydration issues that food as fuel for our bodies become even more critical and I will be mindful of trying to stay with foods that will help in physical/mental recovery after strenuous/exciting activity and not impair physical/cognitive functioning. You as a current pilot and me as a former pilot know all too well about physical/mental fatigue and how it affects our decision making and overall motor skills performance. Trying to stay ahead of the airplane and/or our 7's is a daunting enough task even when we are in tip-top condition. Thanks again for sharing a tough story. It has really helped to clarify some issues via "cheap wisdom" (wisdom not paid for dearly) that will likely make my upcoming track experiences more enjoyable and less filled with drama. Bob

Shane, I would same the same thing about your trailer experience. I am dying to find out how fatigue played a factor? BTW, I am also dying to find out why your BEAUTIFUL Storker quit on you? :toetap05:

Shane, Sorry for the dinged bumper. A pretty good outcome given that your beautiful Storker was cruising free of your tow vehicle at a rather high rate of speed without a pilot (pun intended). What comes to mind is the question of whether or not you utilized a safety bolt going through the ball latching device? I never leave home without one.

I ain't no wazowski meme! I am a Stork who can't flap his wings pinned to the front of astro boy's grill. Thanks a lot Shane:mad: "Suave Less"

What a really delightful video! Very well done and excellent accompanying music. It makes me wish that we just hadn't moved 3 weeks ago and that I just acquired a beautiful Caterham Superlight 300r two days after the move that I would have loved to have gotten onto that track. Seems like a very nice time was had by all! Kudos to Tom and Mike for organizing such a nice event! Bob

In terms of "vehicular conspicuity", if you are not WAY behind a large pickup truck or SUV at a stop light or stop sign so they can see you in their mirrors clearly and they decide to back up and move over to another lane, you can imagine the driver of said trucks/cars commenting "Did I just run over a large beer can?" :leaving: .

Andy, I just purchased a 2004 Caterham Superlight 300r last week and the toe box is rather small compared to my Brunton Stalker Classic. However, I ordered a pair of Simpson high-top racing shoes from Summit Racing that make my feet narrower in profile and they fit fine. I can also use slip on narrow canvas Crocs. Bob

Shane, Don't encourage the man to be unsafe at any speed lest Ralph Nader will come out of retirement. What Pickles needs to do now is add humungous and ugly big rubber outer coverings on those metal spears to conform to DOT regs like the Brits had to do in the early 1980's to the MG and Triumphs.

Very nice look!

Croc, maybe I did confuse those folks from Seattle who are growing webs between their toes from all of the typical rain and run wet weather tires most of the year? The NJ HPDE you all are set to run and the social events sound like a good time will be had by all. Hopefully next year it will be on the calendar and I will have had a few HPDE'S under my harness to not embarrass myself. Please keep my fellow Storker owner Shane from flapping Suave's wings and taking any short flights. Having Less Suave, I keep telling him that he would be better off staying on the ground. Storks were fundamentally not meant to fly and we need Flyboi sticking to Terra Firma. You all have a great time at NJMP and I look forward to joining you all next year. Bob and Less Suave.

Ok, so I have wanted a Lotus 7 my whole life and didn't get a Caterham until this past week. Went down to the local Florida DMV and got a license plate for it so I could finally go on a blat. What a very different machine than my 300hp plus Stalker. I can see how the Storker is perfect for autox and the K8-trum is going to be a ball doing an HPDE in the Novice ranks over at Sebring. I am using the phonetic pronunciation of Caterham since I am a Storker owner and have been the butt of Croc's jokes given that I haven't been a "true" officianado until today. Mike, I forgive you because I didn't realize how visceral a true Lotus 7 is. The engine sings and the tunnel cooks meat so it must have an enclosed engine compartment unlike my Stalker? The cars are so different and so much fun that I suspect I will have a difficult time deciding which to fool around with on any given day. Thanks to the eclectic and eccentric breathren on this forum for absolutely scrambling my sensibilities in choosing very fun sports mobiles. Bob

Shane, The folks Hayes and his twin sons Hamilton and Hunter are very nice people in person. I drove my Stalker the 1.5 miles to their facility to meet them and Hayes sons gave me the nickel tour. Very impressive collection of cars for sale. Today I stopped by to advise that I had bought a Caterham and they wouldn't have to consider throwing me off the premises for not owning a correct Brit mobile. Turns out that both of Hayes sons are track driving instructors and I plan to request them when I do my first HPDE over at Sebring which is less than two hours from the house. Bob

What are you asking for your tricked out E Mod hotrod?

Ron, thanks for identifying the wheels provenance. I have Wirewheel just a couple of miles from my new home that likely has or has seen these steering wheels on some of the actual former race cars they sell. I visited last week and they have the last Acura NSX 11/11 which is about a work of vintage racing art/technology that they refurbished to like new and will be selling shortly. It is a stunning example of racing with significant factory sponsorship money. BTW, the autox car you are selling with your accompanying youtube.com videos show what appears to be an amazing purpose built car. Nice job. What class is it running in in SCCA autocross?

Croc, If you had not been on the ball as well as you are, I would have missed Mike G's Superlight that is resting in air conditioned comfort in my storage facility waiting to get some road time after I transfer the title.