Anaximander

Are you kidding me??? People here are making fun of my new to me Caterham's steering wheel that was suggested was heisted from a dune buggy. Suave Less or aka Less Suave, Suave's evil twin said to me that the Racetech steering wheel was too small for his wings and he is a minature stork. Now I have two animal type cars. A storker and a cat. What fun!

Pickles, I can rest easier knowing that your "bumpers" have made your Caterham a non death trap (grin). Much good luck finishing the licensing process! BTW, it would be best from a regulatory standpoint that you not exceed 50 mph and only drive it very early in the morning when there are fewer cars on the road.

Jcerier, I am sorry that MA has such stringent titleing requirements. Fortunately, we had moved further South in Florida after selling our 4 car garage home (sob). Fortunately, there is a secured air conditioned storage facility 1.3 miles from our home that had a space available for my tilt trailer and the Caterham. Like yourself, I have been wanting a Lotus /Caterham since getting talked out of buying a pristine 1962 Seven when I was a Senior in high school in 1967. I am on my third Stalker which is a superb performer with terrific support from the factory in Clearwater Florida but I still had this itch from 51 years ago to apparently scratch (grin). Thanks for indirectly helping me to get into my first Caterham. Mike G. is a great guy with a terrific sense of humor and a keen understanding of all things mechanical and I feel very fortunate to have moved an hour away from the car just two days earlier. It feels like Kismet or something? I know you will find just the right Caterham that you can get past the DMV in short order. Croc as you know provides us all with the invaluable Seven listings most Sunday mornings for those of us needing caffeine or nursing hangovers.

Mike, I will be taking delivery of the car this Friday and I will see if this Mike wants to share what he is playing with. I am so tickled as he seems to be a perfectionist (not unlike yourself from what i can ascertain ) it comes to maintenance and he is so incredibly skilled in the mechanical/fabrication world. He shared some of what he is up to and I was simply amazed at his skill sets. Not even mentioning that his videos show a very skilled driver. I forgot to ask him if I can get an honorary national championship just owning the car? I am sure he would just let out a loud roar of a laugh. I guess I am going to have to learn how to drive better. Glad that I have a past that included fast sport bikes and airplanes. Will be very interesting to drive with a revvy race-tuned 2 litre engine vs the L67 3.8 litre supercharged engine that has less revs but more torque down low.

Poor Suave Less and Pee Wee are still in packing boxes but I am sure that Pee Wee would swoon for that red candy flake steering wheel.

John and Shane, I have decided to leave the steering wheel on the Superlight I bought yesterday and likely will not put mud tires on it since we moved from red neck North Florida to Vero Beach two days before I bought Mike's superb Superlight that has 400r plus engine performance in the 300r package. Mike G. is an extremely passionate autophile with an impressive performance history with this Caterham. Shane, as you and Croc know, Mike is also a very fun guy who ran with you all up in New Jersey a few years back. I now have to decide if I am going to do some HPDE days with the car and will definitely need some instruction. Bob

I would love to accept that assignment! You know, Wirewheel buys and sells all kinds of racecars so if you are really serious, give them a call and see what you can work out. That Caterham with the BDR looks like a beauty.

Shane and Mike, It is funny but when I first saw it I wanted it as well. I called an autocross friend and explained the car to him and he said that it was not particularly useful for any sporting events and would be lumped into the A Mod category for autox which is uber competitive with a PAX=1 and the car would not be. He advised that it would be fine for a Cars and Coffee morning or to put up on a web page but other than that, he could not see any earthly reason to own that interesting car. If I had a stable of exotic cars, I too would love to own it just for the fun factor. We are moving next week to Vero Beach and will be about 1.4 miles from the Wirewheel compound. I already scouted out where it is located and can occasionally spend some time drooling over their inventory. If anyone needs for me to physically check out a car for them visually or driving, I would be delighted to do it in the future. My wife thinks that they are too conveniently located for my crack=car addiction :drool:

Ok Stalker owners and 7 officianados. Hold onto your hats! How about a very deep throated, rumbling Stalker XL with AIR CONDITIONING! This is NOT, I repeat, NOT a pipedream. I saw it in person at Stalker's Clearwater assembly facility this afternoon. What a beast with a nicely corked up LS3 (430hp) engine with the twin exhausts exiting the rear of the car. The sound is really unreal. It has a pulsating rumble rather than a loud bark of the normal sidepipes. Then throw in under the dash AIR CONDITIONING. Is this really a Stalker? You bet your bippy it is! Scott has been prototyping and building this machine with another also beginning to take shape. It will have some doors and a canvas top. Not your grandfather's Stalker . Nice to see the innovation going on at Stalker. I hope I am not speaking out of turn but it appears that a new AXR Stalker (autocross specific) is in the design phase and may up the already formidable game of the current AXR Stalker that Sott's brother Jason has been campaigning to place second at Nationals this year in E Mod. Scott is an inveterate designer/builder and he just can't seem to stay still. Glenn, his father is also helping him with the continued development of a Miata-spec Stalker for enthusiasts on a budget. It is always a pleasure to visit Scott's shop and see what is cooking at the skunk works. My Classic #156 is in for the need of a rebuilt transmission as the original one has sprung more leaks than Mount Vesuvius on both the input and output shafts due to being a used unit that was not quite up to par when the original builder selected it for installation. Bob

Tom, Quite a storied career in racing. Congrats on finally acquiring your dreamt about 7. Just remember not to get too close behind a jacked up pickup on big meats at a traffic light in Mooresville. Says the truck driver, "Did I just back up over a beer can?" :ack: Happy motoring in the beautiful NC mountains. Bob

Wow Shane, It is great to see the Storker back in better shape than I have ever seen it! Hope you and Mario have a really fun and safe day of it today. I am having a Sunbrella cover made for my Classic Storker so that when I take it on the road with the Stalker tilt trailer that Less Suave doesn't get his butt wet when it rains into the car. He keeps whining that he wants to ride up front with me and I guess I should cut him some slack. Seems like our storks just don't get the respect they were hoping for but when they are out drinking together, we are going to have to make sure we have enough bail money. Bob

That is kind of funny. We are selling our home and wanted to raise the price in the more stimulated market and the realtor advised that if everyone else with a similar home raised their home a similar amount, then it would be a good strategy. However, barring everyone raising their price, the market pretty much dictates what things sell for. I suspect if one of our savvy USA7's members offered this person something less than asking and possibly less than the previous asking price with cash in hand that a deal could be struck? The seller was open to "interesting trades" and this seems like an opening to me that the marketplace is not rushing to his/her door to buy this interesting but somewhat limited car. I use reverse fairly often in my Storker and both of my trikes (Harley and Can-Am Spyder) have reverses on them.

Rich, thanks for sharing that delightful autox footage. I used to own an R1 engine in an R1 motorcycle and it would routinely cause a part of my anatomy to pucker at times. Bob

Geez Shane. Not only did you pump up your Classic Storker but it appears that you gave Suave a colorfowl transformation as well. You must be feeding steroids to both your storks! Less Suave, Suave's evil twin no longer feels like he can rule the roost given how you transformed Suave and your Storker!

:drool: Very nice!!!

Shane, Big time congrats on the rise of the Phoenix just before the New Year! Suave was probably jealous not being able to go on the first ride although the temps may have been too cold for our feathery friend. The car looks beautiful. I can't believe that all of those wild colors came together so well. Who would have thunk it? All of the vents make the car look like a space machine from another planet. Safe journeys and no flying acrobatics with this one. Bob

+1

I think the politically incorrect rear mud flaps are what sealed the deal for the "Texas Wagon Wheel 7" getting published:jester:

Richard, VERY good news to hear! Thanks for the update. As many know, there were apparently Federal Statutes created to provide incentive for small car manufacturers to thrive in this country that have yet to be implemented. If and when those Statutes are enacted, small manufacturers may have much more freedom to come up with innovative products.

This move by Texas to potentially limit kit cars seems quite troubling! I own a Brunton Classic Stalker and would sure as heck hate to see it limited in the USA. I know that Canada formulated rules where they are not currently able to be imported into the country. I wonder if the Texas initiative will have legs to get into Statute and I also wonder why other States would adopt the moves by Texas? I don't see Massachusetts adopting Texas open gun carry laws.

Mike, It is kind of funny but my chassis is #156 which is 3 chassis older than yours and built in 2012 as well. Although my Storker is exceptionally beautiful, it really does not hold a candle to your very tricked out #159 with that LS3 engine. Unfortunately, I don't have the mechanical skills to have built one from scratch and if I attempted it would likely have resulted in suboptimal end results.

Shane, Off-road excursions are not allowed in this beautiful vomit comet green Storker!

Since you all called me a wussy. My evil twin stork hooked up with Pee Wee to further shame me. Sheesh, tough audience!

Man, shame is a powerful tool unless it used against our politicians who do not seem to respond to those mores very often:smash: I am going to keep it for the near future and have actually pre-registered for the final autocross event in this region. There will be zero chance of rain and the day will start at 50 degrees and warm to only 73-74 which makes for a lovely day in the South. I will be 11 weeks status post left hip surgery and I am ready to slalom! Hey, quit calling me a wussy. I am going to keep this snortin' fun-mobile and see what mischief I can get into without losing my freedom:ack: Thanks one and all for talking me out of my temporary insanity. Bob