Hello,
Please accept my apologies in advance for what might be a stupid question from a newbie:
There was an auction for a Caterham, which ended yesterday with reserve not met: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1974-caterham-seven/
Various comments to the auction state that the engine is a "DOHC Ford 2.0 L Zetec SVT"
However, the ad copy says that the engine was "sourced from a Mercury" - model and year unknown.
Now, as far as I can tell, no Mercury ever came from the factory with anything other than a regular 130 hp engine. From ChatGPT:
Mercury's only Zetec-powered models in North America were:
Mercury Cougar (1999–2002) — used the standard 2.0 L Zetec (130 hp), not the SVT version.
Mercury Tracer (mid-90s) — used earlier versions of the 1.8 L and 2.0 L Zetec in some trims, also without SVT upgrades
And in the auction's comments, the conclusion about the rebuild of the engine in 2004 seems to be that it was rebuilt to factory specs.
So what do people mean when they call the engine an "SVT" - how did it go from 130hp at the factory to 185hp like the seller says in the comments, and how can one tell just by looking at it?
Any thoughts highly appreciated...