Vovchandr

SDK - Caterham as manufacturer L - left hand drive D - DeDion generation K - Kit built 5 - SV if I recall NS - Engine not supplied (standard for US cats) 5 - 2005 model year 0050457 - manufacturer number @Croc sounds about right?

Gladly. Post it up and @Croc is the resident VIN cracker but I can dig up the reference as well

I do remember it being very tight with the ramp. I think we took nose cone off and used wooden planks to help the nose going onto it. Again, not ideal but can do in a pinch if you're careful.* (not sure if all Uhaul trailers are the same either)

Yikes indeed. I used a uhaul for my original pickup and didn't have any issues. results may vary

Have you made the trip?

Any resolutions to this deal?

Caterham wrap

Right. However even their claimed PS per Tonne is a bit misleading when the industry standard is HP per Ton and the figure looks different after doing the math that they aren't very transparent about.

Caterham has always been a little optimistic about their model designations such as "360"/"480"/"500"/"620" being eluded to as HP per Ton Two caveats, they round the HP numbers and use a metric Tonne instead of imperial ton and they round down the weight. Lets take for example Caterham 360. Caterham says it makes 182ps, weights 560kg and on their website already updates power to weight as 349 per tonne. PS hp becomes 180. 560KG = .62 of a ton. Simple math converts this to 290 as being a realistic HP per Ton number. Going further through the lineup and information available on the Caterham site now 420 becomes 339 Lastly 620 after doing the math 469. Amusingly this is the math that the website has for it

I think I found the owners previous project

I have an old Quaife sequential. Honestly makes the car for me. It's rough, loud, clanky and very expensive to fix and I love every minute of it.

Now that I know that pictures are from an old ad, after all the other red flags I'm 95% convinced it's a scam. Very strange to be using such an obscure car for the scam however.

Could go either way. Easiest way to find out whether a scam is to do what you're doing. Ask for more pictures, vin and a picture with the plate with at least the state not edited out, they can keep numbers edited out. If they keep giving you excuses of "I'm not local/I'm not available/I don't have any more pictures and can't get them" etc then more than likely a scam. Escrow sounds slightly unorthodox. Easy way is to find a local enthusiast (not necessarily a 7 owner) and pay them to scope the car out for you before flying out etc. So far has all the checkmarks of a scam. Few pictures without confirming the state, he's magically unreachable in person, wants the money held by a third party etc. Then again, high risk things = high reward, so if it's true it would be a good deal. I flew out to see my car across the country and the previous owner was saying he can't get pictures because he doesn't know how to use a phone and needs somebody's help with it etc. A few other red flags too. All turned out to be real. Had a friend check it out beforehand.

Very cool and pretty. Thanks for sharing!