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Kess

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Everything posted by Kess

  1. I saw this home built 7 on EBay. It looks pretty awesome! Great looking workmanship. Here is the link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lotus-Super-Seven-2-seated-roadster-HAHLIN7-Super-Seven-2006-built-for-track-days-racing-drag-race-/301131453154?forcerrptr=true&hash=item461cd552e2&item=301131453154&pt=US_Cars_Trucks The $56K asking price is a bit much for me but perhaps others might be interested. Anyone know of a faster 1/4 mile time? Gary
  2. Asking price?
  3. I have heard and seen some Robin Hood 7s for sale over the years. I did not know they changed their name. Does anyone have one of these newer cars? Maybe someone from the UK? Gary
  4. I was looking through Kit Car magazine to which Skip posted a link. I noted in the adverts in the back a 7 made by GBS called the Zero and that there is a US distributor. In the photos and on the UK website the car looked pretty nice. They also accept a range of engines including from a Miata or Honda S2000. Has anyone had any experience with this 7? Anyone heard of them? Here is the UK link: http://www.greatbritishsportscars.co.uk Gary
  5. Hi, I am very interested. Can you please send your contact info (phone & email) and any other photos. Address is: info AT GMSR.info Thanks! Gary
  6. This just showed up and I thought I would share: The World Famous Seven, designed by Colin Chapman of Lotus, was originally the super light weight Lotus Seven. In 1973 Caterham Cars LTD began producing the Seven after purchasing the rights. For over 40 years, Caterham has retained the Seven's original spirit while incorporating advanced design technological, including technology gathered from the Caterham F1 racing team. Caterham began to breathe new life into the Seven worldwide, especially in the USA. First was the reworking the model options and designations for the Seven. The second and most important step was to align with Superformance as the new US Distributor. Superformance and Caterham Cars LTD is proud to introduce the New US Caterham Seven Model Lineup. Caterham signs new US distributor Caterham Cars and its iconic Seven will be officially sold in the USA with a new US distributor as of January 1st 2014. Superformance (http://www.superformance.com) is based in Irvine, California and will sell several variants of the Seven. Increased American interest in the legendary British sportscar was sparked earlier this year, when X Factor supremo Simon Cowell took delivery of a Seven CSR 260 at his home in Los Angeles. Superformance will stock a range of Seven variants, although primarily the higher-power incarnations of the car, which have traditionally been more popular in the American market. The range will include the Seven 480 and the new Seven 620R, which will top the US line-up initially. Caterham Group CEO, Graham Macdonald, said: "The US market has always been a difficult one for us, thanks to the stringent federal homologation rules. But we know there is an appetite for our particular brand of lightweight and performance and we already export our SP/300.R to the States through Dyson Racing. "In the last two years, Caterham has significantly broadened its reach internationally and signing a new official distributor in the form of Superformance in America is a natural extension of how our brand is expanding, rapidly, across the globe." Sevens will be shipped to the USA in part-built form and sold as rolling chassis via Superformance's nationwide dealer network for customers to then complete the build personally.
  7. Car is FI. It is the stock FI system. Stock ECU as well. Engine was from Caterham USA and the car was assembled by them as well. Car has the 5 speed tanny. Gary
  8. Car is in VA at present.
  9. 2003 Caterham SV for sale. Asking $27,500 BO. This is a 2003 car with a Ford Zetec engine (not SVT). The car is registered in PA as a Specially Constructed Vehicle. I am posting for a friend and am happy to provide more info if you have questions. I drove the car this past weekend. You can contact me via personal mail through this site or at my email address: Gary AT GMSR dot INFO
  10. Glad that I could help and that it worked out Bill! Car looks good on your trailer. Looking forward to hearing more about it as you get it set up. Gary
  11. I had a look at this car a few years ago. Glad to provide more info from that time. Just message me. Gary
  12. Bought brand new for $1900. I was 16 and had never driven a standard. I used to terrorize my suburban neighborhood and would autocross it every weekend I could. I would go around many of the corners on 3 wheels which was lots of fun. Moved on to an Alfa Romeo next (found that one too!). Thanks for posting this! Gary
  13. Hi B-T, I am a former S1 owner. I had my S1 for 3 years but ended up making the poor decision to get a different toy car as I thought I would use it more frequently than I drove the S1 (BMW M3 Vert). Here is a link to info about the S1 and my car (you may have already seen this if you searched): http://www.gmsr.info/pre2007/s1sale.htm My S1 was the single vehicle that had the broken Mumford link. I purchased it from an estate. The former owner was a frequent racer and was killed in a track accident (in a different car). He purchased the car from the first owner who was an avid track driver. This person was the one who broke the Mumford Link and who by the end of his ownership was unhappy with the car for a myriad of reasons. I knew all about his unhappiness with the car prior to purchasing and had a number of conversations with him about what he thought the car's shortcomings were. When I purchased the S1 I was coming from a 1990 Miata that I had done a bunch of work on. This included a FM turbo kit and lots of other performance mods. The car was very fun to drive but as often happens when you get the itch (I think it is happening for you now) I wanted something else and a 7 was that something. I flew down to PA to see the S1. I bought it and then drove it 400+ miles back home (on race tires!) to VT (in the winter!). The car needed some work as it had been sitting in a storage shed for some time. You can see details on some of the improvements I made here: http://www.gmsr.info/pre2007/S1.htm I also upgraded the throttle linkage as the stock system routed over the header and caused the cable to melt and made the throttle sticky. There are lots of ways to fix this and I am sure I have info and photos of many of them. Okay back to the car. I really enjoyed the car. I ditched the 16 inch wheels and used the 15 inch wheels that came with it. I put on some sticky tires which improved the ride and handling very nicely. The roads in VT are not always in good shape. I found the S1 dealt with these imperfections quite well. The car was very well put together other then the issues I improved (gas cap/ filler, throttle cable linkage, exhaust system). I did have an occasion where the plug for the speedometer in the transmission disappeared. I noticed this as I was pulling out of my garage (puddle of trans fluid on the floor). I put the car back in and took another car and latter figured out what was wrong and worked hard to get a plug back in place (it is intended to be installed when the trans is out of the car). That was the only mechanical issue I had with the car in the time I owned it. As with all these cars it is helpful if you are handy and are not afraid to take a crack at fixing things that might be wrong. The car is very nice inside and that carries over under the hood and the tunk. I think the top and doors are very well thought out. I especially liked that the windows in the doors could go up and down. I mostly drove with the doors on as they acted as a windblocker. The heater worked pretty well on cool days. I liked the in the windshield defroster which worked well. I loved the steering on the car. I still dream about it! It was incredibly direct. No other car has come close to this feeling. I live in the mts. of VT and often get out and drive our twisty mt. roads ( & ). The S1 was great on these days. On the handling side I would describe it as all good up to 8.5/10s. Once you get past this point I found that the car does not tolerate foolish operation. As an example, if I went into a turn around 9/10s and let off the throttle the car wanted to rotate. Which if you were not anticipating this behavior could certainly bite you. I am pretty sure this level of speed is not socially acceptable on the open road, but not sure how you drive so you may get there. I guess I would say when in doubt give it more throttle! Wider tires on the rear (I had all 4 the same size) could possible tame this behavior (much like what was done with the Honda S2000) if this troubles you. My other complaint was the Webcon fuel injection system. I have been used to a programable ECU and the Webcon is not that type of system. It uses a chip for programing and you need special equipment to burn the chip. In the US only John did any of that. My car tended to run rich and there was no easy fix for this despite having upgraded the chips several times. I considered going to an alternative ECU Emerald was one thought. Anyway as I noted at the start I sold the S1. I got that BMW and never bonded with it. It was gone in a year. I went back to a nice 2000 Miata with all the aftermarket speed goodies. The car has an FM Turbo system and so much more. It is very fun to drive and practical too! It sounds great and never fails to put a smile on my face. In spite of that I have been looking for a replacement 7. I have found one and just like you will be having a look at it shortly. I decided to try a different 7 this time out (Caterham). I also plan to keep the other toy as well. Glad to answer any questions or put you in touch with other who might be able to. I have the S1 build manual posted if you want to see how they are put together. http://www.gmsr.info/pre2007/S1_Manual.pdf Look forward to hear how it all works out. Perhaps we could meet up when I go to get my new 7. Where are you in PA? Best! Gary
  14. Justin, If you can add an extra day there is an event at Limerock on 5/2. They rent spec Miatas as well. Here is the link: http://www.scda1.com/home Best - Gary
  15. I came upon this in my surfing. I would have loved to have been there! Cool 7's if you scroll down the page. http://thegaragista.com/2012/11/10/japan-lotus-day-2012-ジャパン・ロータスデー2012-part-1/ Part 2 starts with 7 & Caterham stuff including a carbon fibre hardtop and other great cars. http://thegaragista.com/2012/11/18/japan-lotus-day-2012-ジャパン・ロータスデ-2012-part-2-sevens-elans-ロータス-セブ/ Gary
  16. I *had* (rhymes with sad) an S1. The top and doors were a truly great feature. The doors had actual plexi windows that went up and down (with your hand of course) with a large knob you tightened to hold them at the desired level. The doors were also solid (not canvas). The doors came off quite easily as well and stored in the boot. As Steve noted the later S1 had a top you could run as a t-top which was pretty cool and handy as well for getting in and out while still appearing somewhat graceful. You can zip it all closed from the inside. I have included a few photos. Here is a link to more from the page I posted when the car was for sale. http://www.gmsr.info/pre2007/s1sale.htm Looking at an SV presently hope to have one for the next LOG which is about 6 hours from my home in Vermont.
  17. I am looking to become a 7 owner once again. I have missed some good cars and so the search goes on. I found this car on Ebay 1980 Lotus Super Seven SUPER SPRINT 1700: Here is the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649&item=330727725929&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT#ht_500wt_1182 It looked like the parking brake was mounted on the passenger firewall. I asked and it is in fact mounted that way. This seems very odd to me. A photo is attached. Has anyone heard of this? Gary
  18. Hi Robert a Caterham sold really fast on this board after the asking price was posted. Here is the link: http://www.usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7295 Good luck! Gary
  19. Thank you all for the thoughtful replies to my query. That is what I like about this forum. I have had a 7 that had a Zetec. It was FIed and was low maintenance as far as the engine running well went. I am sure I would enjoy and be frustrated by the Webbers. I like more HP in most cases, but when I had the Superformance S1 I also had a low milage totally stock 1990 Miata. It had 28K miles on it and cost less than $3K. When I say stock even the tires were original (and hard!). It was a 1.6 small HP car, but I really enjoyed driving it. Something about trying to make a slow car go fast by conserving momentum was more fun than driving a fast car slow (I also had a BMW M3 at the time). I do hope to track the car, but maybe having a fast car is not that important for most of my regular use. I will likely not have the chance to test each car back to back as they are not near by. I plan to drive the one I plan to purchase and if I like it go from there. Thanks again. Gary
  20. Thank you for the replies. I really like the 1600 car as it appears to be well sorted. In the end despite that fact it looks like I will just keep looking for zetec car as I do not think I would be happy with a low HP car. Although the great engine sound is appealing. Gary
  21. I owned a Superformance S1 with FI Zetec. It was mostly well sorted and other than running rich gave me no trouble. I am looking at a crossflow equipped car now for purchase. It has 1600 engine with Webbers. Just trying to decide if the money I save on what looks like a well sorted car is worth it or if I should keep looking and find a car with a Zetec or Duratec. It looks like savings might be $4-6K. How hard/expensive is it to upgrade to a Zetec or Duratec? While I enjoy working on the toy cars I am finding I have too little time to really spend doing so at present. Will an FIed cars be more reliable? Your collective wisdom is greatly appreciated. Gary
  22. Kess

    Registration

    I registered by Superformance S1 as a 1960 Lotus 7. They did not ask any questions even thought the car was made in 2002. I also found that helped with selling it as the new owner could use the VT registration in their state which worked well for him. Gary
  23. I could not figure out why when the price was only $900 away from the buy it now price that it did not sell. I know I would have dropped my reserve on a $30K asking price by $900 to sell especially after 3+ years of trying. I never thought much about the practice of shilling, but that could explain it. Looks like a nice car just more then I would pay for it. It should come up again soon! Gary
  24. Can any one provide more info on this 7? Does anyone here have one? I am curious how they compare to the Birkin. I have been looking at one that has a rotary. Not sure how loud that would make it. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks! Gary
  25. Well it took a long time, but I finally drove a 550 today. It was made by a Florida company called Euro Spyder. I think it is a Beck type derivative. It has some improvements like lined and padded doors and a real door handles as well as better hinges then a standard beck. The owner had installed a better shift linkage. They car was not tuned properly but it ran okay over 3K. The paint had some minor issues, but the car was overall very nicely finished. After being taken for a ride I got my turn. Tons of foot and leg room compared to a 7. The passenger needs to be small as the seats were offset and very close to each other with no tunnel for separation. The clutch picked up very high, but I am sure that could be adjusted as well as the timing. What I did not like was the steering which was very vague and slow to respond. I can only vaguely remember what a VW bug felt like, but I think it was like this. I am not sure if all Spyders have the same steering feel, but I liked the steering feel and the instant response on my former 7 much more. I will say the car was great looking. Even better then I thought it might be. If I had one maybe young women would think I was George Clooney. Anyway since I want a car for the pure driving experience and not to attract young women I think I will keep looking for a 7. I have a Birkin in my sights that I plan to go see next week. Gary
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