Al N.

Alas, I think I had mentioned I was tied up with a church fundraiser...I saw Alan & Kathy headed to the event (and a number of Elises/Deloreans) coming over from Clinton area on 513 when I was on my 3rd of 4 runs to Shop-Rite for the weekend. I'll make it to Bill's gathering eventually. As noted, he's about 2 miles from my house as the crow flies, if that. Glad several of the Se7en faithful made it out.

If you were looking to get a trick shifter and were willing to spend Cat (BGH-made, I think) 6, then I'd check out a Quaife Sequential. As for $20K Sevens...pretty rare animal unless it's a locost/home built. Up that to $25-$30k and you'll have a lot more to choose from.

Mike- You do know that your paint job inspired the livery for my next car, right? Nosebands and clams for everyone! -Al

Box-Great to see you out and about with SnakeBit. Mike-I have a church function (Turkey Dinner @ 6PM, if you're hungry) to run that day, but will try to stop by Bill's. That's literally a mile from my house.

Mike- I was up in the Monticello NY area last week for the Cadillac CTS-V Challenge and found a few good roads up that way that would make for a fun day trip for the NJ/PA/NY contingent. As usual, great pix and great write up. You certainly seem to be enjoying the car.

Glenn underscores a KEY thing with our hobby....even new, dealer-built cars may (often) need sorting. If I had spent only $1500 to make my old Superlight R registration-worthy in NJ, that would have been a miracle. My investment post-purchase was several multiples of that...but I really wasn't too upset at the time.

http://www.ctsvchallenge.com/about_the_challenge.php You are going to take on Bob Lutz at Monticello. He's going to drive the CTS-V. You can drive any non-modded sedan in the same market segment as the CTS-V. I assume an Audi RS6 would count. I'm probably going to go and spectate.

Croc- Those pix are amazing...

1. Where the hell has the USA7s Club President been since he was elected this summer? Good question. In July I went out to Wyoming/Montana to rendezvous with Gert, Skip, and Bill G. (as well as Gert & Bill’s significant others) to meet some great people and drive some extremely scenic roads, including the Bear Tooth Highway. Then in August, I went away for a week to repair houses in Owego, NY with my church youth group. And then our property got flooded out the day after I got back, sparing our house but taking out our entire driveway. And then school started. So I’ve been in catch up mode ever since. I also spent some time as the unofficial “Ombudsman” for Jalopnik.com, a popular car site. All the while trying to keep my little ad agency running. The good thing about the Jalopnik.com gig is that it paid for a set of new wheels for my new wheels (more on that later). 2. Annual Membership Appeal Another reason for me writing right now is to urge you to support the club as a paying member for another year. After some discussion among the officers and site admins, we are going back to rolling enrollment, which means you can sign up at anytime and your enrollment will last for a full year based on the date you signed up. While membership dues have traditionally been $20/year, I recommend raising this to $25 — primarily to cover the costs of member materials shipping, which I paid for out of pocket this past year. Also note that we would also like to move to permanent, hard plastic member cards. So even if you drop out for a year (which we hope you won’t), you’ll have the same number (and member card) when you re-up. The bulk of the membership dues covers hosting costs for this forum as well as the club umbrella insurance policy, so even if you never make it to a club event, your donation helps keep the forum up and running. Note that I would like to make a few pieces of “camera-ready art” available in the Member’s Section of the site so that people can print banners and/or Club Info cards at their convenience without having to get the art from an officer. LOOK FOR A POST FROM MAZDA/ROB SOON ON HOW/WHERE TO PAY ANNUAL DUES. 3. Joining LOG @ Gettysburg Oct 8-11, 2010 Pencil it in. With a high concentrations of Se7ens in the NJ/PA/VA area, I think turnout will be high. And I know that John D. of Simple Sevens has started keeping count (13) of original Lotus Sevens that plan on coming. http://www.simplesevens.org/LOG30.htm 4. Hey John D., you can make that 14! As I’ve hinted in the year or so since I sold Orange to Morgan, I’ve had my eye on getting back into the hobby by way of a vintage car. It’s just easier in my neck of the woods to get things registered/inspected, etc. Plus I think it will help me avoid the temptation of upgrading various bits to eke out more speed. (I hope!) And so I have put a deposit on SB1341, a Series 2 car that left the factory in 1961. Yes, this is the car that RMSCI was offering. Car is currently being rebuilt, ETA undetermined. I will say that I have secured a set of “Wobbly Webs” wheels for it already. That's all for now. Sorry for my absence on the site these past few weeks/months. I promise not to be such a stranger going forward. Best, Al Navarro President USA7s Club

Well, let's just say that I won't be calling it "Orange". On the other hand, simply calling it "Black" sounds so ominous and monosyllabic...

Or leave your contact info in this thread....

I think he's based out of Boston. So MA/CT/VT might do. Apparently he's an Atom fan and thinks Se7ens are cattle carts from another era. Would love to find a regular car as well as an EVEN FASTER (200+) car for him to get a ride in. Send an email to me at al at mintadv dot com. Tx. And no, I'm not ready to chime in on that speculative thread. My RFP still has not left the building.

Hah...did anyone else that Papa Johns thing, Tom? I was but a peripheral part. No money is headed my way (that I know of)...don't worry, I'll be back with deets. Maybe even tomorrow. RFP due tomorrow AM.

http://jalopnik.com/5345901/top-gear-approves-of-the-lego-caterham-r500 No, I am not back. Yet. But I thought you all would enjoy this...

Folks- I'm headed out on another vacation tomorrow (I guess I went a little overboard on trips this summer...my business partners certain have hinted as much ;-P) and won't be online for a week. So if you've sent me a PM or an email recently, don't think I've forgotten you if I don't get back to you for a bit. (No, Taber, I haven't forgotten about your stickers!). Speaking of stickers and such...we'll have our annual club membership drive soon. We used to have it within a certain window, but the officers felt that rolling was fine/better. I actually want to get hard plastic member cards this year (which will be permanent, and "activated" whenever your dues are current)...everyone will keep their number. New stickers, though...could be fun to have different ones every year or so they become collectibles. I'll post something when I get back about the benefits of membership in the club...though if you're here, you are already familiar with one of the biggest: the USA7s.org forum. As some people have noted in the past, if paying $20 a year keeps this thing running, then it's pretty much worth it (IMHO). Be back in a week. -Al

You know what is oddest about those LOG concours results, Tom? That Bill Baldwin's car came in third in class —*but first overall!?!? I liked Ross Robbins' piece on S3 vs Caterham, natch.

Folks- Chip Bond's recent parts listing in the "Parts for Sale" section prompted me to revisit a concept the officers tossed around last year — and that's to have a separate designation for members who have some commercial interest in the Se7ening hobby. These folks would be designated as such in the description under their Avatar/User Name, and if a paid club member, would get to write a blurb for a planned "Supporting Vendor" page. Note that we will be more actively courting manufacturers/distributors for site/club sponsorship (including banner ad, blurb, and our undying gratitude) soon. If you are a member who meets the "vendor" criteria, please send me a PM via this site. Best, Al Navarro USA7s Club President

FWIW, Skip had one on his car. At first I didn't like it very much...but when I got used to it, it was very useful on the highway. I guess if you don't run side mirrors it's a great option. I don't know that I'd get one for my next car, though mostly for aesthetics...but also because I've never felt like I had blind spots when driving Orange. There are no A, B, or C pillars to create blind spots!

http://www.usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=585 You can see his brakelight in one of the pix in that thread...

Yes, get used to a lag...it's just part of the "cottage industry" nature of it all. It's the fellow owners' support network (aka USA7s.org/californiacaterhamclub.com/usa@se7ens.net list...etc.) that works quickest! FWIW, calling Cat UK usually works fastest in my experience, but then you have to deal with exchange rates and customs duties...

I'll shoot drew an email so he can post some deets...I think someone else who went to LOG 29 asked him about it already... -A

Sean, though I bought my car from Speed Classics in AZ, I usually ordered from RMSCI or direct from Cat UK. BTW, RMSCI has been folded into Cat-USA it seems. For me, it was generally a case of "who's got the part in stock at the best price". Sometimes "in stock" mattered more to me than "best price". If geography matters to you, Sevens & Elans is in MA. But check out Chip Bond of GT Classics recent parts listing in the parts for sale section....maybe he has what you need ON SALE!!!

BTW, I would say that Drew R. has the trickest 3rd brake light install I've ever seen. I had the Wolo shown and it was great, but Drew's looks factory installed.

I had my exhaust jet-hot coated. There is a header wrap kit somewhere out there as well. Note that there is a Caterham-issue insulation kit for the firewall...it was one of the only options my old Cat came with.

I think we need to get Sean to look at adding a few more Sevens for his collection!