Martin

Thanks for all the offers gentlemen. I am realizing that I will need patience throughout all of this as everything seems to be far away. I may be driving through FL this June so if I have not experinced it by then, I may need to take you up on that offer Taber. SV's are pretty much non-existent right now, hopefully the Sring will bring some sellers out.

Hello Southeasterners! I am in the greater Atlanta area (northeast) and I am heavily considering a Caterham. I am 6'2 and have a size 12 shoe. I realize that I need to have a genuine understanding of what I am getting into if I am separating so much cash from myself for a toy. Not asking for a joy ride, just some help in knowing if it is for me or not. Is there anyone that would be willing to let me sit in their driver's seat that isn't hours away?

You make a great point. The hard part is actually finding them anywhere near myself.

So it sounds like if I want a little extra space for my size 12s and my 6'2 frame it is SV or nothing?

So quick question regarding Birkin vs Caterham. I had heard at some point all Birkins were equivalent to an SV? Is that a myth? If they are not, what is the SV version of the Birkin? And while I am at it, is Long Wheel Base (LWB) the term for the older Caterhams that had a longer cockpit? And does widetrack imply anything to do with SV and do all SV’s have a widetrack? Ok, that was not a quick question.

Ok, I thought it might be that. Just wasn't 100%

The new kits from Caterham, as long as it is not a "Classic", you get a motor for what you are paying? The wording they use is a little confusing to me, sorry. Take the roadsport for example at $40,489, do you get the 170hp motor as standard?

Emailed the guy yesterday, he said he just sold it.

Is anyone here going to this in their 7? I am going, but will ashamedly be driving a Honda Civic since I have still not purchased a 7 :-/

So if the assumption is that it is too high, then where do you all guess it should be? Any idea of what it was advertised at last time?

Hey Bruce, thanks again for the offer to help out and best of luck with your future endeavors! Eric, what can I say....you beat me to it. Congratulations and I hope you enjoy it to the fullest extent. I will be keeping my eyes open and hopefully I will find another Caterham I am interested in, perhaps this time I will focus on the SV....I like to keep my shoes on when I am out and about

I should have prefaced that I was just looking at the cost of the unit itself. I have heard of a guy named Jim down here in Atlanta with an SV that said he would buy Focus engines out of junk yards for a few hundred bucks and just ran them hard till they died and then would get another.

Once again, thanks for the good insight Kitcat. I really am up in the air at this point. 11Budlite, would you be willing to take a look at the car? I will pay you for your time of course, let me know if you had time available...the car is in Hamden, CT. supersportsp, you are absolutely right and I am certain you know exactly how I feel. I don't have much time, but the time I do have, I want to really enjoy! .... on a side note, I have been a part of many forums, even an admin for one, and I have to say this is the greatest forum I have ever interacted with, thanks so much everyone, super helpful so far.

Great feedback everyone! I am definitely starting to reconsider this as I don't want to really compromise, and I am concerned as well with the drive train being out of a 96 Miata. So based on the one post from twobone, I am over paying as I am not in the neighborhood of 17 to 18K right now. Would it be easy to get Ford motor put in there for under 2K? To "Coffee break", awesome offer! I will have to try to take you up on that offer soon....my constant challenge is time as I have a 6 month old at home and seem to be working most of the time, but I will try to contact you sooner rather than later.

Thanks! BTW, I googled Bill Mitchell and I found out that he is from Special Vehicle Concepts in Cheshire CT. Don't know if that rings any bells....or alarms.

Great info, thanks. Not that it is the same since you had a crossflow, but if you don't mind me asking, what did your Caterham go for, ballpark? Yikes, in my socks! Supposedly the car was put together by Bill Mitchell in CT, does that ring a bell to anyone?

The main question remains, but does anyone have a suggestion where I could find out how much the doors will set me back?

Hi All, Long time listener, 1st time caller....well not really, but it has been a while I am looking at a 98 Caterham with a mazda miata drivetrain with low miles. All is in great shape, the doors and headrests are missing but otherwise everything is there. Could use a little feedback on what I should offer for the car, thanks! Side note, I am 6,2 with a size 12 shoe....am I out of my mind to be looking at this or would I have to take an SV?

Hope it's not a repost. I get chills each time I see this! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3391018668552506891&q=caterham

http://www.drivers-republic.com/ Awesome online magazine, if you register (free) you can look through their videos and they have an awesome comparison of the Atom, Caterham R500 and Lotus 2-Eleven. I highly reccomend it! :7drive:

So how many are in the area? I don't have one, but I could show up in the Esprit if thats alright.

Morgan, thats fantastic that everything worked out as planned. Glad you get to already start to enjoy Mr. Orange. When you get a chance please share it with the crew over of Lotusbuzz as well. Is that an Alfa 164 next to the Caterham? I used to drive one of those everyday for 2 years.

Someone sells them stateside?

Good point, it looks like a frog or a big mouth bass!

So Drew, did you give him a ride in the 7?