Croc

Shane - my thoughts are with you and the family as you work through this.

Bruce - I am touch and go whether I make it. The CSR is off the road for lack of brakes and the Roadsport is coming together but I am awaiting a new rear shock from the UK which may or may not make it in time. If I can get one car together in time I will be there otherwise my apologies in advance.

Roman - Sorry I missed your call. It was midnight in the UK and I was off dreaming of the perfect lap without gardening. Tom might be easier to reach this week if you need to chat to him.

ZZRs win - no question. Same life expectancy but more grip consistently. Roger Krause was similarly enthusiastic when I was chatting with him. Not sure I would want to use them much in the rain with standing water on the road - there is not much tread pattern there!

Sorry but no video of when I suddenly developed a flappy paddle gearbox. I only install cameras once I know I can turn a decent lap as thats when the video benefits of coaching myself really come good. So that is usually the afternoon session on a brand new circuit to me.

Just a quick update - I am exhausted after my track day at Donington Circuit in the UK :cool dude: We have finalized the last organizational details and are just trying to make Motorsportreg.com behave for allowing you to register for both days simultaneously - it currently won't. If not this week our email for registration will be next week. Thanks for your patience. The advantage of doing it this way is everything is organized upfront so no surprises which I believe is important. As for Donington - you have to try it! A truly epic (repeat....epic!!!) circuit notwithstanding the fairly big gardening event I initiated after my gear lever came off in my hand while changing from 5th to 6th at a high rate of speed. Blokko has the after result photo for my embarrassment! :svengo:

Good morning Steve. I just sent you a blatmail re connecting at Donington or Anglesey tracks next week. The day before and after Donington is just a drive day so if you are someone on the route between Heathrow and those two circuits then let me know and I can stop by. Cheers mike

Apparently this Birkin was worth $100,000 and yet they gave it to that blonde! :svengo: http://www.tylershields.com/images/indulgence/birkin-tug-of-war.jpg

.....handbag! :jester: http://www.tylershields.com/images/indulgence/gator.jpg I thought I would use it for a drag race! :auto::cooldude:

But wait there is more! Super Stalker in FL $29900 Brunton Super Stalker Built Spring 2011 Florida titled as 1962 Lotus 7 Pontiac 2006 L32 engine w/20K miles GM Tremec T5 GM 3.42 Torsen rear end 270+ HP 290+Torque Less than 1500 pounds Excellent Autocross car-Easy to drive fast New 1/2014 TOYO R1R tires No junk parts used. Well sorted and Reliable. 6000 total miles. http://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/cto/4477595165.html Birkin $19800 http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/4475055659.html 2003 Lotus Super 7 Replica - Birkin Made in South Africa this is one of the highest quality Super 7 Replicas you can buy. 2003 Ford Focus 2.0 EFI Engine with less than 14K miles on it. Ford T9 5 speed transmission from Quantum Mechanics Carrera Shocks Raceline water rail and oil sump. Emerald ECU Woody Harris engine bay wiring harness. This car is registered in Calif as a 2006 Birkin - Special Construction Vehicle Calif SB100. It is exempt from all Calif smog requirements. Caterham $25000 http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/4478414678.html Caterham Super Seven-Titled as 1967 Lotus 7 Registered in California, clean title. SB100 car Built by Lotus Racing West-9330 Oso Avenue, Chatworth, Ca 91311 show contact info 127 Dyno Horsepower when built Everything new or rebuilt in 1997-1998 Engine: 1700 Ford Cross Flow Bore: 83mm Piston: Forged Pistons Head: Ported Formula Ford Cam: Ford rally Carburation: Dual side draft Webber DCOE 38 Ignition: Crankfire Exhaust: Custom stainless steel exhaust Oil pump: Accu-Sump Shocks: SPAX adjustable spring perch shocks Suspension: Dual A-arm front and five link rear Wheel: Five (5) 13 inch PANASPORT Tires: Yokohama Gearbox: Ford "Single rail" 4 speed semi-close with 3.0 first gear Internal slave: Saab 900 Rear end: Cortina non-GT 3.90 ring and pinion Front end spindle and brake: Lotus Elan

To be honest when this car first came up for sale it caught my attention by having a 270hp zetec - a pretty rare engine spec that deserved a good look. Plus it was a nice looking color combination. At that time the seller was asking for a fair bit more that was too much for the market. Looks like the seller is adjusting down to meet the market which is a good thing for a buyer out there somewhere. As S1Steve knows, I think I have done enough damage with Ebay purchases lately so it will not be me! :leaving:

We did Tom. No disagreement or change from what we agreed re group photo. However, I had ideas of using a drone to get aerial video of us driving... Then I realized it would get hit by a plane on approach....

We will have to see. A minor detail that has emerged on my drone discussions is that NJMP is actually next to Millville airport (duh! talk about not thinking this through first!). The eastern half of Lightning is the runway approach. They do come in quite low over that part of the circuit (maybe 100 foot up over the bowl). While it may only be Cessnas and similar pieces of aeronautical flimsy, I would not want to be the person who brought one down in my quest to photo sevens from above.

A search of the past threads may be of help here - I definitely remember someone buying Caterham clams and installing them on a Birkin. There were a few mounting issues but it was eventually done.

Mike - I assume the Brooklands will have the scuttle bracket in addition to the two little Brooklands windscreens? If so then I think I want first dibs subject to checking it out. I know it is S3 sized but I have a nefarious plan. :smash: I know Mario is bringing a bunch of his laser cut 7 grills (or is it grills?) for sale. I do have 2 cam covers ready for a new home: 1 x Duratec Ford version with the carbon fiber Cosworth insert to cover the coils. Came off my CSR 2.3L Duratec but will fit a 2L. Essentially brand new as they came off my car at 1000 miles. 1 x Zetec 2L in a rather fetching shade of yellow. It is famous and was featured in a Caterham photo in Car & Drivel magazine. :cooldude: I also have: 2 x front shocks and 1 x rear shock off a Caterham SV. Used but in decent condition off a 10000 mile car. 1 x blonde mannequin model. Used to model clothes in a department store. I also have 5 x 16inch HPC wheels in excellent condition with road tires in reasonable condition and plenty of tread. I have not thought prices yet but will consider reasonable offers at the NJMP event and what does not sell will come onto this forum for sale later. I probably have lots of other stuff too but my garage is a disaster zone and who knows what other things lurk within there (I think I still have a 1965 Mustang in there somewhere....). I may just open up the garage door at NJMP and see what people want to buy...lol I am looking for a Caterham SV FIA roll bar to replace a standard if anyone has one?

The organization does take time but it is not too bad. Having Tom to share the organizational burden helps when there is a bimbo eruption in my office that I need to fix. Also we are not having to organize a whole day - just a session on a day organized by professionals. So that lightens the organizational effort. This is our 4th year. The aim all along was to get numbers up to our own run group (20 max) because that is a good number for a social event and makes for a great driving experience on track. The other aim was to keep the cost reasonable (as possible) for what I know is an expensive hobby/event.

Nothing like my 2.5 hour drive up the NJ Turnpike to NYC taking 4.5 hours. :svengo: It could have been much worse - I could have been heading south! It was a very good meeting. We sorted out a bunch of coordination items, signed off on the days schedule, sorted out locations and timings plus breakfast/lunch details. There will be a private sign up page on Motorsportreg which will be emailed individually to you once it is finalized. It will have all sign up options - track, karting, dinners, visitor numbers, etc., so you can do it all at once and pay with a credit card with one transaction. I have a draft to work on tomorrow. I have a bunch of trophies already engraved for awards. Karting trophies are organized. The swimming pool construction was inspected and it looks good and will be finished in time. The only missing link is Garage Mahal which has not progressed at all in the last 2 weeks....oh well....where is that drink?

I guess whoever bought it from Ohio is flipping it in FL now?

Its all very well to ask for a certain price but will buyers pay it? I will be very interested to see the success or failure of this new business model.

Hard to guess value - mid to high teens depending on condition. Maybe into the 20s if in exceptional condition (with that gorgeous ali nose cone! :drool:) They are just as good as the Caterhams of that era. Much harder to source parts though here in the US! Depending on what you find out you may want to PM SteveS on here. He and his brother built a similar spec Donkervoort and sold it a long time back. There are so few of these out there it is a high possibility it is his old car!

Video planning has begun. I will be borrowing people's cars to mount videos on and probably borrowing people's footage to weave into a nice video. I am a firm believe in the porn movie approach to video production - lots of angles and cameras in high definition to catch you guys at your best while....errrr....:conehead:performing.... I will need to decide on a video theme. I was thinking about "Lightweights do Lightning" in the style of Debbie does Dallas but then I remember we have Storkers present.... I do have to talk with someone about a drone for aerial shots this year and this post has just reminded me (thank you Coffee Break!) that I need to talk to the NJMP official track photographer about getting a group photo and getting photos of us all "performing" on track. Edited to add - Tom and I are meeting with track management today to go over plans and organization. The only thing that is not behaving in the organization are the builders on Garage Mahal - it is unlikely it will be finished by the event other than for possible overnight storage. Oh well....

You are on the right track but your comparison is distorted by a few factors: 1) The inflation rate is not a good measure of true underlying inflation for the analysis you are aiming to do. Its composition excludes and diminishes certain elements of price increases that are important. Inflation is actually much higher for the average person. Commodity prices have increased over that period at closer to 5-6%. A car is heavily influenced by commodity prices. Look at the increase in rubber and steel costs. Energy has increased by more than 3% per year over that time. The wage inflation to employers (i.e. cost of production) is far higher than wage inflation as received by an employee as the costs of social programs, safety nets and payroll/employment taxes are born much more by the employer than the employee. 2) Interest rates at record low always inflates asset prices - bonds, stocks, art, homes, cars, etc. People have more disposable income and there fore feel wealthier driving up prices as they acquire or load up on debt and acquire. This has the most potential to crater asset prices. 3) I believe there is a bubble effect on asset prices from baby boomers aspiring to their youth dreams at a stage in their lives when they can afford it. Will 1960s muscle cars be as heavily priced as a proportion of new cars in 30 years from now? My expectation is not. I don't expect prices to plummet from this effect but I expect they will plateau and move sideways. Roughly 17-20 years after production a classic car (if it is any good) will stop depreciating and start to move upwards in value. Think of BMW E30 M3 or Ford Sierra RS500 which have taken off in recent years and compare to when the prices of Ford Escort MK1 started to take off.

I would be calling for a mechanic! You call for a tranny up this way and you get something you really really don't want! :willy_nilly:

.....and Birkin and Brunton (Stalker) and....

A few more cars for sale have appeared on the LOONY site. No affiliation to me - just reposting for the benefit of forum members looking to spend money. A Caterham Classic - crossflow, live rear axle. $25,000 http://www.lotusowners.com/ForSale/Caterham_For_Sale_BB/index.htm A 1997 Caterham Classic which was upgraded to a decent sounded spec Raceline Zetec. Asking $32500 http://www.lotusowners.com/ForSale/Zetec_Caterham_For_Sale/index.htm