BruceBe

The model is intended that shipping FOB <your dealer> is included. For a roller/kit being drop-shipped somewhere, a delta will be calculated and charged. That is how Beachman Racing will handle delivery. And we're the furthest from Dartford. Cheers, -Bruce

Accommodating height is not the problem in a Caterham. A lowered-floor Caterham with composite seats can fit an amazingly tall driver - north of 6'4". Girth is the issue. And shoe size. Even a slender, tall person will benefit from the bigger pedal box of the SV chassis. Cheers, -Bruce

We offer the Caterham outdoor car cover, which is fitted and absolutely waterproof, yet breathable. This is standard equipment on the track cars we support at race events. Here in the PNW, we get plenty of rain, and you're guaranteed a dry seat in the AM when you show up for the morning session. It comes with a storage bag that will fit in the boot. A far cry from a tarp or an umbrella - and it's priced like a premium car cover. I do not recommend open-trailer towing with *any* cover on the car. You're asking for cosmetic trouble. Cheers, -Bruce

Conceived as a track weapon with a naturally-aspirated 300HP/2.5L under the bonnet, this new Viper Blue CSR is ready to go. The more rigid CSR chassis and independent suspension capably handles the power without drama and is very composed. our 300HP package is a Beachman Racing time-proven configuration, and runs on standard premium fuel. Check it out HERE. Vroom, vroom! -Bruce

Powertrain pricing is FOB to Mountune’s facility. So freight to your door is an additional variable cost. Cheers, -Bruce

Well - the only remaining benign possibility beyond some strange misunderstanding, is that they had already secured an allocation from the factory under the old pricing regime, and are now assigning that allocation to your order. Very possible. Cheers, -Bruce

If you placed a deposit prior to 1/1/26 (and the dealer placed an order with the factory), the structure of your order is under the previous pricing/sales regime, which was *not* inclusive of shipping/duty. Cheers, -Bruce

On that broken dipstick, you might want to at least ask the PO about it. If he didn’t get it out, but autocrossed it a lot afterward, it likely won’t give you a problem. Probably. We’ve pulled oil pans to get these out, for peace of mind. The Raceline sump creates an overlapping edge where the dipstick enters the pan. The tip of the stick lodges against that edge and if the dipstick is forced, will break at the weakest point. Cheers, -Bruce

There are plenty of Caterham Seven owners in the Puget Sound area. Search for "PNW Caterham Club" on FB. They are organizing a tour for the weekend of June 6th, that will loop up into Canada this year. The two cars in the previously posted photo are from Kirkland (Juanita) and Issaquah. Cheers, -Bruce

Yep - fuel pressure sender is at the front of the fuel rail, and there is a fuel pump control module mounted either in the boot somewhere, or under the tunnel cover near the bulkhead. Cheers, -Bruce

For a new Caterham, all dealers now follow the same process, in which 1) rollers/kits are sold at MSRP; 2) pricing is inclusive of duty/tariff/shipping. For (2), the buyer doesn't need to worry about any of it. Of course, given the chaos associated with our personality-driven US tariff policy, there may be an exception if tariffs substantively change in magnitude over the life of the order. We have two pre-owned 420Rs in-stock right now - one a red S3 (2022) and one a black SV (2020). PM for details. Cheers, -Bruce

Yes - there are production variances that have the blades contacting the top of the windscreen frame. Snip (actually, grind) Cheers, -Bruce

On the ECU - it is a Ford EEC-V. Application is 2002-2003 Ford Focus SVT. As Croc said - for the time, it was quite sophisticated (MAF sensor; ECU-controlled fuel pressure). The Raceline sumps for that application are famous for breaking dipsticks right at the upper oil range window (upper hole). The yellow stick should be accurate. Congratulations! Cheers, -Bruce

Basically - loop the cable in front of the heater plenum and behind the battery. It loops back to the valve mechanism. With the battery installed, you won’t even notice it. Cheers, -Bruce

John is correct about utilizing the standard Raceline pan in a Caterham. We routinely remove the bosses on the Raceline pans for install in a Caterham. The earlier Cosworth system utilized a bell-tank rather than an external reservoir. This is the system utilized on the CSR260 and CSR200. To complicate matters even further for the early CSR260/200, there are multiple pan designs. Fortunately, these variations have no impact on the interface to the bell-tank, which is a pair of internal scavenge/supply, double O-ringed tubes between the bell-tank and the rear of the pan. The oil reservoir *is* the bell-housing, and makes sure the concentric slave cylinder never gets too cold :-) Cheers, -Bruce

There are two factory demonstrators - one on the East coast and one on the West coast. Having said that, Beachman Racing has never been unable to accommodate a test drive for a serious buyer, and I'm sure this is the case for the other dealers as well. Certainly, the demonstrators add even more flexibility, as they will be migrating around the country to all of the dealers. We have a Caterham Cup race series up here in the Pacific Northwest, and going into our fourth season, look forward to 10+ car grids every weekend. You can check out the rules HERE. We participate under the sanctioning of the International Conference of Sports Car Clubs (ICSCC) in the CC4 class. This season, the 15-race championship is spread across 7 race weekends. To repeat what was posted in my earlier thread - under the new model, one can acquire either a rolling chassis, or kit via the new R/S Pack model from your Caterham dealer. Many folks do enjoy assembling their car from kit form. Cheers, -Bruce

Good article, if just a bit oversimplified for easier reading/digestion. A tire does not differentiate between longitudinal and lateral forces - the traction circle is a function of contact patch and normal load on the tire. These cars have high-speed understeer in corners on throttle - a side-effect of the front-end lift he describes. The analysis prioritization of the brake effect vs. cornering is largely a function of the circuit. Inherent front-end lift is why a better rear brake package with proportioning is so effective. The rear can do so much more than the front very early in the brake event - allowing you to be a little more urgent with the pedal (later), getting the speed off a bit (reducing lift), and then the front can really start contributing. Empirically, cars fitted with full windscreens get more front-end lift earlier than those without. Download cars are a different beast, each one of them is a bit unique, and should be methodically and incrementally approached as a driver. With extensive experience in a Caterham/Lola SP/300.R, I can share that the aero effect is very wide ranging. A lower speeds, it's just an over-sprung car with sticky tires, but you get the hand-of-gawd pushing down on you at 100+mph. And be careful in a draft :-) Cheers, -Bruce

Good observation on the dry sump for the 180HP engine. I'm told it will be supported - details to follow. On domestic power-train shipping, it will be up to the power-train supplier to determine whether they absorb that cost, or it is extra. Cheers, -Bruce

Correct.

You'd have to look at the specifics of the configuration to fully quantify it, but yes, prices have gone up since 2022...twice. Prior to this new pricing/sales model, the last factory price increase was October of 2023. I can appreciate your point about cost vs. value. We do now live in a world of $90K+ pickup trucks and $200K Corvettes. Of course, A Caterham can't tow 30,000lbs nor top-out at 233mph with the AC on. But, it can be fearsome around a race circuit with truly minimal running costs, and you won't have trouble picking it out in the movie theater parking lot. With this new MSRP model, and the guidance I provided on powertrain in the original post, quantifying an "all-in" cost is quite straightforward. I can confirm that the option MSRP price lists for all chassis Packs are available through the USA Caterham site. Alternatively, contact one of us (Caterham dealers) and we can provide them. Cheers, -Bruce

The goal is that end-user custom fabrication will not be required. This suggests that at the time of ordering your chassis kit/roller, the intended powertrain HP level and gearbox choice is identified.

The increased capacity of the new factory, along with incremental process improvements instituted by Bob Laishley during his tenure, and the dynamics of global demand have resulted in as close to "go buy a Caterham" as you'll get. Cheers, -Bruce

Right now, lead-time is approximately 12-weeks before an order enters production - the shortest it will ever get. Orders placed now must be “spec complete”, given the shallow build queue.

Some of you may have already noticed some new names for products, and associated pricing on the USA Caterham website. I thought it worthwhile to provide an overview of how Caterham are packaging their product for the USA, and how one will go about purchasing a new Caterham in the USA. First, and foremost, Caterham are no longer selling specific vehicle models here in the USA. Instead, they are offering chassis kits and incomplete rolling chassis in the form of "Packs", that suggest a particular final build-out of the car. There are six advertised packs/variants for a chassis kit/rolling-chassis: S Pack R Pack Super Seven Seven Cup Seven Encore CSR Twenty The first two should be quite familiar (touring vs. track orientation), while the Super Seven and Seven Cup chassis/kits anticipate a final build character of the UK Super Seven 2000, and UKSeven 420 Cup, respectively (LHD, of course). For example the USA "Super Seven" will have clam-shell wings and bodywork/interior identical to the UK Super Seven 2000, and the "Seven Cup" will have a central fuel filler location and all the other body/running-gear features of the UK Seven 420 Cup. The last two variants reflect the specialized UK models of similar name. Finally, we have a special variant of R/S Pack that is RHD, and anticipates the installation of a 300+ HP 2L Duratec engine. Your USA Caterham dealer will be offering these kits/rollers, and partner with you to specify options/etc., just as in the past. The new price-lists (with options) should be available on the USA Caterham website. They are also available from a USA Caterham dealer. The move to manufacturer suggested retail pricing (MSRP), in US dollars, is another significant change going forward. MSRP pricing is being utilized for the base kit/roller, as well as all options. Of course, buyers have always paid in US dollars, but due to how dealers purchased from Caterham in the past, each dealer implemented slightly varying pricing approaches to accommodate our back-end transactions in Pounds sterling, and the issues associated with long-duration, multi-currency purchases. The current plan is that MSRP pricing also accommodates shipping/duty (and now tariffs). As a result, right now, these additional costs are included in MSRP - another significant change. Of course, the other component to this model is a suitable powertrain. As mentioned above, your Caterham dealer will work with you to specify and order an incomplete kit or rolling chassis. However, Caterham dealers do not sell/provide powertrains. Speaking for Beachman Racing, as in the past, we will refer a client to an approved powertrain provider for purchase of a powertrain for their Caterham. While it is not our role to price and sell powertrains suitable for the Caterham kits/rollling-chassis, we have been advised of the variants of powertrains that will be available to powertrain installers through a 3rd-party powertrain distributor: 155HP Ford Sigma engine and 5sp gearbox +/- $21,844 180HP Ford Duratec engine and 5sp gearbox +/- $22,994 210HP Ford Duratec engine and 5sp gearbox +/- $25,179 210HP Ford Duratec engine and 6sp Sadev sequential gearbox +/- $33,804 310HP Ford Duratec supercharged engine and 5sp gearbox +/- $31,389 (RHD chassis-only, in a Caterham) 310HP Ford Duratec supercharged engine and Sadev sequential gearbox +/- $40,014 (RHD chassis-only, in a Caterham) The MSRP prices for these powertrains are an educated guess - each powertrain installer will set their own pricing. However, it is a very educated guess. Since the new pricing model has been in-effect for almost a month, I thought it appropriate to appraise this community of the details. Cheers, -Bruce

CatKong will be pounding its chest at the top of Valkyrie Hill at ORP, swatting away everything else. I'm sure Catzilla will be there as well, along with its owner. We've also just finished another 2.5L CSR that is nicknamed "Blue Baller". It remains to be seen, where that one winds up (it's available). Let's hear from the other California track rats - you won't be disappointed! Cheers, -Bruce