Caterham from copart

[Van K]

New to this forum but I think you guys would find this thread interesting. Just purchased this cool Caterham and what is interesting is that I bought the car from copart. Copart is an online salvage auction which mainly sells vehicles that were involved in issues that deemed them a total loss. I saw the car on their web site and followed for months until I guess they received the title and were able to auction the car on an assigned date. So I had to buy the car, they had presented 7 images no Keyes, salvage title and no visible damage. Now knowing copart I knew something had to be up. Maybe blown engine, flood damage, wiring problems anything could have been hidden.  Long story short purchased the car from their antelope location that is near Sacramento. And brought it home. 

[JohnCh]

Wow, that's a find!  Does the title show it's a CA car or from another state?  If you post the VIN, some folks here can decode it and let you know a little more about what you bought.

 

-John

[ashyers]

Quote

 

It appears to have A/C!

[scannon]

Yes, quite the find.  That's the first Se7en I've seen with air conditioning.

 

How about some pictures of the dash area, I'd like to see how they handled the AC vents?

[Vovchandr]

This seems like a find of a century honestly. Congrats!

 

  

27 minutes ago, scannon said:

Yes, quite the find.  That's the first Se7en I've seen with air conditioning.

 

How about some pictures of the dash area, I'd like to see how they handled the AC vents?

 

 

While I've never seen one, I do remember Caterham talking about the possibility of adding it in or even developing it, hoping to get their foot in the door of markets like Saudi Arabia 

Edited December 30, 2021 by Vovchandr

[Renottse]

@Van K, sent you a message with the previous owners contact details, he’ll be able to fill you in on the car’s history  

[Van K]

3 hours ago, JohnCh said:

Wow, that's a find!  Does the title show it's a CA car or from another state?  If you post the VIN, some folks here can decode it and let you know a little more about what you bought.

 

-John

I have not received the title yet but it should be a ca title not sure if it is salvage. Yes good idea I will post the vin later today. 

[Van K]

3 hours ago, ashyers said:

It appears to have A/C!

Yes it does have really cold a/c 

[Van K]

3 hours ago, scannon said:

Yes, quite the find.  That's the first Se7en I've seen with air conditioning.

 

How about some pictures of the dash area, I'd like to see how they handled the AC vents?

I will post some pictures today it is raining hard here. 

[panamericano]

Wonderful.  Since you said the AC works, that means the engine runs!  Congratulations. 

For any nonbelievers in an open car with AC, I can say it can work.  I once drove an Aurora in Texas heat and with an upright windshield (like a 7), the AC could be felt.  All about the vents and blower I guess.  Maybe I'll go soft with the Birkin.

[Van K]

26 minutes ago, panamericano said:

Wonderful.  Since you said the AC works, that means the engine runs!  Congratulations. 

For any nonbelievers in an open car with AC, I can say it can work.  I once drove an Aurora in Texas heat and with an upright windshield (like a 7), the AC could be felt.  All about the vents and blower I guess.  Maybe I'll go soft with the Birkin.

Yes engine runs and the car drives very well. It is a beast. And I did not buy the car because I thought it was just cool. I have built a number of sevens in my lifetime. From v8s to larger chassis v12. This Caterham has the best configuration and it is a Caterham. All sevens are nice fun cars, rest of the cars seem a bit boring. 

[mca]

3 hours ago, Van K said:

Yes engine runs and the car drives very well. It is a beast. And I did not buy the car because I thought it was just cool. I have built a number of sevens in my lifetime. From v8s to larger chassis v12. This Caterham has the best configuration and it is a Caterham. All sevens are nice fun cars, rest of the cars seem a bit boring. 

I'm hoping you'll share the whole story once all the history is sorted out.  I agree, this seems like the find of the century!

 

Also, let's get a Southern California meet together once this rain blows through. I'm in Huntington Beach with a Seven arriving in the next week or two.

[coffee break]

There has to be some kind of interesting store for a car this clean and running to be "salvaged". This isn't a diamond in the rough it's fully polished.

Enjoy!

[Van K]

2 hours ago, mca said:

I'm hoping you'll share the whole story once all the history is sorted out.  I agree, this seems like the find of the century!

 

Also, let's get a Southern California meet together once this rain blows through. I'm in Huntington Beach with a Seven arriving in the next week or two.

Let’s do it if all goes as planned with the registration you can count me in 😁

[mca]

1 hour ago, Van K said:

Let’s do it if all goes as planned with the registration you can count me in 😁

Are you registering with SB100? The Copart listing already says "SPCN" so maybe it already has the proper title.

[Croc]

 

OK so what is the catch?  Looks surprisingly clean and presentable.  Apart from air con it has been tracked as it is set up that way.  Its a desert car - lots of sun fading evident on headlights/paint. No obvious damage.  Damage assessment had to be more than 20% of car value to be written off so figure on at least $10K's worth of damage (unless the insurance assessor got it wrong - fairly frequent).  Was it a flood car?

 

Very nice find!  

[Vovchandr]

37 minutes ago, Croc said:

 

OK so what is the catch?  Looks surprisingly clean and presentable.  Apart from air con it has been tracked as it is set up that way.  Its a desert car - lots of sun fading evident on headlights/paint. No obvious damage.  Damage assessment had to be more than 20% of car value to be written off so figure on at least $10K's worth of damage (unless the insurance assessor got it wrong - fairly frequent).  Was it a flood car?

 

Very nice find!  

 

It's assessed as a 160R model once adjusted for the additional AC weight 

 

I wouldn't hedge my bets on it being a flood car in SoCal but im also curious, especially considering previous owner appears to be known. 

[Van K]

13 hours ago, mca said:

Are you registering with SB100? The Copart listing already says "SPCN" so maybe it already has the proper title.

Yes it is a spcn 

[Van K]

12 hours ago, Croc said:

 

OK so what is the catch?  Looks surprisingly clean and presentable.  Apart from air con it has been tracked as it is set up that way.  Its a desert car - lots of sun fading evident on headlights/paint. No obvious damage.  Damage assessment had to be more than 20% of car value to be written off so figure on at least $10K's worth of damage (unless the insurance assessor got it wrong - fairly frequent).  Was it a flood car?

 

Very nice find!  

There is no catch after COVID nobody wants to work. Easier to ride it off. Rear front fenders need work. Little bit body work near trunk area. That’s about it. No flood damage. Car fired right up and drove straight no issues. 

[Van K]

On 12/30/2021 at 8:15 AM, Renottse said:

@Van K, sent you a message with the previous owners contact details, he’ll be able to fill you in on the car’s history  

Wow great thank you