New member looking for local owners?

[slngsht]

Dear lotus owners..

i couldnt quiet find a little smiley icon to express my feelings but

IF i had a choice at this point, i would probably own a new dare/ginetta g4 AND one of your awesome "modern" 7's as well...and STILL keep my bugeye sprite..

But...it's a budget thing!:willy: So the sprite must go.. and we are trying to rebody the old ginetta we have.

yeah..reality sucks..

for what it's worth though..i bid on the green zetec 7 on ebay..

 

:thumbs: good luck.

[Boxologist]

GL, not sure i like members bidding on the same car auction though.

[slngsht]

GL, not sure i like members bidding on the same car auction though.

 

someone else is bidding on the same car?

[Kitcat]

The Sept/Oct LOG magazine lists a '99 Caterham for sale in Canton, OH. Mite have been mentioned here, or elsewhere on the Forum, who knows w/all the pseudonyms. Mite be long gone at this point. Anyhow was asking $28K, has 185 bhp Raceline Zetec, Webers, various goodies: Call Craig 330-807-0742. The price is fair if is as represented.

[southwind25]

Would this be Craig Chima?

what is LOG magazine?

[Mike Rohaley]

That is Craig Chima and that car is sold. He has since bought yet another one with about double the horsepower (he said it is churning out 280HP). As we discussed briefly.

 

LOG is the Lotus Owners Gathering, put on each year by Lotus Limited (the largest national Lotus club here in the US). ReMarque is the name of our national club magazine, that is the publication in question.

[Kitcat]

Southwind 25:

 

It's unlikely that I will head to Nelson's Ledges. The track days there are cancelled if it is raining much (Wimps!). As you know, it has been raining off & on for 3-4 days with more projected tomorrow. It's a 10 hour round trip from Cincy + hotel + dog boarding, missing work etc, etc., and is too much & too far for maybe not getting to drive.

 

 

[southwind25]

Thanks for letting me know..

We plan on looking at a Birkin in beach city for some more comparison and ideas.

we are currently also putting together the 1275 for the sprite...hope to get it done by the end of november..gotta get the healeys sold.

[southwind25]

Once again, much thanks to the generosity and enthusiasm of a USA7 owner.

Gary we apprciate your allowing us to spend time with you and your wonderful Birkin.

What a awesome car indeed, and now we have 2 we can compare.

Personally, we enjoyed the Birkin a little bit more than the Caterham.

Both were indeed great cars!!

To our eye the Birkin seemed just a little bit more well engineered, Certianly it had a little more room, though the seat in the caterham itself was more comfortable. My feet were not cramped and i had a little more torso-elbow room in the Birkin...

only an 1/2 inch here or there..but it made a diffrence.

Gary's car had the removable steering wheel, which made wearing the car ( you dont just climb in a lotus 7 you wear it like a tailored suit) a bit easier. We were surprised to enjoy the cycle fenders as much as we did. The heater worked awesome and though there seemed to be more wind buffeting in the birkin. Ok, the windsheild setup in the caterham was a little better..and maybe the top-hood when up would give a few more fractions of headroom.

Both of the sidescreen's went on exactly the same and very easily. The handling of both was wonderful, The birkin was a bit more "twitchy" but we suspect that it was the way the alignment was set up more than attributed to the suspension design. Both cars felt VERY solid.

The Birkin's Zetec powerplant with it's nicely set up Fuel Injection had a bit more torque than the Caterhams (and those 4 horns and red throttle bodies were very cool looking!)...but both were excellent, and very liveable! We were impressed by just how QUIET,,shhh,,both cars were.

Both cars were very liveable, and deffinitly something we will consider..we liked the traditional looks of aluminum and GRP more than the westfield all GRP body, and we like the idea of the traditional 4 cylinder and overall size, more than the stalker.. But thats just us..We also see that there is a IRS birkin made..

We can easily see ourselves quickly putting some miles on one of these cars.

They are very much what we are looking to find. of course we would need to make the rear tire mount into a picnic basket mount,,,but hey.

From our perception, we wouldnt throw either car out of bed for a little oil on the bedsheets.

Thanks Again gary, we appreciate your time.

 

 

 

[Al N.]

Sidescreens? Heaters? Quiet running cars with torso room to spare?

 

Exactly what sorts of Se7ens are you running there on the other side of the Monongahela?

 

Because mine certainly fails on all counts listed above! :jester:

[southwind25]

:thumbs:

LOL..well, for the last 25 years, we have driven our vintage racing bugeye sprite and big healey in everything but snow..no windsheild, no heater, not 1 rubber bushing in the suspension. No muffler-silencer and with "gulp" lever shocks!!

:rofl: ..both very spartan indeed,,,like a soap box derby car with an engine.

they will rattle your fillings out of your teeth..but very fun on the track,,,not so much on the road.

now..we want to find something that has the handling, (relative) performance, etc of the sprite...the ambiance of the big healey, yet we can drive it around without so much the fuss..maybe with better than 1955 era technology eh? the old A series engine can make some nice H.P. but at the complete price of drivability.

sadly..we dont get to use the healeys often...and it's time to start driving again!

 

[Kitcat]

Gee, an actual back-to back comparo! I'd like to see more of that, tho I don't think the words "quiet", "roomy", or "comfortable will come up much, unless it's: "Not very quiet, roomy, comfortable...":).