So, tell us a little about yourselves

[jbanker]

Hi All,

 

I'm a 61 year old retired telephone/computer geek living in Sun City, AZ. I grew up here in the Valley of the Sun. When my peer group was talking about stuffing a Caddy motor into a '53 Studebaker, I was reading about Phil Hill, the four wheel drift, (from Ken Purdy's book), and finally talked my folks into a 1960 948cc bug eyed Sprite. I remember searching for a local machine shop that had a boring bar small enough for a rebore. Since then I've had a lot of cars I wish I had kept.

 

 

Frank,

 

Welcome aboard. We have a number of Stalker V6 owners that live in AZ; Bill Bradley, Gilbert, AZ; Ken Edney, Chandler, AZ; Dale Wiley, Sierra Vista, AZ and Craig Earls, Tucson, AZ.

 

Most of them own and drive the 3.8L SuperStalkers. No matter what you end up with...They are all fun.

 

Jack

[lowflyer]

Slight correction, Jack.

 

Bill Bradley and I both have NA 3.4 Stalkers.

 

Welcome to our new AZ forum member.

[jbanker]

Hi Ken,

 

I thought of that shortly after making the post. Hopefully Frank will make contact with some of our AZ members.

 

Jack

[Ian7]

Well, I'm not fresh, been on-board for 3 months but never posted here.

 

I'm a Mechanical Eng by education, ex-aerospace by trade, currently trying to turn fantasy into reality as an open-wheel race engineer. Been at it 7 years since leaving the 'real world', some full time, some part, but always smiling...

Lots of travel though :ack:

 

Current Caterham is my third.

First was a toyota-powered, datsun-suspended clone built in Ontario, which I foolishly sold due to future parts availability concerns.

Second was a right hand drive 'perfect condition' used Caterham from an independent dealer in England, photos and phone calls fooled me. Shipped it here sold it a month later to a guy who "just had to have it" so broke even.

Third one was new Caterham kit, bought under delusion that everything would be new, correct, easy to put together, etc. Long story short, car was 3.5 years old before turning a wheel.:banghead:

 

Names of guilty parties above omitted, as I don't have time for frivolous lawsuits

 

None of that matters now, car is wonderful. Photo in readers rides, circa end Nov 07.

 

cheers

[Alaskossie]

Ian7,

 

What could have possibly delayed your finishing a new Caterham kit for 3.5 years?

 

(Traces of anxiety in my question, since I started assembling my new Caterham kit in July of '07, and it is still a work in progress -- I'm 65 years old this year; I haven't GOT 3.5 years for a Seven build!).

 

You've got a beautiful Seven, though!

 

[EburgE]

Third one was new Caterham kit, bought under delusion that everything would be new, correct, easy to put together, etc. Long story short, car was 3.5 years old before turning a wheel.:banghead:

 

Must have been before the Internet!

[haiku88]

Am a new member, got half way through building a Locost from scratch a few years ago, am now looking for a used Caterham or Birkin (made a seperate post for that). Would rather build a kit but don't want to deal with the CA registration hassles. Had several fast motorcycles over the years, got away with it unscathed, and am getting back into sports cars as I don't want to push my luck. Had a TR-4 and currently drive a Z3, but want something with higher performance and more of an edge, and am sure a Seven will give those things I miss from sport bikes. Live in the Northern California wine country...

[Mondo]

Welcome haiku88,

I have a very similar history, having motorcycles my whole life and living to tell the tale. The new sportbikes are just too easy to ride fast:iagree:

 

Taking delivery of an ultralite soon and hope to still find that same excitement and not freak out like I did dodging a spot of dirt on the road with my knee close to the ground.....

[Ian7]

Alaskossie,

glad to fill you in, but could be long and tedious, maybe best to shoot me a personal email and we'll swap info off-board

Ian

[HPC]

Time for me to post something here, I guess, after having an account for some weeks.

 

My name is Uwe and I'm living in Düsseldorf, Germany, working as a software programmer for optical inspection systems. As my user name suggests my tool of choice is a Caterham HPC with 165 bhp Opel/Vauxhall engine.

 

Previously I had a Seven from a german car builder which was, apart from a Cosworth engine with 220 bhp, more of a cruising car, i.e. quite heavy and with carpets, roof, leather seats, normal windscreen. But then I decided I needed something completely different. So the Caterham is equipped with no roof (but a full rollcage), no windscreen, no leather seats (CF instead), no carpets - in short, the (nearly) perfect toy for the track (but with street approval).

 

Cheers

Uwe

[weconway]

Since Al wants the newbies to post, here goes...

 

Like so many others, I'm a mechanical engineer. I've loved the Seven since I was a kid reading Peter Egan's column in Road & Track. Actually, I'm a total Anglophile all the way around.

 

I never thought I'd be able to own one until I came across the term "locost" on the Miata.net forums. A quick search turned up Kieth Tanner's build. I read the whole darn thing in two days (1300+ posts at the time), and started devouring everything I could find on the subject.

 

It's been about 9 months since then, and I'm deep into the research and development of my Se7en. Originally I just wanted to own a Seven, but it's turned into this full-blown hobby/obsession for learning about car design, suspension dynamics, engines and drivetrains, etc. The Seven represents such a pure sports car to me and I'm having a blast trying to make the best car on the planet.

 

So long story short, I'm about 6-9 months away from starting construction (I have to get a house first). Once started, I think it'll take 5 years to finish my car. Schedules aren't important to me, but the process and the end-product are.

 

-William

[slngsht]

alot of ME's here :thumbs:

[stevet]

William,

 

Check out R1's seven (Jeff U), I think his took around 5 years, and a VERY nice job he did too.

 

Steve.

[lowflyer]

I notice that we have a lot of motorcycle "types" here.

 

It seems when ever I travel in my Stalker, it's the motorcycle riders that show the most interest in the car.

 

I've made it a practice to tell them that it's just a motorcycle for those that "are balance challanged".

[JohnCh]

It seems when ever I travel in my Stalker, it's the motorcycle riders that show the most interest in the car.

 

I get the same thing in the Westfield. I think it is because when they see us pushing these tiny cars down a winding road, they think "Hey, it's a fellow Darwin Awards candidate!"

 

-John

[lowflyer]

Very true, John.

 

The big difference is that on a motorcycle, the "driver" will be the first one at the scene of the accident.

 

With a 7, our passenger may arrive first.

[homebrew]

I've made the same observation and have picked up it's the sport bike riders pay more attention to my car than the Harley (cruiser) guys.

Jim

[scannon]

I've received a lot of low fives from bikers, one even from a motorcycle cop on a Harley.

 

Almost every biker I see on the road gives my car a long look.

 

Skip

[Al N.]

Second/third/fourth on the bikers thing. If I get a biker on my tail in twisties I know well, I generally try and show them that a Se7en isn't like other cars....if you know what I'm sayin'

[Kitcat]

Yes Sevens v. bikers was big fun at our Sevens gathering at the Dragon last July. My little Crossflow was pretty competitive, at least until the throttle linkage broke:(.

 

BTW, since we have been remiss at welcoming the newbies-Welcome aboard! Special shout-out to those 60+ year old dudes, like me, who haven't forgotten that life can still be pretty thrilling sometimes (Having a Seven definitely helps). I have owned mine for about 9 months so am still a newbie myself.