So, tell us a little about yourselves

[44 AND COUNTING]

5 hours ago, sergio brambillasca said:

44 AND COUNTING wrote:
Hello, Sergio!
I live down the road a bit, in Modena. I've had my Westfield Seven for five years. It's also a 1700, right hand drive, factory built in 1985, with 23,000 miles.

Hello! What a surprise to find another Seven owner here in Italy!

Beautiful Westfield — and another 1700. After five years together, I imagine you know exactly what I mean when I say that these cars become much more than just cars.

Modena is not far from Milan at all. Perhaps one day our two Sevens will have the chance to meet.

Sergio

 

[44 AND COUNTING]

I bought my Westfield from an internet ad, up by Lago Isola. Not far from Milan. It came from Germany to Italy in '88. It's the most fun I can have on 4 wheels! These things get into your blood!

[CBuff]

Well that’s a layup. @Croc is now @coccodrillo. I will start making the pit banners for njmp in Oct.  

 

[theDreamer]

5 hours ago, sergio brambillasca said:

Now I know much more about crocodiles than I did this morning! 😄
And all I wanted was to discover something about the history of my Caterham.
This forum is already taking me in unexpected directions!

Welcome to the asylum hehehe

 

[IamScotticus]

13 hours ago, sergio brambillasca said:

Yes, Crossflow! It's a 1997 Caterham Seven with a 1700 Ford engine. I've owned it for more than thirteen years.

I also have this old photograph from before I bought it, showing the car with two trophies on it. Unfortunately, I don't know anything more about that part of its history. Perhaps someone here might recognize something about the car or its past.

I see a spacer in there so you should have a T9 5 speed. These were often standard w DeDion axles but your front is uprated  narrow live axle type.

Do you have an Triumph Ital/Marina live axle?

[sergio brambillasca]

Thank you — this is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to discover here.

I honestly don't know which rear axle it has. I've owned the Caterham for more than thirteen years, but I have never reconstructed all the technical details of its original specification.

If it helps, tomorrow I can take some photographs of the rear axle and gearbox area. Perhaps you could help me identify exactly what I have.

I'm discovering the history of my own car piece by piece through this forum!

[theDreamer]

@sergio brambillasca This car appears to have been a Caterham racer. I have discovered some interesting things about the cars used during this period.

The Caterham Scholarship entry level cars were live axle 1600cc (not 1700) Ford 'Kent' Crossflows with rear-exit exhausts. The spec included a Caterham lightened & balanced flywheel, uprated competition clutch cover and drive plate, Caterham distributor with Ignitor electronic ignition, two twin choke Weber 40 DCOE carburettors with K&N filters. Power was rated at 100 bhp at 6000 rpm. I did not find any info on the transmission used but would expect it to have been the four speed.

In 2001 the name changed to the Caterham Academy as too did the cars. The entry level was now the 1.6 K Series Rover in a De Dion chassis. Again, no info on the transmission used. However, I’m sure someone here would know.

If you send your VIN and car details to Martin Phipps ( Martin.Phipps@caterham.com) he’ll search out any documents the factory have on your car. At least you’ll know how it left the factory.

[IamScotticus]

Sergio's thread is now more appropriate in Membr's Cars

https://usa7s.net/ips/forum/30-member-rides/

Edited 23 hours ago by IamScotticus

[sergio brambillasca]

22 hours ago, Scott_ said:

Ciao Sergio, non vedo l'ora di sentire del tuo viaggio in Europa l'anno prossimo.

 

Scott

Thank you, Scott.
I think the journey has already started in a way — I'm discovering things about my own Caterham that I didn't know before joining this forum! 😄

Next year the car and I will have quite a long road ahead of us across Europe. I'm sure I'll share some of it here as the departure gets closer.

Sergio

[sergio brambillasca]

13 hours ago, theDreamer said:

@sergio brambillascaQuesta vettura sembra essere stata una Caterham da corsa. Ho scoperto alcune cose interessanti sulle auto utilizzate in quel periodo.

 

Le vetture di base del programma Caterham Scholarship erano equipaggiate con un motore Ford 'Kent' Crossflow da 1600 cc (non 1700) ad assale rigido e scarichi posteriori. Le specifiche includevano un volano alleggerito e bilanciato Caterham, un coperchio frizione e un disco di trasmissione da competizione potenziati, un distributore Caterham con accensione elettronica Ignitor e due carburatori Weber 40 DCOE a doppio corpo con filtri K&N. La potenza dichiarata era di 100  CV a 6000 giri/min. Non ho trovato informazioni sulla trasmissione utilizzata, ma presumo si trattasse di un cambio a quattro marce.

 

Nel 2001 il nome cambiò in Caterham Academy, così come le vetture. Il modello base era ora la Rover Serie K da 1.6 litri su telaio De Dion. Anche in questo caso, non ci sono informazioni sulla trasmissione utilizzata. Tuttavia, sono sicuro che qualcuno qui ne saprà qualcosa.

 

Se invii il numero di telaio (VIN) e i dettagli della tua auto a Martin Phipps (Martin.Phipps@caterham.com), lui cercherà tutti i documenti in possesso della casa produttrice relativi al tuo veicolo. Almeno saprai come è uscito dalla fabbrica.

 

Thank you very much. This is fascinating — you've already discovered more about the early history of my Caterham than I knew when I joined the forum.

I will find the VIN/chassis number and gather the information I have about the car. Contacting Martin Phipps at Caterham sounds like an excellent next step.

What makes this particularly interesting to me is that I've owned the car for more than thirteen years, yet I am only now beginning to reconstruct what its life may have been before it came to Italy.

Thank you for taking the time to research this.

SergioS

[Croc]

48 minutes ago, sergio brambillasca said:

Thank you very much. This is fascinating — you've already discovered more about the early history of my Caterham than I knew when I joined the forum.

I will find the VIN/chassis number and gather the information I have about the car. Contacting Martin Phipps at Caterham sounds like an excellent next step.

What makes this particularly interesting to me is that I've owned the car for more than thirteen years, yet I am only now beginning to reconstruct what its life may have been before it came to Italy.

Thank you for taking the time to research this.

SergioS

 

Its clearly a race car origin.  1700 x-flow would have been either 1) a later replacement for an earlier engine, or 2) a sprint event car (one car on track for a single flying lap).  By 1997 the regular Caterham race classes were either for Rover K series or Vauxhall engines while Scholarship was 1600cc X-flow for just that year (1998 was Rover K series).  For a sprint event, a 1600cc X-flow would have been Class 1 and a 1700 x-flow would have been a Class 2 car for sprint events.  There was also a Club Challenge event that year (Gold Arts Lotus Seven Club Challenge).

 

I confirmed the Bookatrack sponsorship was for all cars participating in one of the defined Caterham race classes - one of those mandatory sponsorships for the series that all cars run.  Seems to point towards it being a circuit racer and not a sprint event car then?

 

What's the VIN?   I can decipher that easily.

 

Martin Phipps will give you the build sheet but a follow up inquiry might surface the original name - then you can match that name to the race archive below.

 

One other thing - The Caterham and Lotus Seven Club has an archive of old LowFlying magazines available to members online.  They always reported on the Caterham races.  Going through those would possibly surface this car and its owner then.  I glanced at 1997 articles and did not see anything but a detailed search is required.

[sergio brambillasca]

13 minutes ago, Croc said:

 

È chiaramente un'auto da corsa. Il motore 1700 X-Flow sarebbe stato o 1) un motore di ricambio successivo per un motore precedente, oppure 2) un'auto da gara sprint (una sola auto in pista per un singolo giro lanciato). Nel 1997 le classi di gara Caterham regolari erano riservate ai motori Rover serie K o Vauxhall, mentre la categoria Scholarship prevedeva il motore 1600cc X-Flow solo per quell'anno (il 1998 fu la volta del Rover serie K). Per una gara sprint, un motore 1600cc X-Flow sarebbe stato di Classe 1 e un 1700cc X-Flow di Classe 2. Quell'anno si tenne anche una gara Club Challenge (Gold Arts Lotus Seven Club Challenge).

 

Ho confermato che la sponsorizzazione di Bookatrack era per tutte le vetture partecipanti a una delle classi di gara Caterham definite: una di quelle sponsorizzazioni obbligatorie per la serie a cui partecipano tutte le vetture. Sembra quindi che si tratti di una vettura da corsa in circuito e non di una vettura per gare sprint, giusto?

 

Qual è il numero di telaio (VIN)? Posso decifrarlo facilmente.

 

Martin Phipps ti fornirà la scheda di costruzione, ma una successiva richiesta di informazioni potrebbe far emergere il nome originale, che potrai poi confrontare con l'archivio delle gare qui sotto.

 

Un'altra cosa: il Caterham and Lotus Seven Club ha un archivio di vecchie riviste LowFlying a disposizione dei soci online. Queste riviste riportavano sempre notizie sulle gare Caterham. Consultandole, si potrebbe forse ritrovare quest'auto e il suo proprietario dell'epoca. Ho dato un'occhiata agli articoli del 1997 e non ho trovato nulla, ma è necessaria una ricerca più approfondita.

Thank you, Croc. This is becoming much more interesting than I expected when I posted that old photograph.

The information about BookaTrack and the racing classes is particularly valuable, especially because the old UK registration record found by theDreamer lists the car as 1600 cc.

I can also confirm that when I bought the car it had electronic ignition, a competition clutch, and the rear exhaust.

I have the VIN and will retrieve it from the car. I would prefer not to post the complete chassis number publicly, but I can contact Martin Phipps with it and obtain the build sheet.

If that eventually allows us to identify the original owner or driver and trace the car through the old race records, that would be extraordinary.

Thank you for taking this investigation so seriously.

Sergio