BruceBe Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Well, now that the cat is out of the bag, so to speak - I will be at the show, and will post a few photos of the display. Cheers, -Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Looking forward to pix. New blood and renewed enthusiasm on the mfg/retail side can only help the Caterham brand in USA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Well, now that the cat is out of the bag . . . Was there a pun in there somewhere? :jester: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off Road SHO Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Well, I wasn't going to go to Barrett Jackson this year, but I will now. Of course, I will have to take the S-1. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucky dawg Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Any marketing effort and budget in the US will be an increase over recent years. I am looking forward to the possibility of more Caterham awareness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1Steve Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Just a Superformance owner passing along some chit chat from the Superformance circles and just trying to help out our cousins. No business involved, only fellow owners and just keeping it positive, guys! thanks Welcome to the forum, whats the # of your S1.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I am looking forward to the possibility of more Caterham awareness. Agreed. And with so much more Caterham awareness enhancing announcements and events and whatnot in the recent past, present and... future (?), it would seem inevitable that awareness will only increase. I see the rolling chassis option as a barrier lifted for so many who would have always loved to get a Caterham, but have previously been for whatever reason put off by complete self-assembly. I expect this alone should increase sales, as long as the kit option remains for those who desire it. Otherwise, they may be losing one type of customer to gain another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoPho Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I don't want more people to buy Caterhams......:banghead: . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurboWood Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Agreed. And with so much more Caterham awareness enhancing announcements and events and whatnot in the recent past, present and... future (?), it would seem inevitable that awareness will only increase. I see the rolling chassis option as a barrier lifted for so many who would have always loved to get a Caterham, but have previously been for whatever reason put off by complete self-assembly. I expect this alone should increase sales, as long as the kit option remains for those who desire it. Otherwise, they may be losing one type of customer to gain another. The existing Caterham dealers in the US will build you a roller or complete car if you so choose. Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I don't want more people to buy Caterhams......:banghead:. :iagree: I sort of agree with that. I like having an extremely rare and different car. OTOH I'd like to see the existing Caterham dealers make a good living and stay in business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucky dawg Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 :iagree: I sort of agree with that. I like having an extremely rare and different car. OTOH I'd like to see the existing Caterham dealers make a good living and stay in business. I think that even if Caterham sales in the US were to triple (not too likely) it would still be a rare event to see another one while out driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xflow7 Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I'm with Lucky. In the time that I've been aware of the existence of Sevens (~25 years) I have seen a grand total of 2 out and about that were not associated with some kind of car event or show where you would expect them to come out of the woodwork. On the topic of the US distributor/dealer network, it sounds like there's no ill-will on the part of Caterham USA and that Superformance is energized about the possibilities. Given that, I think it can only be positive and I think we need to be patient to see how things evolve, particularly as it sounds like this has come together very recently. Having said that, what I *do* hope for is that this leads to a more cohesive marketing/sales/support strategy in the USA. I got interested in Sevens in about 1986-87 at the ripe old age of 13. At that time, it was the place in Georgia (MotoAmerica?) that was importer and Sevens/Elans seemed to be kind of the dealer of record. What I remember about that period is that it seemed like once a year or so there was an article in one of the big car mags about a Caterham. I learned about them from a kit-car comparo in C/D. Then within less than a year there was a road test of a 40th anniversary model in R/T and then one of the two had another article within another couple of years. At that time, the celebrity connection was Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith who both had them. In the intervening 20 years, by comparison, I think I've only seen mention of a Caterham in any of those publications a couple of times. It seems like somewhere along the line, getting column inches in front of car nuts became less of a priority. I also have always been surprised that I've never seen a Caterham booth near one of the big car shows. At Detroit, in the basement of the main show hall, there's usually a set of displays by kitcar manufacturers, aftermarket companies, etc. It always stunned me that MotoAmerica and latterly Caterham USA were never there in the ~6-7 years that I went to that show annually. Nor did I see them at NY when I went there. Having a display at B/J sounds like a step in the right direction and I hope that it leads to more active participation at those kinds of forums to get the cars in front of peoples' eyes. I'll be interested to see what happens with Dyson and the SP/300R. Having this weired disjointed strategy where the track cars and road cars are entirely separate seems like a mistake, especially when you consider that many owners do a substantial amount of track-driving with the Seven. Finally, I disagree with the idea that an entry-level Seven wouldn't be successful and shouldn't be a focus here. This is only anecdotal, but my own story is that I lusted after one from childhood and I managed to just scrape together enough money in my late 20's to afford a Classic Supersprint, a comparatively low-end model. At that time, it cost me right around $25k all-in for kit, engine, and tranny. Honestly, if that model hadn't been available, I don't know that I'd have ended up getting one at all. I think the new 160 is a great product, and to me it would be a very wise investment for Superformance to partner with Caterham or some 3rd party to try to find a suitable alternative to the Suzuki lump that would be easy to source/fit/register for the US market. I don't necessarily think it would be easy, and maybe nothing out there is suitable, but I do wonder if something like the 1.0 Ecoboost, the Honda Fit motor now legal in FF, the 1.0 from the little Smart cars or similar could be make to work. Anyway, I didn't mean to ramble on so long. :deadhorse: Suffice to say that I am cautiously optimistic about this arrangement. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 The existing Caterham dealers in the US will build you a roller or complete car if you so choose. You and I have known that for a while, I'm sure, but from the questions I typically get in gas stations and parking lots, I don't think John Q. Public has known. Advertising Caterhams as a roller being the standard with CKD as an option would be the opposite of the previous way it had been done. Not sure I want more people to buy Caterhams either, but I believe we all would benefit from more being sold. As Croc pointed out, the 7 is unlikely to become this century's Model T (unless Mazda's next Franken7 can literally fly, in which case we're all screwed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdog Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 (edited) Xflow7 I only say that the 160 would be a sales flop due to two things about the American market. 1, As one can see on this forum, One will see more posts about big engines, big power, & racing than most anything else. Just look at the post about the new Zenos. A member very thoughtfully posted a list of the best cars within the 7's genre. The factor that got the heaviest weighting was power to weight ratios. Secondarily or tertiary was cost. Ease of use, Ease of maintenance, Availability didn't seem a factor. 2, Most (but not all) 7's owners seem to be in a more financially secure zone. So they tend to indulge the Tim Allen "more power" side of the 7. I'm more on your side xflow7. I balked at spending more than it cost to buy my last two cars (2006 BMW Zed4, 2008 BMW 328i) to get a Caterham that leaves a Ferrari for dead. I don't live to beat people and so I do not require "the fastest" I do like to drive fast, unique cars though. That's why I have a xflow. Edited January 11, 2014 by bigdog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2k7 Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Xflow7 I only say that the 160 would be a sales flop due to two things about the American market. 1, As one can see on this forum, One will see more posts about big engines, big power, racing than most anything else. Just look at the post about the new zenos I agree....American concept- big bicep - i don't care about my tendon & ligaments ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdog Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I agree....American concept- big bicep - i don't care about my tendon & ligaments ! That would describe my 1973 Chevy Nova. It had a 427 big block in it. It sounded brilliant, But it had no go at all. That engine simply over powered the suspension & tires. Cornering? Fu-getta-bout-it. It was a waist of a good engine being in that Nova. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffersonRaley Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 ...they tend to indulge the Tim Allen "more power" side of the 7. I think you make some good points. I'd add that in the US we are (happily) spoiled for horsepower. Normal sedans have 300 horsepower and 400+ is not uncommon. Plus the cars are cheap compared to much of the world. So in this market Sevens are relatively expensive, and up against cheap choices with lots of power. Of course, it may also be true that Americans are hyper-competitive, overly aggressive and compensating for our small feet. That may explain the 420 bhp engine in my tow vehicle.... I would also add that the low-horsepower new Caterhams are awfully expensive compared to buying an older used xflow or Zetec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdog Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I think you make some good points. I'd add that in the US we are (happily) spoiled for horsepower. Normal sedans have 300 horsepower and 400+ is not uncommon. Plus the cars are cheap compared to much of the world. So in this market Sevens are relatively expensive, and up against cheap choices with lots of power. Of course, it may also be true that Americans are hyper-competitive, overly aggressive and compensating for our small feet. That may explain the 420 bhp engine in my tow vehicle.... I would also add that the low-horsepower new Caterhams are awfully expensive compared to buying an older used xflow or Zetec. New Caterhams are expensive here as well. Plus you can tack on the European wide 19% VAT in addition. For some reason though used Caterhams/ Westfields in the UK are cheap as chips. We had a saying at the two bike shops I worked at about the lust for HP and the lack of skill to use it (generally speaking). "Brochure wars" is what we called it. My tow vehicle will have 140HP. I'm looking at trading the wife's 328 for a VW Jetta turbodiesel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihckb2 Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Could it be possible that the North Americans need all that HP to pull all the BS and Lard around. If you check on the Morgan site you will note that some of the same models for the US market are 6" wider. In 2005 I drove both a Morgan Aero from England and one that was a US model. I floated around in the seat for the US model and wondered why, until I was informed of the difference. I guess that is why Caterham also produces the super size model as well. I'll probably get in trouble for this one, but if the truth hurts..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurboWood Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 ihckb2, we are definitely fat in the US, but I don't think that is the driving force for big power in the US. Even doubling a persons weight doesn't require doubling the power to get similar performance. The drive for power has been there long before the US was hugely obese. I'm not sure where the geneses of this was, but I really believe the anchor to this psychology has been cheap fuel. I bet if Europe's gas prices dropped in half over night there would be a growth in engine size/power pretty quickly. Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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