Hello

[ro55ifumi]

Hello, looking at buyin my first Caterham, just a quick hello and after looking at a few posts, looks like it could be interesting!!!!!!

What are the classic 7's with the vauxhall 8 valve motors like as a starter??

John

[ro55ifumi]

I have a budget of around 9k, not to worried about big bhp as i intend to use the car with my wife and enjoy Derbyshire and the odd weekend abroad.

I know i'm going to struggle with the 9k but you have to start somewhere :-)

[ro55ifumi]

jasgti said:

you can get a nice westfield with plenty of bhp for 9k!!

i am in exactly the same position with a similar budget , i know the caterham is the real deal and having driven the new sigma engine has made me confirm this but i have been looking and looking for something decent but an old crossflow or cavalier engine just doesnt do it for, now a nice zetec might tempt me

My thoughts too, looking at the different sites they seem to be a little more freindly too, less bickering.
I would have thought a new memeber would be welcomed as already stated you have to start somewhere

If i could afford a superlight i would!! but you buy what you can afford.

As yet a little dissappointed

Edited by ro55ifumi on Thursday 24th January 15:00

[ro55ifumi]

Noger said:

All car forums have bickering !

For you budget you are looking at perhaps three options.

1) A decent "original" Crossflow
2) "Original" 8 value Vauxhaul
3) A conversion of some sort

As you can probably tell from the classifieds, the more standard spec "originals" tend to hold their value a little better than something somebody has had a play with. The later may be faster, depends what you are after.

I loved my Crossflow. Was easy to get serviced, had bags of character and an exhaust note (and flames) to die for. Plenty fast enough for road use, and not that bad for a track day. I bought it for just under £12000 15 years ago, from Caterham, so you can tell how well they hold their value. If you bought a decent "proper" Xflow now, it won't drop that much at all, it might even appreciate as they get rarer.

If you are after anything faster (and the vat majority of people get upgraditis at some point, to a varying degree - see Arnie for an extreme case ) or more modern then Westfield should be your next port of call.

Cheers Noger a sensible post and thanks , yes i'm looking at an original vauxhall/crossflow not to intersted in track days been there done that on big bikes!!!!

Like the build quality of the caterham against the westfield.

Just looking for a caterham to put a smile on my face!!! and one the wife can drive too.

Should have seen her embarass a few drivers on the rally day i got her in a wrc prodrive!!! she likes her cars too!!!

As for servicing John Nobles is only two mins away

Edited by ro55ifumi on Thursday 24th January 15:55

[ro55ifumi]

casbar said:

My first Cat was a xflow car. Great bit of kit, you should be able to pick up a decent one for around your 9k budget. There are plenty of cars for sale on here and Autotrader.

Just get someone who knows the mark to have a look at it for you. Buy one with as many bits on as you can, saves on the upgrades. For touring a xflow will be great.

If you see a car you like, someone on here will be glad to give you their views.

Thanks for the advice, will give people a shout once i find "the car"

John

[ro55ifumi]

Tango7 said:

I know where there are two 5 speed Supersprint cars with De Dion suspension for your budget. The Supersprint model had the 135 BHP Xflow engine in and was definitely one of the models to have at the time. One is actually based in Derbyshire if you are based in that area.

PM me if you are interested.

T

Not sure how to pm you cant find the link, can you e-mail me the contacts details in Derbyshire

Thanks

John

[ro55ifumi]

Where are the pm's???

[ro55ifumi]

Matt230 said:

Hi, if you wait for the right car they do come along. I travelled from East Anglia to Scotland to get my K series supersported 7, 6 speed box, LSD etc all for around your budget. plus it had a lot of lovely expensive new shiny bits on the car. Being a Roadsport A ex racer its no concourse car but a bit of TLC this winter and it should be a blinder.

Worth a thought?

Matt

Matt

Thanks mate, my thoughts exactly not going to dive in, the car i buy will be one i keep so it has to be the right car

Edited by ro55ifumi on Saturday 26th January 11:29

[ro55ifumi]

Whats eveyones thoughts on the silver caterham ad the vauxhall one on here

[ro55ifumi]

andysteele said:

I nearly went to see that one, it was advertised the day after i went to see the one i bought, same spec as mine (looks like ex-academy/scholarship), has had spare wheel carrier removed (neither goor nor bad but personal taste I`d say).

looks like a good motor in the pics, leather seats is a plus and its painted. My (£8k) has cloth seats (which can get wet) and polishedd ali body (needs lots of polishing), so these two bits make it worth more in my opinion.

i thought it was sold a week or so ago when someone on www.BlatChat.com was posting about getting a VX1600, mine was mentioned in the thread, and I`m sure they said they had been to see this one and bought it. But since then it has been re-listed on here, so maybe that sale fell through.

hope that helps!

Andy.

Thanks Andy, looks like it took you some time to find the right car.
Just hope i drop on one that is right as stated it's hard to get a test drive in any of the models.