Sold the Caterham

[Agent Orange]

Sold the Caterham and last night saw it drive off.



A shame but with work travel and family I just wasn't using as much as I'd hoped. But it had been everything I wanted and performed without fault. I've been lucky to drive or own some enjoyable cars in the past but I've got to say in terms of shear driving enjoyment the Caterham tops the list.

Everyone with the slightest whiff of petrol in them should drive or own a Caterham at some point and I will own another when life allows!

However a really nice young guy in the Peterborough area bought it and time for someone else to enjoy it.

[panickyjabofoppo]

...to me! I've finally joined up after years of browsing. I'm afraid some Caterham novice questions will follow soon - after a thorough forum search, of course. I look forward to getting involved.

[Darumvej]

Agent Orange said:

Sold the Caterham and last night saw it drive off.



A shame but with work travel and family I just wasn't using as much as I'd hoped. But it had been everything I wanted and performed without fault. I've been lucky to drive or own some enjoyable cars in the past but I've got to say in terms of shear driving enjoyment the Caterham tops the list.

Everyone with the slightest whiff of petrol in them should drive or own a Caterham at some point and I will own another when life allows!

However a really nice young guy in the Peterborough area bought it and time for someone else to enjoy it.

I lasted 4 years without one, once bitten and all that, you'll soon miss it.

[IBDAET]

I managed 2 years 5 months and 27 days without.

[Farlig]

IBDAET said:

I managed 2 years 5 months and 27 days without.

I´m sitting at 1 year, 7 months, 24 days to date and have only survived because a) I´ve got two Ducatis and b) wifey won´t approve the AFE due to house renovations...
(I guess that "b" should be "a" but I´m in denial...)

[framerateuk]

panickyjabofoppo said:

...to me! I've finally joined up after years of browsing. I'm afraid some Caterham novice questions will follow soon - after a thorough forum search, of course. I look forward to getting involved.

Welcome! Once the salt is off the roads you'll have a lot of fun

I don't think I could sell mine without at least having something equally silly lined up to replace it. I noticed a small oil leak from mine at the end of the summer (nothing major, just a leaking rocker cover gasket which I finally got around to fixing last weekend), but it's not been used since then and I'm getting withdrawal symptoms!

[Smollet]

I'm selling my7 soon due to arthritis making getting in an out such an effort as to take away any enjoyment from driving it.

[casbar]

5 years now, since I wrote mine off at Castle Combe Gone back to motorcycling - much safer

[Eric Mc]

Smollet said:

I'm selling my7 soon due to arthritis making getting in an out such an effort as to take away any enjoyment from driving it.

That's a real shame.

So far (touch wood) I can still get in and out of the thing - even with the hood up.

[georgefreeman]

Love these. What would your opinion be of someone wishing to have a Caterham as a daily driver?

I only do 5 miles to work every day or would other longer trips just become a chore?

I am still young so I aren't too bothered about a harsh ride of deaf ears...

[framerateuk]

georgefreeman said:

Love these. What would your opinion be of someone wishing to have a Caterham as a daily driver?

I only do 5 miles to work every day or would other longer trips just become a chore?

I am still young so I aren't too bothered about a harsh ride of deaf ears...

There are plenty who have done it, but I wouldn't want to personally. It might be fine over the summer, but if you're driving back on rainy winter nights it can be quite an unpleasant experience. Dipped headlights are right at windscreen level for a 7, combined with rain on the road it can be borderline impossible to see where you're going if someone is coming the other way.

I wouldn't want to spend long in the commuter traffic either. Lots of people are still a few coffees away from being awake at that point and might not spot a small 7!

You'd have to be careful to keep it clean in the winter too to stop the salt corroding the panels and chassis. You'd get fed up of cleaning it quickly!

[Eric Mc]

I had to use mine a couple of weeks ago when my daily driver was off the road. Driving at night, in the dark, in the wet, was a very, very unpleasant experience.
As mentioned above, when you are being tailed closely by someone, their dipped beams reflect straight back into your eyes from both the wing mirrors and the central mirror.

If there is also oncoming traffic, you are completely blinded. I lost sight of the edge of the roadway number of times and had to slow to below 30.

Another phenomenon I noticed not long after I first bought mine is that, because of the seating position being so low, the angle at which you view the road ahead is below the refractive/reflective index of water - meaning that a very wet road can act like a mirror and reflect back the sky - rendering all road marking completely invisible. It's like driving on a mirror.

It was quite unnerving.

[BertBert]

I did it quite a few years ago. Used it for commuting to work and travelling around the countryside to clients' sites. Was kind of ok, but I would not do it again. The car lived outside so the roof was up a lot. I couldn't afford to turn up to work or to clients in my suit and tie and soaked through! The car rotted away and I ended up severely out of love with it!

It had its fun moments, but overall, I overdid it.

Bert

[Agent Orange]

panickyjabofoppo said:

...to me! I've finally joined up after years of browsing. I'm afraid some Caterham novice questions will follow soon - after a thorough forum search, of course. I look forward to getting involved.

Great to hear from you again and hope you're enjoying it.

Darumvej said:

I lasted 4 years without one, once bitten and all that, you'll soon miss it.

I loved it and that particular Caterham really felt an extension of you. It's handling was superb and the gearbox and engine so sweet. I don't think I could have a Caterham again unless it was a K-Series. It needed a little bit of tarting up and a few things but I travel too much with work and with a young family I didn't have the weekends to enjoy it enough - 2 or 3 a year at most. I'd planned hillclimbs and trackdays. I toyed with accepting that and upgrading/refreshing parts - no power increases though as didn't think it needed it but I had a suspension refresh on the cards along with new paint (orange of course), new wings, sort some of the gauges out etc. etc.

But yes I do miss it and will have another when the time is right - maybe 8 years time!