Caterham Superlight 1.6 K-Series

[tin duck dave]

BertBert said:

Just out of interest, how does the spigot bearing affect the clutch feel?

tin duck dave said:

Heavy clutch can be spigot bearing on the way out. Good negotiating lever, engine out to sort. Ideal seven in my book, and prime to upgrade over time as well. Don't fear a k series, set up right it's a great match with a seven

I had a collapsed spigot bearing on a 1.6 super light and clutch pedal was significantly lighter after replacement and no other clutch parts changed. Can't tell you why, just how I experienced it.

[rubystone]

battered said:

LSD s moan like he'll, and the UJs chatter on a light throttle at low speed. TADTS. The cure is to put your foot down.

Not on the 7 7s I've owned.

[Tango7]

Lowering just the driver's floor, is usually an cost saving measure. Have both sides done so the seat heights are the same! If the engine does have to come out, its an easy day job to get it out and back in and the only specialist equipment is the engine crane that can be hired or borrowed from someone local. A decent Halfords socket set should cover most of the fixings. Car sounds decent and price at £17k is only a little high but the market has moved up over last few years so certainly not out of the question.

[SidewaysSi]

rubystone said:

Differential noise would worry me. Stick your foot on the clutch and if that noise disappears, it's the CRB. I can't see how a clutch would be needed at 13k miles. Apollo is standard spec for a Superlight. How much are they charging for the car? Shouldn't be more than £16k at the very top end by one of the recognised specialists.

I think you will pay a lot more than that at somewhere like S&C etc.

[Green George]

The likes of Seven & Classics have been successfully selling Superlights at between £18k to £19k for the last 18 months (with SLR's going for £22k to £23k).
Privately, the seem to go for between £1.5k to £2k less.

[Darren-2000]

I came to the same conclusion with regards to the price. The Superlight 1.6 K-Series rarely come up for sale but the Caterham trade sellers are offering Roadsports and Supersports with Superlight additions for very similar money at this age, so it does seem ballpark considering a genuine Superlight at trade price would be higher 1.5 - 2k higher. Anyway, deposit paid and collection day imminent, and so first time Caterham ownership not far away now!

On the mundane issue of protecting the car when not in use, does anyone use a specialist indoor car cover, and can confirm the supplier that they would recommend (or steer clear of). Online suppliers all make claims to be superior to the competition. No way to find out in advance of sending payment and receiving it.

[Darren-2000]

SidewaysSi said:

I think you will pay a lot more than that at somewhere like S&C etc.

I'm very envious that you have 3 - or soon to be 2 - of the cars I think must rate as must have's for focused, thrilling driving experience in any petrolhead's car collection. I am talking about the Porsche GT4, Lotus Elise and Caterham Superlight.

[SidewaysSi]

Darren-2000 said:

SidewaysSi said:

I think you will pay a lot more than that at somewhere like S&C etc.

I'm very envious that you have 3 - or soon to be 2 - of the cars I think must rate as must have's for focused, thrilling driving experience in any petrolhead's car collection. I am talking about the Porsche GT4, Lotus Elise and Caterham Superlight.

Thanks-I am a car and driving obsessive and these were boyhood heroes. Recently dug out old car mags and the original Autocar Elise road test which left me in awe at the time.

For the money, I much prefer the Superlight/Elise S1 combination that I would solely an R400/R500.

[rubystone]

SidewaysSi said:

I think you will pay a lot more than that at somewhere like S&C etc.

Then they are taking the piss. But then, good luck to Andy if he can own the market and more fool Caterham Cars for letting him leave and for not seeing what he would do.

But a 1996-1998 Superlight is worth no more than £15k. I've never paid more for that and only paid £11k for my R500 nigh on a decade ago! I gave £12k for my SLR in 2002. So have these cars all of a sudden jumped on the coat tails of Ferrari 355s or are people being suckered into paying way over the odds?

[justleanitupabit]

rubystone said:

Then they are taking the piss. But then, good luck to Andy if he can own the market and more fool Caterham Cars for letting him leave and for not seeing what he would do.

But a 1996-1998 Superlight is worth no more than £15k. I've never paid more for that and only paid £11k for my R500 nigh on a decade ago! I gave £12k for my SLR in 2002. So have these cars all of a sudden jumped on the coat tails of Ferrari 355s or are people being suckered into paying way over the odds?

Look around, at S&C, Chapman, PT etc etc - SLRs are advertised for circa 22k

[ForzaGilles]

I bought my year 2000 1.6 Superlight in 2006 for 14k privately, and sold it 5 years and 20k miles later for 13.5k to a well known dealer at the wrong time of year. He had the car advertised for 17k. I would imagine it would be 19k now, looking at what they're going for at various dealers. Prices overall have really ramped up in the last few years.

[rubystone]

Mine were all private sales. So the trade is widening the spread then. Perhaps the friendly rivalry between Andy, Antony/Damian might tighten them? :

[SidewaysSi]

rubystone said:

SidewaysSi said:

I think you will pay a lot more than that at somewhere like S&C etc.

Then they are taking the piss. But then, good luck to Andy if he can own the market and more fool Caterham Cars for letting him leave and for not seeing what he would do.

But a 1996-1998 Superlight is worth no more than £15k. I've never paid more for that and only paid £11k for my R500 nigh on a decade ago! I gave £12k for my SLR in 2002. So have these cars all of a sudden jumped on the coat tails of Ferrari 355s or are people being suckered into paying way over the odds?

I have never seen (decent) R500s and SLRs for those figures in the open market. Fair play to you if you got them for those numbers but a good Superlight is easy £17k+ today.

[Darren-2000]

Unfortunately, I missed out when they were going 'cheap'. The market price has obviously increased in the last 10 years. Currently for sale: 2003 R300 - trade price £24k. Trade price Roadsport 2001/02 circa £15k. Private 2009 Supersport £19k. Private 2003 Roadsport (modified 197bhp) £19k. The difference between trade and private prices are as you would expect. Although all sales are predominantly trade and they must have a virtual monopoly on supply.

[Darren-2000]

SidewaysSi said:

Darren-2000 said:

SidewaysSi said:

I think you will pay a lot more than that at somewhere like S&C etc.

I'm very envious that you have 3 - or soon to be 2 - of the cars I think must rate as must have's for focused, thrilling driving experience in any petrolhead's car collection. I am talking about the Porsche GT4, Lotus Elise and Caterham Superlight.

Thanks-I am a car and driving obsessive and these were boyhood heroes. Recently dug out old car mags and the original Autocar Elise road test which left me in awe at the time.

For the money, I much prefer the Superlight/Elise S1 combination that I would solely an R400/R500.

Yes I understand what it is to be a 'car and driving obsessive'. It is a gift..... and a curse when it comes to the expense!
An expense which has to undergo a cost/benefit rationalisation (which I agree with): the R400/R500 command a price premium which does not reflect the extra benefit over a Superlight, and especially when you weigh up that you can have 2 great, different driving / ownership experiences for the price of one R400/R500.

[rubystone]

Darren-2000 said:

Yes I understand what it is to be a 'car and driving obsessive'. It is a gift..... and a curse when it comes to the expense!
An expense which has to undergo a cost/benefit rationalisation (which I agree with): the R400/R500 command a price premium which does not reflect the extra benefit over a Superlight, and especially when you weigh up that you can have 2 great, different driving / ownership experiences for the price of one R400/R500.

When you drive these 3 variants, what was it that set that impression?

[rubystone]

Darren-2000 said:

Unfortunately, I missed out when they were going 'cheap'. The market price has obviously increased in the last 10 years. Currently for sale: 2003 R300 - trade price £24k. Trade price Roadsport 2001/02 circa £15k. Private 2009 Supersport £19k. Private 2003 Roadsport (modified 197bhp) £19k. The difference between trade and private prices are as you would expect. Although all sales are predominantly trade and they must have a virtual monopoly on supply.

Or perhaps you're just not trying hard enough to find a car? A 2001 Roadsport for £15k is truly flying a kite. 'Trade price' is a term used to describe the price at which a car changes hands between two dealers. I'm guessing you are quoting 'retail price'?

What is your expectation of the margin between private and retail? 10%? 20%?

[rubystone]

SidewaysSi said:

I have never seen (decent) R500s and SLRs for those figures in the open market. Fair play to you if you got them for those numbers but a good Superlight is easy £17k+ today.

Perhaps you haven't been playing in this market for as long as I have then?

I will concede though that Andy establishing S&C has made it more difficult to find realistically priced cars on the private market. He offers such attractive prices that increasingly he's becoming the first call any private seller is making. So I am in doubt that he's influencing the secondhand market and pricing. But good cars can still be found at the right price if one looks hard enough. £5k for an S2 7 for example....

[BertBert]

But that's just daft talk. They are worth what people are paying, not what might have been paid 10 years ago or what one might like it to be now. I kind of feel the same about the prices as you but know I am wrong. Just look at how Caterham have increased the price of their new cars...it was always going to push up the used market.

rubystone said:

Then they are taking the piss. But then, good luck to Andy if he can own the market and more fool Caterham Cars for letting him leave and for not seeing what he would do.

But a 1996-1998 Superlight is worth no more than £15k. I've never paid more for that and only paid £11k for my R500 nigh on a decade ago! I gave £12k for my SLR in 2002. So have these cars all of a sudden jumped on the coat tails of Ferrari 355s or are people being suckered into paying way over the odds?

[rubystone]

BertBert said:

But allowing for inflation, the comparable cars to the ones we are talking about are no more expensive. It's the fact that there are now credible players in the market that's setting the values of used stock. Plus, people seem to just blindly go out and pay the money. Same things happened with I/B 911s. 30 grand for a 2.7 Targa? Really?