Potential new owner advice please

[sng45]

I'm seriously considering buying myself a Caterham 7 , I've had lots of cars mainly Porsches but never owned a 7 and quite liked the look of this one

http://www.chapmancars.co.uk/portfolio-item/arrivi...

Would this be a good car to start with ? it'll be a Sunday afternoon car - not interested in doing track days or having massive bhp - prefer something that's interesting and fun to drive.

Amongst other cars in the past I've had a number of Elises and swopped my last one for a 981 Boxster which is a great car but a little "smooth" round the edges whilst the Elise was a little "rough" round the edges - so intially I was considering buying another Elise but felt that a 7 would be an interesting change. Ideally I wanted to go for prisoner style colours and whilst I appreciate blue and yellow aren't exact it's pretty close !

Any advice welcome

Thank you

[bcr5784]

sng45 said:

Amongst other cars in the past I've had a number of Elises and swopped my last one for a 981 Boxster which is a great car but a little "smooth" round the edges whilst the Elise was a little "rough" round the edges - so intially I was considering buying another Elise but felt that a 7 would be an interesting change. Ideally I wanted to go for prisoner style colours and whilst I appreciate blue and yellow aren't exact it's pretty close !

Any advice welcome

Thank you

Not driven that particular model so can't comment, and I don't want to put you off- but if you found the Elise a bit rough round the edges... A Caterham is a quite a lot rougher. That said, having owned an S1 Elise (and now a 981S), I've not found anything as engaging to drive as a Caterham whether it be a live axled car with 100bhp or a de Dion one with 210bhp.

[MikeO996]

16" wheels? I didn't know they ever went that big?

[CraigyB]

What a nice looking car. Test drive would tell all

[sng45]

bcr5784 said:

sng45 said:

Amongst other cars in the past I've had a number of Elises and swopped my last one for a 981 Boxster which is a great car but a little "smooth" round the edges whilst the Elise was a little "rough" round the edges - so intially I was considering buying another Elise but felt that a 7 would be an interesting change. Ideally I wanted to go for prisoner style colours and whilst I appreciate blue and yellow aren't exact it's pretty close !

Any advice welcome

Thank you

Not driven that particular model so can't comment, and I don't want to put you off- but if you found the Elise a bit rough round the edges... A Caterham is a quite a lot rougher. That said, having owned an S1 Elise (and now a 981S), I've not found anything as engaging to drive as a Caterham whether it be a live axled car with 100bhp or a de Dion one with 210bhp.

Apologies, don't think I put it across correctly in my initial post, I'm looking for something which is rough round the edges and not as smooth as the Boxster ! I also have a few other cars including an "outlaw" Porsche 356 and a "hotrod" Datsun 240Z and want something open topped to go with these - so very happy to have something a lot "rougher" !

[downsman]

The Vauxhall engine will give plenty of power but is a tall engine and fairly heavy. Most people say the 16 inch wheels are too large and would advise swapping to smaller rims- 15s have a good range of tyres or 13s are lighter but ground clearance might be a problem.

Seems a lot for old a car, but mine has done more miles in 5 years!

[rubystone]

Set up properly a carburetted HPC is a great touring car. As Downsman has said, 16 inch wheels don't suit a 7 and even on 15s I've struggled to warm up the tyres. I'd recommend 13 inch wheels if you're going to swap them.

As to the value of the car, I think I paid around £11k for my HPC nigh on 10 years ago. At the time that was about Superlight money, so given the fact that the trade seems to achieve £18k plus for an SL now, that car seems reasonably priced.

[JONSCZ]

Stephen, are you on Facebook? I only ask as there's a Seven 'Market Place' closed group section there and cars are coming up for sale all the time.
A quick scan shows this one in 'almost Prisoner colours' for the same kind of money... https://www.facebook.com/groups/403110953197008/pe...
I have nothing to do with the ad - I just did a quick search (hope it's visible if you aren't 'logged in').
Maybe worth joining F/B just for this section?
Good luck with your search - they are great cars. I've had an Elise and Caterham and I MUCH preferred the Cat as it was more of an 'event' every time I drove it (I also didn't do any trackdays - it was just a weekend / fair weather car).
HTH.
Jon
eta - just seen your profile and car 'history' and it seems like we have both previously enjoyed an AC Cobra replica, Elise, 306 GTi6 (and possibly a Caterham if you get one) and an Abarth (albeit a different model for my current car - I have an Abarth 124 Spider which I have just bought and I am loving - I needed a more practical 2nd car, hence the only reason I sold the Caterham)

Edited by JONSCZ on Sunday 16th October 21:28

[sng45]

Thanks very much for all the replies, I've certainly learnt a lot about Caterhams from the replies - I must admit I had no idea about different wheel sizes and some engines being heavier etc, all very useful.

Appreciate the facebook link Jon, I'm not on facebook but my girlfriend is so I've requested for her to become a member of the page you sent the link to - thanks very much.

I'll give the dealer a call tomorrow to discuss the car and probably look at others before buying.

Steve

[JONSCZ]

Steve, whilst you are browsing Facebook (via your Girlfriend), perhaps you might want to get her to request to join these other 2 closed groups for info -

https://www.facebook.com/groups/thelotusseven/?ref...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1523037167911654/?...

[BertBert]

Certainly a very highly specced 7. I wonder what its history is?

ash73 said:

While you're there try out the 1.6 K-series supersport with 6 speed box, sweetest combo they've made, imho.

http://www.chapmancars.co.uk/portfolio-item/grey-c...

[EnS]

ash73 said:

While you're there try out the 1.6 K-series supersport with 6 speed box, sweetest combo they've made, imho.

http://www.chapmancars.co.uk/portfolio-item/grey-c...

I also think you should consider this one if you're there - the Rover K-series is a cracking little engine for the Caterham.Maybe the colour might not stand out against a ' Prisoner' liveried version but it will look cool next to the Boxster.
Go for it !!
Best regards
Nige

[bcr5784]

EnS said:

I also think you should consider this one if you're there - the Rover K-series is a cracking little engine for the Caterham.Maybe the colour might not stand out against a ' Prisoner' liveried version but it will look cool next to the Boxster.
Go for it !!
Best regards
Nige

+1 I wouldn't go so far as to say "less" (power) is "more" in the case of a Caterham, but you can have just as much fun with a lower powered car as a high powered one. If you were tracking the car then extra power is definitely a good idea, but for a road car I'd argue that 135-150bhp is perfectly adequate. The only rider I would add is that with such a light car the weight of the driver and passenger makes a big difference - so if you/they are "traditionally built" you should factor that into your choice.

Edited by bcr5784 on Tuesday 18th October 09:25

[ForzaGilles]

BertBert said:

Certainly a very highly specced 7. I wonder what its history is?

ash73 said:

While you're there try out the 1.6 K-series supersport with 6 speed box, sweetest combo they've made, imho.

http://www.chapmancars.co.uk/portfolio-item/grey-c...

I could be wrong, but I'm guessing it was some sort of Caterham 'Experience' car. The K-Series engine was dropped in 2006 ISTR, this car wasn't registered until 2009. Looks like there's the remnants of a Caterham Motorsport sticker on the dash too..

[BertBert]

yes, could be. It's the right colour and also has a handy off switch in front of the passenger!

ForzaGilles said:

BertBert said:

Certainly a very highly specced 7. I wonder what its history is?

ash73 said:

While you're there try out the 1.6 K-series supersport with 6 speed box, sweetest combo they've made, imho.

http://www.chapmancars.co.uk/portfolio-item/grey-c...

I could be wrong, but I'm guessing it was some sort of Caterham 'Experience' car. The K-Series engine was dropped in 2006 ISTR, this car wasn't registered until 2009. Looks like there's the remnants of a Caterham Motorsport sticker on the dash too..

[BertBert]

ash73 said:

Do they get a hard life?

Of course not

[ForzaGilles]

BertBert said:

ash73 said:

Do they get a hard life?

Of course not

[shrink1061]

That super sport looks like a more complete car to me. Lighter engine with plenty of power for that chassis. Better looking with cycle wings instead of clams and it has much much more sensibly sized wheels.

It's a lot like the one I ended up buying!

Lsd and 6 speed too!