RE: The £10K Caterham: Spotted

RE: The £10K Caterham: Spotted

Saturday 9th January 2016

The £10K Caterham: Spotted

A Caterham Selected car, on carbs and with less than 30,000 miles - the perfect first Seven!



Only yesterday we were discussing in the office how expensive new Caterhams can be - see the 360R used in the rear-wheel drive feature, specced up to £34,285. But of course the key appeal with a Caterham is that they hold their value like little else, meaning they make a lot of sense long term. See this 1997 Superlight R, still £21K after 27,000 miles and nearly 18 years.

Less paint means it goes faster, right?
Less paint means it goes faster, right?
So is there really such a thing as a cheap Caterham? Well yes, there is actually. It's very seldom that Sevens come up at four-figure price tags, and it's especially rare to see a sub-£10K Seven being sold by Caterham. But here we are, with a Vauxhall-engined Seven Classic from 1998. Moreover, it's a Selected car, which means it's sold with a 12-month warranty, an 81-point pre-sale inspection, AA cover, free MoTs at Caterham for the whole time you have the car and a track day voucher. So it's quite a good package.

As you might expect for £9,995, this is a very basic Seven even by Caterham standards. But then there is an argument to be made that Sevens are at their best devoid of fripperies, with the driving experience as raw and unfiltered as possible. Beyond the obvious fact that this car doesn't have doors it also has drum brakes, a live axle and just 100hp too. So it's not far away from a Seven 160 in fact, with the additional charm of carburettors in place of the three-cylinder.

Now all that's required is the sun!
Now all that's required is the sun!
Having spent quite a lot of miles in a Caterham with a little more power than this, I have no doubt that 100hp would be more than enough for huge amounts of fun. At 500kg or so that means - you guessed it - around 200hp per tonne, which is more than enough to entertain. Combine that with the immediacy of a Seven and you'll be giggling all the way to the fuel station.

Of course there are more practical two-seaters to buy for £10,000, ones which you could use more often and worry about less. There is a strong case to be made for an Elise at this money too. That being said there is nothing that will quite thrill like a Caterham, and at £9,995 it seems a bargain. They won't get cheaper!


CATERHAM SEVEN CLASSIC
Engine: 1,600cc four-cylinder
Transmission: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 106@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 70@5,000rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1998
Recorded mileage: 28,000
Price new: N/A
Yours for: £9,995

See the original advert here.





Author
Discussion

Smitters

Original Poster:

3,995 posts

156 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
Looks fab. My first Seven was a 105bhp 1.4K and it was absolutely brilliant. I'd have it again in a heartbeat.

PTF

4,252 posts

223 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
Raced these in the Caterham Graduates series on and off over the last 10 years.

There's a charm to these: carbs, not too much grip, live axle, "only" 100 bhp.

Still enough to lap Donington National in 1:26.

Great fun.

Ex-race cars of the same spec have been around £6k-£10k for years.

For £10k you can get a 2004-2006 k-series ex race car. It might need a few bits of cosmetic work, but should be strong mechanically. Ideal if trackdays are you primary concern.

jason61c

5,978 posts

173 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
Your 10k would get a much better spec kit car than that.

suffolk009

5,344 posts

164 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
The Vauxhall engine makes it easily the most undesirable 7 ever made.

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
Major oversight in the article- the reason to buy a 1600 Vauxhall powered Caterham is to race it in the Caterham Graduates Racing Club 'Classics' class.

I raced one for 4 seasons 2010-2013 and it was hugely fun and affordable.


Matt Bird

1,450 posts

204 months

PH Reportery Lad

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
HustleRussell said:
Major oversight in the article- the reason to buy a 1600 Vauxhall powered Caterham is to race it in the Caterham Graduates Racing Club 'Classics' class.

I raced one for 4 seasons 2010-2013 and it was hugely fun and affordable.
Ah, I didn't know that. Thanks for pointing it out!


Matt

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
suffolk009 said:
The Vauxhall engine makes it easily the most undesirable 7 ever made.
To it's credit the Vauxhalls are faster out of the box than a crossflow and no heavier.

Nicer looking than an S4

40 DCOEs sound gorgeous

Easy conversion to 2.0 16v XE if desired?

JaseB

854 posts

260 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
Crikey, you could have mine for £10k, 200bhp zetec on 45's, 34k miles, loads of history etc etc lovely little car, just surplus to requirements and has nowhere to live soon :-(

Free 911 number plate...

Edited by JaseB on Thursday 7th January 12:48

Skyedriver

17,655 posts

281 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
Built a 1700 Crossflow in 1990, sold it in 2002.
Recently bought it back and currently tidying it up for the coming "summer".

cianha

2,165 posts

196 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
Damn, I spotted that earlier, thinking "someone's going to nab a bargain there, but if word gets out, that'll go up in price!"

suffolk009

5,344 posts

164 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
Skyedriver said:
Built a 1700 Crossflow in 1990, sold it in 2002.
Recently bought it back and currently tidying it up for the coming "summer".
You lucky man.

IknowJoseph

542 posts

139 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
JaseB said:
Crikey, you could have mine for £10k, 200bhp zetec on 45's, 34k miles, loads of history etc etc lovely little car, just surplus to requirements and has nowhere to live soon :-(

Free 911 number plate...

Edited by JaseB on Thursday 7th January 12:48
Oof, if only I had a garage!

Stridey

342 posts

106 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
Saw this car at the showroom on a visit last year. If it had been for sale this time last year when I was buying I would have been more than tempted.

The range in prices of used Cats at Caterham was outstanding, seem to have covered most budgets for a dealer sourced car.

I see the comment about other kit cars being better value, however I wanted a Caterham. And after nearly a year of ownership I feel more than happy with that choice.

JaseB

854 posts

260 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
IknowJoseph said:
JaseB said:
Crikey, you could have mine for £10k, 200bhp zetec on 45's, 34k miles, loads of history etc etc lovely little car, just surplus to requirements and has nowhere to live soon :-(

Free 911 number plate...

Edited by JaseB on Thursday 7th January 12:48
Oof, if only I had a garage!
Original factory build, new discs and pads all round with 4 pot calipers, new Toyo R888's (185 from 205 rear with wheels to suit), LSD, new 45's with the 5 progression holes, Raceline engine bits (new 2l Zetec, head work, cams, water rail etc), Omex ECU, Radtec radiator, aluminium bell housing, long 1st gear mod to box, EBD bespoke manifold with 4-2-1 collector into repackable silencer (typ 92dB), adjustable Protech shocks with adjustable platforms and flat floor setup, aeroscreens and half doors, spare wheels, full weather gear plus bikini hood.

Go get yourself a garage... ;-)

battered

4,088 posts

146 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
£10k is heavy for this spec. You can get a far better k series car for this sort of money, and as someone else said the ex race Vauxhalls have been £6-10k for ages. In addition, the Vauxhall 1.6 is a Cinderella and some engine parts are difficult as it's not exactly the same as the 1.6 family VX engine of the 90's, it was a batch of imported engines (from Australia?) and they differed in a few key areas so were not especially tunable. However if you weren't interested in this and just wanted a fun sports car, they were great. In addition, if you bought this one at £10k then you'd not see much depreciation beyond about 8k provided it remained in good condition and working.

Adam Ansel

695 posts

105 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
jason61c said:
Your 10k would get a much better spec kit car than that.
The Caterham is not a "kit car". It was designed by Colin Chapman, legendary F1 designer, and was banned from racing against other cars because it always beat them.
Nothing else comes remotely near.

battered

4,088 posts

146 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
Adam Ansel said:
The Caterham is not a "kit car". It was designed by Colin Chapman, legendary F1 designer, and was banned from racing against other cars because it always beat them.
Nothing else comes remotely near.
The Lotus 7 was designed by CC. The Caterham of today has little in common with the original S3 other than shape. Nothing in fact, the last part to go was some bit of gearbox mounting, and before that it was the Triumph-sourced trunnion front suspension on lower models.

As for "nothing else comes near", yes it does. The Fisher Fury, Westfield, and a host of others will match it. Why would they not, when they share design and parts? It's interesting that the best Westfields that match the best Caterhams come in at very similar costs. Not especially surprising but interesting.

IknowJoseph

542 posts

139 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
JaseB said:
Go get yourself a garage... ;-)
Let me know if you see one around Oxford!


jason61c

5,978 posts

173 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
Adam Ansel said:
The Caterham is not a "kit car". It was designed by Colin Chapman, legendary F1 designer, and was banned from racing against other cars because it always beat them.
Nothing else comes remotely near.
Of course, You're right, you don't build the car from a kit.

Yes the greatest race car ever.

Nothing else that you can build from a kit comes close, Nothing at all......

Better?

Lordbenny

8,574 posts

218 months

Thursday 7th January 2016
quotequote all
You could get a great 185bhp+ top spec Westfield for that!