Re : Caterham Seven | PH Used Buying Guide
Discussion
DoubleD said:
Its all about facebook these days
True. But poor management of the club has negatively impacted it too. Oh well, no great loss to be honest.Saying that, the meets are good if you want to discuss the intricacies of the bolt sizes used to attach the exhaust and other such wild topics..
jason61c said:
The article should also point out that most home builds, are done with more thought and feel slightly better quality than their factory build.
Mm. Some do, and some - erm - don’t.Having said that witness the way that wiring loom, fuel pipes and brake pipes on the 7 are run along the tunnel in a clusterf**k of ty wraps and plastic clips. Then the panels are riveted over the ty wraps! Hilarious. And crap. Westfield have a better solution allowing the customer to route those pipes individually with nice instructions - in the ones I’ve seen it works out better but of course you need them on a ramp to see these small but interesting differences.
over my 41 years I have lusted after many cars from Lamborghini Contach on my 80s bedroom wall to my 07 Impreza (only performance car I have ever owned) and more recently my desire for a 911 came on so strong I nearly took the plunge at 40. But mortgage school fees etc all dictate sensible shoes an anonymous A to B cars.
An yet last few months kit cars have started to appeal more and more. I drove a caterham at a drift school day and loved it, if the time comes when kids finish school and mortgage is paid then I can see this beikg the box to tick I just hope we still have petrol cars in 10 years
An yet last few months kit cars have started to appeal more and more. I drove a caterham at a drift school day and loved it, if the time comes when kids finish school and mortgage is paid then I can see this beikg the box to tick I just hope we still have petrol cars in 10 years
LateStarter said:
Julian Thompson said:
Then the panels are riveted over the ty wraps! Hilarious. And crap..
That's not the case in current Caterham builds, (just got my last chassis a month ago) panels are riveted onto chassis and then loom, and other lines are run. Or have I misunderstood?
Had a factory built Sigma 150 SV Roadsport which I sold to free up some funds. Year later I bought a Westfield SEIW with rally spech Pinto for half the price.
The Westfield was built by an Aero engineer and immaculately finished.
It was the much better car in every department.
My experience for what it’s worth.
Edit to add, both great cars in the sea of modern ubiquity, if you are a thinking of doing it you will not regret it.
The Westfield was built by an Aero engineer and immaculately finished.
It was the much better car in every department.
My experience for what it’s worth.
Edit to add, both great cars in the sea of modern ubiquity, if you are a thinking of doing it you will not regret it.
Edited by Uncle John on Saturday 4th January 19:31
Gecko1978 said:
over my 41 years I have lusted after many cars from Lamborghini Contach on my 80s bedroom wall to my 07 Impreza (only performance car I have ever owned) and more recently my desire for a 911 came on so strong I nearly took the plunge at 40. But mortgage school fees etc all dictate sensible shoes an anonymous A to B cars.
An yet last few months kit cars have started to appeal more and more. I drove a caterham at a drift school day and loved it, if the time comes when kids finish school and mortgage is paid then I can see this beikg the box to tick I just hope we still have petrol cars in 10 years
An yet last few months kit cars have started to appeal more and more. I drove a caterham at a drift school day and loved it, if the time comes when kids finish school and mortgage is paid then I can see this beikg the box to tick I just hope we still have petrol cars in 10 years
You can pick up a good Westfield for pocket money, why wait ? Life’s to short if your feeling up to it jump in an atom real game changer I love mine although I miss my old westy
Scottie - NW said:
1. If the 2nd hand prices are hardly different from the new prices, why even buy used?
I'd question those "new" prices - by the time you've ticked the options and had the factory build the car the prices will be significantly different.Also the lead time on new builds is considerable.
A1VDY said:
With such low weight all that's needed is the 660 three pot.
Over 100bhp with something like this is pointless..
I most strongly disagree with you. Yes, you can have lots and lots and lots of fun with <100hp in a seven.Over 100bhp with something like this is pointless..
But, with more power you can experience something quite remarkable that’s entirely different in both character and the “point” - go and drive a 200hp caterham around your favourite track in the dry and come back and tell me it’s “pointless”....
Great to see the buying guide on PH; good time to buy. I find the price seems more difficult to justify the more time passes since driving one. Would urge anyone thinking this sounds crazy against other options to have a drive.
For those asking about the SV I’m 6’2 and 90kg and fit in the S3 okay (elbows only issue! Get the lowered floor for more leg room). The SV feels really comfortable (I recon it’d fit substantially taller people) but I don’t like the aesthetics as much.
For those asking about the SV I’m 6’2 and 90kg and fit in the S3 okay (elbows only issue! Get the lowered floor for more leg room). The SV feels really comfortable (I recon it’d fit substantially taller people) but I don’t like the aesthetics as much.
SidewaysSi said:
DoubleD said:
Its all about facebook these days
True. But poor management of the club has negatively impacted it too. Oh well, no great loss to be honest.Saying that, the meets are good if you want to discuss the intricacies of the bolt sizes used to attach the exhaust and other such wild topics..
I’m a member of the club and some FB groups but neither are important enough to get worked up about.
A1VDY said:
With such low weight all that's needed is the 660 three pot.
Over 100bhp with something like this is pointless..
Don’t forget to factor in driver weight and whether there’ll be regular passengers, both make a difference.Over 100bhp with something like this is pointless..
Mine is a 1.4SS (so 128bhp when new in 1996) and is fine to drive alone but the combined weight of driver and passenger completely change the driving experience.
Hi there,
Superb to see this extensive article up on PH.
I was lucky enough a couple of years ago to have the funds to make a purchase of a '7' style car. Having driven Caterhams before (and really enjoyed it), I look long and hard at what this brand had to offer. I found that for the spec I wanted it was going to cost around £40,000 which was quite a bit over my budget.
I have never really liked Westfields, I have found the design not really to my taste and dismissed them pretty early on in my search.
I look at a few other options across the kit car industry and finally settled on Great British Sportscars. Their Zero allowed me to build my car from chassis to finished vehicle and gave me the opportunity to go for even more bespoke features (digital dash, steering wheel controls etc) and still be well within budget.
All told my car has cost me a few pounds under £28,000 and 18 months into it being on the road I absolutely love it.
Its built from all new parts (and as such is registered as a GBS Zero on a new plate). Its a 2.0 Ford Zetec engine with throttle bodies. Weight is dead on 600kg and the bhp has been measure with the car having 1000 miles on the clock as 170bhp. This gives a power to weight ratio of approx. 280 bhp/tonne.
and taking pride of place on the GBS stand at the recent NEC Classic Car show.
Regards
Tim
Superb to see this extensive article up on PH.
I was lucky enough a couple of years ago to have the funds to make a purchase of a '7' style car. Having driven Caterhams before (and really enjoyed it), I look long and hard at what this brand had to offer. I found that for the spec I wanted it was going to cost around £40,000 which was quite a bit over my budget.
I have never really liked Westfields, I have found the design not really to my taste and dismissed them pretty early on in my search.
I look at a few other options across the kit car industry and finally settled on Great British Sportscars. Their Zero allowed me to build my car from chassis to finished vehicle and gave me the opportunity to go for even more bespoke features (digital dash, steering wheel controls etc) and still be well within budget.
All told my car has cost me a few pounds under £28,000 and 18 months into it being on the road I absolutely love it.
Its built from all new parts (and as such is registered as a GBS Zero on a new plate). Its a 2.0 Ford Zetec engine with throttle bodies. Weight is dead on 600kg and the bhp has been measure with the car having 1000 miles on the clock as 170bhp. This gives a power to weight ratio of approx. 280 bhp/tonne.
and taking pride of place on the GBS stand at the recent NEC Classic Car show.
Regards
Tim
Edited by autofocus on Saturday 4th January 22:34
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