Looking to change my Caterham Superlight for a 911

[budding911man]

After owning 5 Caterham's in as many years (love them - thoroughly rewarding: easy to maintain and run), I would now love to move on and try a 911. I'm looking at everything and anything in the way of air-cooled 911's but in order of preference prefer C2's: 993, 964, 911SC and I'm looking for somewhere that will p/x my Superlight and or Elise for an example of a similarly cherished 911.

Dream variant at the moment would be:
Polar Silver 993 C2S with 40,000miles and F(P)SH - the challenge is finding somewhere with such a car for under £30k that deal in other marques such as Lotus and Caterham.

Any tips/advice on procuring a good 911 from drivers that have ventured into Porsching through a similar route would be appreciated.

Matthew

[cyrus1971]

Have fun with the purchase. If you know about cars (and you will as a Caterham man) then you will not be ripped off and you will never regret coming over to the Pig Warning though - trade in will always disappoint – seriously consider LHD and then the dream car becomes reality ?

>> Edited by cyrus1971 on Wednesday 1st December 17:37

[poorcardealer]

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR DREAM PURCHASE.........I THINK THE CHANCES OF GETTING ALL YOU WANT FOR YOUR BUDGET AND GET THEM TO TAKE YOURE P/EX IS NIL..........A 94L CLEAN 993 C2 OR 4 WITH 75000 MILES CAN STILL COMMAND 26K RETAIL IF NOT MORE..........I THINK YOURE BUDGET IS 6 OR 7 GRAND SHORT

[budding911man]

True, true, but I'd happily settle for a 993 or 964 C2 (forget the Turbo body) if I could just find a good low miles with FSH example at such a dealership

[rubystone]

Matt (S) not POORCARDEALER go back to Paul Stephens and see what deal he'll do...or have you already tried that?...and does your brother really want to go back to sharing a car again?

[glenn mcmenamin]

Dare i mention a 996 C2 ???

I know prices have tumbled greatly, mostly helped by the 997. But you may well be able to get a clean one for little over £30k now, and i can't see values tumbling much more, as it is still a lot of car for the money.


G.

[glenn mcmenamin]

Dare i mention a 996 C2 ???

I know prices have tumbled greatly, mostly helped by the 997. But you may well be able to get a clean one for little over £30k now, and i can't see values tumbling much more, as it is still a lot of car for the money.


G.

[fergus]

Interested in a 964RS as part of a p/ex?

[rubystone]

...now you're talking!

[fergus]

I'm serious!!

[clubsport]

Details of the SL would be interesting, sorry can't offer you a PX on the RS, I'm keeping that

[davrian]

Be prepared to be initially dissapointed. I changed from a 7 to a 911 a couple of years ago. No matter what model you buy it's a different car. Nothing behaves/ performs like a 7. However after a while you begin to appreciate the nature of the beast and personally I now don't miss it.

I also suggest that you try to have extended drives in a number of different models and than choose the one that gives you a buzz. It might not be the one you expect!



>> Edited by davrian on Thursday 2nd December 06:29

[budding911man]

Thanks for the feedback - some interesting comments there, I'll be in touch with anyone looking for a such a 7 for road or I suppose track work (although its not fitted with all the FIA gear as my essentially a fast road car). I've checked P.Stephens stock where I bought my 7 and he has no suitable price/mileage 911's in stock at present for me. I know the 911 is a totally different animal but I'm prepared for that. 996 - I'm sure is fine & refined drivers car but aesthetically I've always thought they got it all wrong - too much of a departure from the original and classic 911 shape (nice to see them back-tracking to their routes a bit with the 999 styling). for those looking for details of my 7 you can see the flyer on ebay for a couple more days if you visit

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4507344259&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

and if anyone wants to see my similarly mint Elise S1 its at
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4507345025&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Thanks for all your responses - good forum, as good as the Lotus 7 club one (at www.blatchat.com), I look forward to taking part in Porsche forum further when I acquire one of my own.

[James s]

The 964RS idea might be a good one. Some 911 drivers can't get on with these as they are a bit harsh, quite specialist and often LHD. However coming from a 7 superlight it will probably feel like a Jag.

An interesting bonus is they are only ging one way in price - up.

There is one in at 911virgin.com. Not sure what Henry would make of your 7 as a px, but he certainly has had some unsual machinary in there.

Good luck whatever you do

J

[domster]

fergus said:

Interested in a 964RS as part of a p/ex?

Ferg is serious and this would be an ideal p/x.

Having owned a couple of sevens and owning (kind of!) a 964RS, I can testify that the 964RS is about as close to a Caterham as a Porsche can get. Even then it falls short in some respects, but makes up for it in beautiful build/engineering, a lovely flat siz engine and doors with locks on

In the broadest of brush strokes and in my opinion only:

Ferg - the SLR is the only Caterham you should consider.

Budding - the 964RS is the only 911 you should consider.

Therefore I'd sniff around each other's cars and get chatting

[clubsport]

Dom...the Caterham in question here is a Superlight.(not an SLR)

[budding911man]

Anything RS is right up my street, the dilemma is the same money as a LHD 964 RS would get a tidy 993 C2 in RHD. Still I won't rule anything out at this stage, if a nice 911SC came up with spotless history at the right price I'd consider that too (although I do prefer the more modern appearance of the 964 993 era, and although I like to keep my cars completely stock ; I would consider a 911SC with 964 style bumpers).

[domster]

Oops, SL not SLR...Cheers CS... Anyway, the SL is still a nice car but the engine is tuneable with some Dave Andrews tweeks to SLR performance, which I think you need. The SL is nice but I didn't like the SLRs creeping up on my on the straights at Cadwell Still well worth considering by Ferg, as the engine stuff can come later.

With all respect to the 993C2, it isn't half the sports car that the 964RS is - drive them both and you will see. I have done a back to back drive and the difference is tangible... my 993 C2 mate had to admit that the RS was something else. However, the 993 C2 is a much better everyday car, and far more civilised. It is just a million miles from the seven, whereas the RS is just a couple of streets away.

The 911SC can be a can of worms; I'd suggest a 3.2 instead. But an upgraded one on 964 bumpers wouldn't be a good choice for resale etc. People like originality. The prices of good 3.2s means that it would make more sense to buy a 964 C2 for 12k or so and then strip it out / put Cup suspension on etc. Joel at www.rsjsportscars.co.uk had a tidy 964 for sale very cheaply recently... the poor bugger lost the service history to it even though he had it, so it is a real bargain.

ATB
Dom

[domster]

Just edited to say that I see Joel found the service history to that 964 and it's now up to its normal price. Good news/bad news, depending on how you look at it... still cheap tho'

[budding911man]

True my car is the original Caterham Superlight (factory car no.74 of 200 made) which came standard twith the 135hp 1600 Supersport Rover K - lightweight flywheel, LSD, 6-speed box and 8-piece carbon body kit were all Superlight features to accompany this model). SLR (Superlight-R) is a 1.8 Rover K on throttle bodies developing 190hp, otherwise the cars are the same. Engine upgrade from the 1.6 - 1.8k is around £4k, just to confuse matters Caterham also do a Supersport-R engine upgrade for the 1.6k for £2k which gives the car 160hp which fits nicely in between.

My exercise it to get the £16k private sale trade-in value back on my tidy Superlight add a couple of grand to source a 964 for around, or sell my Elise and add a further £10-12k to the funds and find a suitable 993