R500 Duratec Numbers

[Oysterman]

Hi, new member here ,have been lurking for years basically and have now just bought myself a R500 Duratec 2009 which I will be collecting at the end of the month (can't wait) anyway my first of many questions is were the Duratec models numbered with plaque on the dash ? My one does not have it and CC says they did not come with no plaques only the K series models had these ,I feel sure I have seen some with.
Over to the knowledgeable!
Gav.

[Oysterman]

How did you guess?

[Oysterman]

Have just had a look ,and they had nos alright! How can I tell without the plaque what no it is though?, I have given CC my chassis no but Martin Phipps could not shed any light!

[Oysterman]

Ok ,I'll check when I collect the car but the register does not prove they had numbered plaques , no pics at all of the dashboard area.

[Oysterman]

mike150 said:

I enquired about the car a year ago and got lots of pictures of it and it looked in superb condition with no wet use unlike every other one I have ever looked at.................I waited too long and it sold. I saw it for sale 2 weeks ago again and the dealer contacted me about but my circumstances have changed. In January I took delivery of a new 420R, they did try to talk me into it but I haven't even run the 420R in yet. A year ago it had no aeroscreen, no tow stickers and was running CR500's, otherwise it looks the same.

My next Caterham, if I ever do change the 420R, will be a 620S.

Good luck with it and look after it. It should have been in my garage a year ago!

BTW, I also enquired about the lack of dash plaque but from memory they told me they checked with Caterham you confirmed it was a genuine factory build car.

Hi
Yes the condition is quite exceptional for a 8 year old car! I also saw it come up on Oakmeres website two weeks ago and I was travelling to Snowdon that Friday so checked it out there and then , mulled it over for the weekend and called on the Monday,SOLD!! the weather gear and screen was sold on by the previous owner ,not that i am too bothered by that it would have been the first thing I removed . interestingly the other sequential shift R500 they have at the moment has a dash plaque!
I have seen the original order for mine and it confirms it is a genuine factory R500,

[Oysterman]

Thanks for all the relevant info chaps ,a wealth of interesting info and opinion, the remaining fact is that CC's official line is " we didn't fit number plaques to R500 D cars ! I think I need to speak to a more senior member .........

[Oysterman]

Hello Nigel. A guy called Martin Phipps, I was told he was the guy to contact regarding the 'Archive' .
Gav.

[Oysterman]

DCL said:

My understanding is that each car in a particular model has a number that is stamped on the chassis as per the photo (in this case a R400 2008 car 31). 2009 is very early for a R500D and I would expect this number to be very low. If it is not there, or obviously out of sequence, then this is not an original R500 car.

Hi, thanks for this info, where exactly is this stamp please?
Gav

[Oysterman]

Ok thanks , so if for example a plaque was damaged or lost then how would you Identify the no of the car? There must be another way of proving the provenance.

[Oysterman]

Just had a thought , does it say on the V5 registration doc?

[Oysterman]

Hi, just an update on the numbering issue , having spoken with CC again the opinion is that some cars did not have them fitted and some did .Why? Well the strange thing is there is no explanation yet but they are checking as to what may be the answer. to be continued..........

[Oysterman]

Hello Martin, thank you very much for your time and patience concerning this somewhat confusing matter,your reply puts a lot of question to bed and I am satisfied with this 100% . I collected my car today and drove home some 220 miles and can only say WOW! This car may not have a plaque but sure is an R500 and after going through all the original paperwork from the factory confirming it most definitely is .
Thank you Martin.