Jim Cesiro,



Dude, open your mind up.

A closed mind is a terrible thing.

I've driven an s2000, the engine has zero pull until
7k then it scoots for 1.9k then it's done.

My dad's Ford diesel truck made me smile more

and it had power for 3k RPM.

I don't care what names on the valve cover as long as it scoots

I prefer to have some torque along for the ride.

CJ, You and Jeff have set me in a new direction. I have been looking for a lightweight track car ala the Elise. The Atom looked cool, and is no doubt a fine machine, but for me, the Caterham is looking very good. I've been doing a little research this a.m. and there are a lot more used Caterhams out there than all Atoms combined. The SCCA Caterham is VERY intrigueing. That said, I am going to contact the seller of this one-

http://www.sevenselans.com/cars_for_...010005_jpg.jpg

Caterham 4 sale

At this point the biggest question is, can I fit my 6-5, 200 lb frame into one of these?

Hell yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about. I love the Lotus/Caterham 7 look. I'm not sure what it is about them. Maybe the so ugly they are cute thing.

A few years back when I still had my 911 I saw a 7 pull into a local Starbucks. I hung a quick U turn (surprised the hell out of the wife, guess I shoulda warned her) and followed him in. He came back out of Starbucks and we chatted a while. It was a real '73 Lotus 7, but had at some point had a Toyota 4 cyl dropped in for reliability. He was meeting a buddy with another 7 there. Apparently one of them also had a turbo 4 cyl Esprit and the other had a V-8 Esprit.

I'm not sure if someday I'll end up with a Beck 550 or a Lotus/Caterham 7 or one of the clones.

I like this one
http://www.quebectuning.qc.ca/images...er_7_04_sb.jpg

prices for these retro-racers?

Wow, sounds sweet. Only needs those wheels changed out for a set of minilites for the classic look.

If you were 6'5" and 280, I'd say that it might be a problem, but I'm betting that at only 200# you'll probably fit ok. The bucket that you sit it is not terribly wide. I think they have decent leg room.

good fitting seats make a difference on long drives for sure. i'm 6'2" and 230, but have worked out for 26 years..my back is a little wide for the stock seats in my 964. not too bad, but hours of highway driving, i sure have to shift around a lot. it's off topic, but anybody else have trouble with the width in their stock p-car seats?

what if you roll over? instant death?

[At this point the biggest question is, can I fit my 6-5, 200 lb frame into one of these?]

The original Lotus Seven and the earlier Caterham Sevens were based around the smaller framed man, Colin Chapman was only 5'7" I suspect a regular sized Caterham will be quite tight, I strongly suggest you try before you by.

Fortunately Caterham saw sense early on and build a wide body car called an sv, to fit more normaly sized people!

yeah, americans by and large tend to be 'large people' when compared to many other parts of the world..

if you look at the locust forum you'll see allot of home builds with an extra 4" of length and width

Glad I could help! In all seriousness, see if you can pick up pretty much any issue of evo in which they do a trackday group test. They almost always include a variety of Caterham, an Ariel, a Radical, and a random "real" car (usually something hardcore like a GT3, an Exige, or a 360 Challenge Stradale). Even "underpowered" Caterhams perform within the top percentile.

They look cool, too, and they cost a lot less than some other trackday tools.

I could see myself getting a Caterham kit in a few years, when I have the garage space. I've been yearning for a convertable anyhow ;)

One of the last episodes of the last season of TOP GEAR included a segment in which the trio had to complete BUILDING a Caterham Seven before the Stig could get to the track DRIVING a Caterham Seven (he started from far away). It was quite funny.

Why do I get the feeling that the folks at Lotus are very unhappy about this. . . :D

For $55k you can have either an Elise or the Atom. Kind of a no-brainer for me.