anyone got/owned a caterham seven?

tell me about it, what are they like to own?

Gearboxes are alright – I can see a line of them being built from here!! (don’t take the 3rd one, that had a small knocking in 4th….. :wink:)

girlfriends dad had one.

was fast. proper fast. never had a single fault in the time he owned it (couple of years). not awful on the mpg either due to the low weight.

worst thing – he never let me drive it.

I built and raced one in the race series years ago.

It was also my only car at the time. I had it for 3 years.

Flipping brilliant, like a four wheeled motorcycle. I built the first engine, which blew up in the first race, then paid for a proper race engine which was fantastic and lasted dispite my hamfisted thrashing.

As an everyday car you have to realise you need ear plugs and there is no security. I found that all fine, its weather proof, the heater worked very well and the electric windscreen demist was fine. Windscreen wiper blades were poor, but hey, its a bloody baslistic skateboard, so dont expect any more.

Its so low to the ground I would regularly drive under the barrier at the car park. You need to keep the headlights on all the time as other road users just dont see you or appreciate the speed, particularly on roundabouts.

For fun I used to come barreling up to roundabouts, the wild cam would dump loads of fuel out of the exhaust which would burst into flame as it came out on the passenger side. Passengers would crap themselves. They would also not get to grips with its cornering speed. It held the one make lap record at all the circuits except long ones like Silverstone. On the road it was simply unbelievable.

I did manage to spin it going round Hyde Park one night too enthusiasticaly, spun on some crap and ended up looking at four or five confused doubledecker busses.

Felt very safe, weighing 500kg the brakes were great, full FIA roll cage and telepathic handleing.

I would own one again if mountain biking hadent taken up all my time.

i was in les arc with a few caterham owners a couple of years ago, i think they post on here

Never broke down, great mpg.

Depends if you build it well, but basically is so well designed and supported it proved better than normal cars ive owned after.

Good points: Great fun to drive. Because they are low and exposed it feels like your driving everywhere at 100mph even when you are well under the limit. That means you can have fun on country lanes in a way that would be lethal in impreza.

Bad points: Almost impossible to get into with the hood up. When sat in the car it is possible to reach down and touch the road when moving at speed, don’t do this.

I had one for a very short time. It was the K-Series engined one and had 17″ momo wheels with a chrome bonnet and the green mudguards not the arches. It went like stink even though it only had the 1400 engine in it and gripped really well, simple, effective and bruttaly fast on occasion. I had a folding roof, which was only canvas and hardly worth the effort TBH, the interior consisted of two bucket seats, no carpets just some rather rough looking rubber underlay a speedo and rev counter, oh and the oilrig style rollover bar.

My GF at the time loved the wind in her hair and convinced me to buy it, I totally hated it. I loved the initial oooomph and openness of it but by god it was tiring to drive. The suspension was solid, seat just transfered every bump the road had to offer and yet it’s charm was just that.. I had a hoot in it for the 2 months I owned it, but by gawd I’ll never own another. I tracked it at Donnington Pk one Sunday Morn and it was amazing, but I’m no racing driver at all so never took to the whole track day thing, so it was lost on me, totally.
I was glad I bought it S/H cos if I’da spent loads on it I’da not been best pleased, I sold it for what I paid for it.
The longest trip I did in it was to Sennen Cove for a w/e. We both
couldn’t wait to get back home to a real car, hahahaha
And..
You can’t get bikes in it, nor shopping, nor the dog.

trimix… i’m sold!

its just a loose idea right now. very loose. and a lot of heartstring tugging as i’d have to sell a classic road racer that my dad built in the 60’s.

I prefered it to my Lotus, felt more real. I also prefered it to my Honda Fireblade, which I could never ride to its limits.

I had one for about 5 years… lots of fun.

Mine was an HPC, Vx engined loved it but did feel a bit vulnerable; a bit like riding a road bike really other road users don’t really expect you to be where you were, not sure if that was down to the acceleration or the fact the car looked small and so they thought you were further away.

Mine never broke down either, was easy to hoon about in and did a decent number of trips to Le Mans with no dramas

Don’t forget you are partly paying for the name. The chassis has been well copied by many kit car manufacturers, so a cheaper option would be something like a Westfield (other kits are available).
I’ve had 2 kits, first one did have a Caterham Super Sport 1.7l engine, which was good. Current one has a Fireblabe engine, which is mad.

The longest trip I did in it was to Sennen Cove

but how great is the a30 from PZ to Sennen, that alone is worth driving to cornwall for!!

Get one and you will have a queue of us begging for a ride.

You cant beat leaving corners with a handfull of opposite lock with the exhaust barking and a grin the Cheshire cat would be proud of.

Never mind track day fun. Racing was very scary mostly because of the cost implications.

Reading the other points from when I started typing, on mine I had to warm the hood in the airing cupboard before trying to get it on the car with any ease.
I had an imprezza as my everyday car and for normal road use the imprezza was just as fast due to the visability and rubbish roads, nothing like the sense of occasion though and if you really wanted to go for it the caterham was better.

When I got mine it was on 16 inch 5 spoke wheels with big wide tyres and I swapped them for 13 inch minilights with formula ford control tyres on – cheaper, nicer handling, just as much grip and more controllable on the edge. So be careful of spec.

Having the big vx lump under the bonnet meant decent power (245bhp when I sold it) but there was a tendancy to understeer on the limit, although compared to anything else it was good.

Brilliant for doing donuts in as well 🙂

Trimix – and lighting up the side of the road from the sidepipes on the overrun on a dark night 🙂

Can we please stop now, I am really missing mine.

I had a Westfield with a Haybusa engine in it for 10 years (just sold it) Used it mainly for track days but it was road legal. Was brutally fast and a lot of fun on track.

I personally don’t get the 7 thing on the road, mind you mine was pretty extreme in its final guise it was 300BHP and weighed 480KG with a full cage and no windscreen.

Made so much sense on track and very little on the road. I am sure a saner car with a windscreen etc would make more sense as a road car.

Loved that car though 🙂

Agree with bazzer re using one on the road. My current one with a Fireblade is great fun, but I can only do about 45 minutes before it’s too hard work, plus ears are bleeding due to high reving engine (but huge fun – red line at about 12000). Plus having to wear a crash helmet and no reverse (which has never really been a problem) makes it not the sort of car for a long summer drive. Having a more practical engine would improve things but then what’s the point?

Happy days

Mate of mine’s just finished building a bike engined kit car, similar shape to a Se7en but by a firm called Mk, think it’s an Indy?. Revs to 12000rpm, sequentual gearbox and goes like s$£t, amazing handling.

If i any spare cash i would be buying this…..

How good does this look?……………i want, i want, i want!, and one of those new Yeti bikes.

bazzer / rich – I don’t disagree, mine was more of a cruiser than a screamer, I did drive one of the James Whiting ‘blade engined ones and much more like being in a racing car so more sense of occasion.

Very pleased I had mine though

Yep deffo sense of occasion driving it 🙂

It was set up for the track so used to follow the camber of the road etc. So I always felt glad I made it back alive after a blast on the road 🙂

Got stuck in a Caterham21. Needed to prise myself out!

Sat in one of the V8 7-alike cars. Zero foot space. Need flappy paddle ‘box and no clutch pedal imho.

I have a 2 litre Cosworth 205 block Westfield and its been great. Strangely Im thinking of selling as Im just not using it enough and fancy something more practical. Which I never thought I would contemplate.
Brutally fast and great fun especially the noise. Id recommend a seven type car to anyone who loves their driving.

Ok stop now, my dream car since I had a matchbox one as a kid, I look at the Millwood site, one day if I ever win the lottery 😀