caterham 2nd hand values
Discussion
Evening all
Sold a tvr tamora last year due to silly running costs but really wanted something as involving and fun. Came across a mk indy with a gsx r bike engine that looked fab and on budget , looking further into it iv knoticed lots of bike engined indys and dax seem to fall around 10 to 12k price mark for good looking factory built cars. Nicely in budget
To get a feel for the sort of thing I booked my self on the caterham drift day *came 3rd won a mug lol* and yes I'm hooked
But nows the question
Actual caterhams I like all seem to be over 15k and have more mileage too , why do caterhams hold there value more than the bike engined copys ?
Sold a tvr tamora last year due to silly running costs but really wanted something as involving and fun. Came across a mk indy with a gsx r bike engine that looked fab and on budget , looking further into it iv knoticed lots of bike engined indys and dax seem to fall around 10 to 12k price mark for good looking factory built cars. Nicely in budget
To get a feel for the sort of thing I booked my self on the caterham drift day *came 3rd won a mug lol* and yes I'm hooked
But nows the question
Actual caterhams I like all seem to be over 15k and have more mileage too , why do caterhams hold there value more than the bike engined copys ?
allen l said:
Probably heritage and looks?
Some people also hold the view that the kits are better built than most of the other Seven clones, with lighter construction and better detailing. The argument is that a Caterham will be pretty much factory standard whichever numpty builds it, but a bit more skill is required to make a decent job of the more basic kits.
They do tend to be a bit lighter too - my 518kg 1600 Roadsport A seems to be marginally quicker than a friend's mildly breathed on 2-litre widebodied Zetec Westie.
I just gave us questioning why they're worth more and happily accepted that although I'm probably paying 25% more than a similarly equipped Westfield or Sylva I'll still get that back when I come to sell it. I'd have been looking at something newer (therefore further up its depreciation curve) and of a more exotic spec (close ratio boxes, limited slip diffs etc are common in the Caterham world but a bit more specialist elsewhere) otherwise.
Happy with the purchase - awesome on the track 0 and it keeps getting better on the road with every tweak, but I can't deny I miss my TVR as an all-rounder!
V7SLR said:
Put them side by side and all will be apparent!
I nothing else some of the nastier kits (the original Robin Hood springs to mind) will look like they've materialised from Land of The Giants! The Sylva is a definite exception to this though (along with a few others) as it's at least as small if not smaller than the Caterham. They're correspondingly light and often thought to be the best handling Seven-type car out there. However, having watched my dad (an ex-professional engineer of many years) attempting to put a Sylva kit together I know which one I'd rather assemble. Likewise, I know which one I'd rather trust an average DIY enthusiast to build before I bought it secondhand. Some are very, very good though. Before I bought the Caterham I seriously considered a Striker which had been built with unbelievable attention to detail by an ex Ford machinist. It was a beautiful piece of work and said to be very rapid (it had won the local sprint championships), but much of it was bespoke and it also simply wouldn't have held its value in the way (I hope) the Seven will.
Bob,
Sounds like you need a Caterham Blackbird (like mine) or Caterham Fireblade
I paid £14k for mine over a year ago and smiles per mile are extremely high (sequential box and all!), though any seven-esque car will make you grin even at the lowest of speeds.
My brother in law has an old Xflow Striker and the handling (and noise) is superb, though as said above it does look a little..... errr.... rough in places.
You can pick a BEC caterham up for around £15k though there's some reasonably costly Fireblades around at the moment (circa £17k), and if you can afford it the ultimate has to be a 7-Busa.
Good luck
Chris
Sounds like you need a Caterham Blackbird (like mine) or Caterham Fireblade
I paid £14k for mine over a year ago and smiles per mile are extremely high (sequential box and all!), though any seven-esque car will make you grin even at the lowest of speeds.
My brother in law has an old Xflow Striker and the handling (and noise) is superb, though as said above it does look a little..... errr.... rough in places.
You can pick a BEC caterham up for around £15k though there's some reasonably costly Fireblades around at the moment (circa £17k), and if you can afford it the ultimate has to be a 7-Busa.
Good luck
Chris
A lovely Caterham 'Blade went for less than £11k in Feb this year, and another 'Busa one went on eBay for less than £15k, quite recently. Well worth it for the hassle free version of BEC cars. Personally I'd be barking up a Sylva Fury/Stylus tree myself, but as my mother always said, I am quite special.
BB
BB
BadgerBill said:
A lovely Caterham 'Blade went for less than £11k in Feb this year, and another 'Busa one went on eBay for less than £15k, quite recently.BB
BB - are you sure about the Busa one? If this was Mings one, it was a Blackbird (No.3) and a good price for it.Ruby, how are you? Not sure about the standard box, but my BB runs a Nova set and its excellent
A lot of headache, trust me 
Far better to buy either the original 1.6, or an already built Caterham BEC. You will never get your money back on the Caterham BEC, and the chassis dimensions make it quite a job to fit the engine in compared to the LSIS BECs.
Old original Caterhams hold their value very well. "Project" cars don't tend to.
Depends what you want. Always good to have options, even if you don't take them ! Things tend to be worth what people will pay for them.
Far better to buy either the original 1.6, or an already built Caterham BEC. You will never get your money back on the Caterham BEC, and the chassis dimensions make it quite a job to fit the engine in compared to the LSIS BECs.
Old original Caterhams hold their value very well. "Project" cars don't tend to.
Depends what you want. Always good to have options, even if you don't take them ! Things tend to be worth what people will pay for them.
thinfourth2 said:
bobdylan said:
How much of a head ache would swopping a 1.6 caterham engine for a bike engine be ?
Not huge but it will need the chassis tweaked by arch for engine mountsThough expensive, the Force engine mounts would save a lot of hastle if you haven't done a Busa BEC install before. Most Busa Caterhams kicking about use Force or Blackbird Motorsport engine mountings (very similar designs indeed). It's a tried and tested mounting position and works well.
If you want to do a Fireblade or Blackbird Caterham, you might be able to get engine mounting kits made up to pattern by the original installers (or people who worked for the original installers).
I have a year 2000 factory built Caterham 7 super light with 1.6K series engine and a 6 speed box. It has done just 1,100 miles from new as it's been in a garage in Switzerland for years. Its in excellent condition throughout. Looking through the forums and stuff on the internet the values seem all over the place, does anyone have a clue what it's worth as I am planning to sell and get something that floats!
Gassing Station | Caterham | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff