Description
This Caterham was originally purchased by its only previous owner in January 2000 and built to compete in the Caterham Academy series of that year. I believe that was the last year of the Vauxhall engine, which is a 1600cc 8-valve with twin Weber carburettors paired with a 5-speed manual gearbox. Original order form attached in the photos.
As far as I know it had been used only as a race car since then until I bought it last year, but was road registered in 2000 on a 'W' plate - the V5 shows only one previous owner. I purchased the car from a Caterham specialist last year as a race car needing some light recommissioning. I did a lot of work on it over the winter (see below for details) with the aim being to make it a bit more road friendly as a weekend car with potential to do some track days. I had it MOT'd in March and have been enjoying driving it over the summer.
Condition
Externally the car looks good and I fitted all new fibreglass when I bought it. The rear panel was also replaced earlier this year by Arch. The bare aluminium finish bears some scars from its racing history, but has no major dents or damage and I personally prefer the 'worn in' look on the bare aluminium. It could definitely be improved by a day of polishing, but in my opinion that's not what this car is about. The Minilite wheels all look pretty good, one centre cap is missing.
I have removed the full race cage and fitted a track day cage. I have hoodsticks for the car which I removed, but it has never had a roof. I also have the boot cover which I haven't refitted as I didn't want to drill holes in the new rear panel for the poppers.
Inside, I have fitted two cloth seats that look good and are surprisingly comfortable, both are fitted with genuine Caterham/ Luke 4-point harnesses. I have also fitted a new bulkhead carpet and stuck on some boot and tunnel carpet to make it a bit more hospitable. The doors are in good condition but have a small 'notch' cut out at the bottom for the original cage. The windscreen is a new glass in the original frame as I stupidly cracked the original when removing the cage.
Mechanical
The car runs and drives superbly, I have serviced the engine and replaced some coolant hoses but other than that I haven't needed to do anything. The carbs are set up brilliantly and it starts on the button with two pumps of the throttle every time. On the road it idles great and there is no hesitation and plenty of power through the rev range. The clutch and gearbox also work great.
The dealer I bought it from replaced the steering rack gaiters and setup the tracking and alignment etc. and it handles really well on the road. I have replaced a couple of gaiters since but that is all.
Faults
There are a couple of things that I haven't got round to fixing:
Coolant temp gauge - This has never worked in my ownership and I don't really possess the electrical knowledge to fix it. I had the gauge tested and it was faulty so I replaced it with a new one directly from Smiths but that didn't fix the problem. The sender looks new, I suspect a power supply problem but not sure. The car runs quite cool and I have never had any overheating problems. There is no thermostat currently fitted.
Speedo - I assumed that this was disconnected being a race car, but everything seems to be attached and it doesn't work. I haven't investigated as I use an app on my phone for accurate speed data instead. Obviously the mileage displayed should be disregarded.
Recent work
I have done a lot of work on the car, please see below list that I can remember:
New rear panel by Arch
New rear fog and reverse lamps
New fibreglass wings and nosecone
Removed full cage and fitted track day cage
New bulkhead, boot and tunnel carpet
Good used cloth seats fitted on sliding rails
Engine serviced - oil, oil filter, V-belt and spark plugs replaced.
New coolant hoses
New coolant temperature gauge
MOT until March 2026
New gear lever gaiter
'Special letter' from Caterham to get through MOT emissions
New windscreen - custom cut glass fitted to original frame
New suction fit rear view mirror
New steering rack gaiters and upper ball joint gaiter
Removed fire extinguisher system
Resealed exhaust collector
Conclusion
This is a really usable and great fun entry-level Caterham that drives superbly and can be improved further or just driven as is. I have tried to be as honest and descriptive as possible, but please just ask if you have any questions.
