Caterham R300 - New Toy Photos

[MarkBarbieri]

I bought a new toy. It's a Caterham R300. It's sort of a modern version of a Lotus Seven. It's a little two-seater car. It's pretty basic - no AC, no radio, no power windows or power doors, no windows or doors.

Picture of me and my son driving it home

A few pics of it in the garage

 

[Groucho]

Welcome to the sort-of Lotus family! I'd highly recommend joining Lotus Ltd and checking for a local club, if you haven't already. There's a bunch of Caterhams in our local club, in fact the president is a Caterham dealer. You'll probably find plenty of other Sevens, Caterhams, some some Berkins, etc. One local guy built himself a "Locost" in his basement, bending all the tubing himself, and installing a motorcycle engine and transmission.

In October 2012, I combined trips to Disney and Universal with the annual Lotus Owners Gathering, which was held that year in Orlando. I've got some pics here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/grouchodis/sets/72157631934108124/
I did my first track day on that trip, too, down at Sebring. Huge amounts of fun!

I've got my Elan torn into bits at the moment, completely rewiring it, redoing the dash, replacing a leaky water pump, fixing a crunchy second gear syncho, new tires, new battery, etc, etc... that is doing a good job of preventing me from spending on money on camera gear!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Thanks, Groucho! I'm already in touch with the head of the Houston Lotus club. I plan to go to some of their fall events. This isn't a particularly useful car to have here during the summer months, so things are quiet until then.

It'll probably be a month or two before I'm ready to take it out of the neighborhood. I've got to get a few bits working. I need to get it registered. I would also like to find someone willing to insure it.

Here are a few more shots I took today:

For those curious, I took the shots with a Canon 5DM3 and a 24-105 lens. I shot in manual at ISO 200, f/11, 1/200 sec. I lit the car with a flash in a lumiquest softbox with my lovely bride (of 21 years as of last week) working as a VAL (voice activated lightstand). The shots were taken in my garage. The camera settings were chosen primarily to knock out virtually all of the ambient light so that the softbox would provide the only light.

I'll probably do some more elaborate lighting and some full car shots later in the year. My garage is about 100 degrees and extremely humid, so it isn't really a pleasant place to spend a lot of time setting up shots.

 

[PrincessInOz]

You have the best toys!!!!!

 

[boBQuincy]

Looks like fun Mark! Check with Hagerty for insurance.

And check the weather! A guy I work with brought his Cobra replica to work on a nice day but in the afternoon the clouds rolled in and before he could get home (only four miles) there was about 3" of water on the floor!

I'm thinking the Cobra coupe may be the one for me.

 

[Groucho]

(darned late reply, I thought I hit submit but only hit preview and just noticed it a few days later!)

Thanks, Groucho! I'm already in touch with the head of the Houston Lotus club. I plan to go to some of their fall events. This isn't a particularly useful car to have here during the summer months, so things are quiet until then.

It'll probably be a month or two before I'm ready to take it out of the neighborhood. I've got to get a few bits working. I need to get it registered. I would also like to find someone willing to insure it.

Heheh, you Texans have it all backwards - driving the open car in the winter. You think it's hot - trying driving one of the originals with black vinyl seats that have been baking in the sun for a few hours!

It'd be a good idea to do a few autocrosses or similar - a car like that can be a real widowmaker if you're not fully prepared for it; it'll have speed and reflexes unlike normal-sized cars, and losing control can happen in fast motion, too. Living in Texas also means that you don't have the luxury of practicing your oversteer control on fluffy white roads for a few months every year.

I would check with Hagerty for insurance - I think think will insure specialist cars like the Caterham as well as older cars. They are fantastic; I signed with them 16-some years ago when I bought my Elan and have watched them get bigger and bigger; they are really good, cheap, and do their part to support the hobby.

Nice photos; way more work than I've ever been willing to do to shoot my cars.