1995 Caterham 1700 Super Sprint Spec 9,500 miles

[Gridgway]

£13,995 ono

 

Spec

·        Long cockpit, bench seats

·        Live axle

·        Low mileage (9,300) believed genuine, but can’t be guaranteed

·        1700 crossflow, 10.5:1 compression, 244 cams, brand new build (from 1600) approx. 140-155bhp (only carb setup been done on a rolling road, not run in enough to do a power run)

·        4 speed Ford Gearbox

·        Refreshed Ital axle with new Quaife ATB diff

·        Standard dual circuit brakes

·        Cable clutch

·        Aluminium with British racing green flared wings and yellow nosecone.

·        Vecta immobiliser

·        3 owners in total (inc me)

·        Lots of documents including copy of original purchase paperwork and many MoTs supporting the total mileage.

Story

The original owner bought the car from Classic Carriage (Caterham dealer of old).  The first owner owned it for 26 years until 2021, but used it very sparingly.  The next owner bought it, but fairly quickly decided that he really wanted a k-series 6 speed Caterham so sold it on Collecting Cars.  I bought it from there (influenced by summer sun on holiday, a barbecue and some red wine) to have as a winter project to do some fettling and then to drive.  It’s my 5^th Caterham over the years.  As often happens, my initial idea of fettling turned into a full on upgrade and refurbishing project which has taken 2 years to undertake.

I essentially took a lot of the car apart, cleaned, refurbished, upgraded and put it back together.  There is a very detailed record of the project with all the tasks undertaken and the items bought held in a “Trello board”.  All the items on there are now marked complete!  There are lots of photos to show many before and afters.

Some of the highlights include:

·        Full clean and polish - top to bottom

·        Engine – full rebuild and upgrade to 1700 fast road spec with electronic ignition.  Upgraded from mechanical fuel pump to Facet electric pump plus fuel pressure regulator.  New solid fuel line from front to back.  Engine work undertaken by race engine builder CKM

·        Carbs – full refurb undertaken by Weber Carb Reconditioning Services

·        Ital axle – refurbished by Hardy Engineering in Ashtead (renowned classic car transmission experts) plus new Quaife ATB fitted for the extra power from the motor.

·        New propshaft UJs

·        New CRB

·        Brakes – front calipers refurbished with new seals.  New rear brake cylinders.  New front pads (1144).  Brake fluid thoroughly changed

·        New tyres (it had the original tyres fitted from the 90s!)

·        New hi-torque starter motor fitted and wiring updated to remove the starter solenoid

·        Front suspension refresh with new bearings, trunnions and track rod ends

·        Cured incessant oil leak from speedo drive seal on gearbox

·        All oil new in engine, box and diff (and trunnions!)

·        Dampers - checked by Sean Pickering and found to be working well

·        Chassis tubes – found to be in great condition and few areas of surface rust repainted with POR-15

·        Nosecone, front and rear wings repainted as they looked a bit tired.

·        Boot floor sanded and revarnished plus new boot carpet

·        New tunnel carpet and floor mats

·        Track day roll over bar bought and powder coated (not fitted yet, but to go with sale)

·        Many other new parts fitted.

What Next

I’ve really enjoyed the project, but don’t get to drive the car – all my recreational driving is done on track with race cars (or driving to circuits in a motorhome).  In fact, I enjoyed the project so much, I “accidentally” bought another recommissioning project which is halfway through.  It’s time for someone else to enjoy – someone who actually has time to drive such a wonderful car.

The car is in super condition.  There are a few imperfections.  For example, the bonnet went low flying! It’s all ok but has a little bit of gravel rash.  I could get a new one, but I quite like the patina.  But overall, it’s astonishingly good.  I have spent a silly amount of money getting the car in such fine fettle but have thoroughly enjoyed the project.