Starting a new adventure.

I have been tracking my '92 Miata for about 6 years and have been fighting an overheating problem on the track due to the amount of heat produced by the built and turbocharged 1,900 cc engine and intercooler. At a track event at the Aspen race track in October of '05, I had come to the conclusion that after all the different radiators, coolant reroutes and other things I had tried, that I just wasn't going to be able to lick the problem. I had decided that I was going to retire the Miata from the track and needed to look around for something else for a track day car.

That same day, I had a chance to drive a Caterham SV at the Aspen race track. Ben from Rocky Mountain Sports Cars, Inc. brought a Caterham SV to the Peak to Peak Miata Club's track day.

I first went out as a passenger for a few laps and then Ben was brave enough to let me behind the wheel. It was a gearhead's epifiany. I have driven a number of cars on race tracks, including a twin turbo 911, a Ferrari 360 Modena, numerous Miatas from stock to wild and some others. Nothing came close to this Caterham SV. It was almost telepathic, think you want to clip that apex just so, and it happens. I was having so much fun they tell me I was laughing like a maniac all the way around the track. By the time I got out of the SV, I knew I had to have one.

I hadn't really planned on buying one right away, but I couldn't resist searching the internet to see what was available. I found a few SVs but one really caught my eye. The price was not listed but the ad said call for special price.

I called and talked to Rex at Speed Classics in Cottonwood, Arizona about a Laguna Seca Blue SV he had advertised. The car had been assembled but didn't have an engine or transmission, exactly what I was looking for.

The "special price" turned out to be a screaming deal and I made arrangements with Rex to purchase the car.

Rex from Speed Classics met me in Holbrook, AZ and we offloaded the car from his trailer and onto mine.

Snapped this photo of the Caterham on the trailer at a rest stop in New Mexico. The Legacy GT wagon pulled the Caterham and trailer home at interstate speeds with no problem, even the long hills North of Albequerque were pulled in 5th on the cruise control.

Home at last after 1,420 miles in two days. The Caterham sits in the garage next to my Miata. The plan is to either transplant the Miata engine into the Caterham and build another engine for the Miata next year or to find a good, low milage 1.8 Miata engine, install it in the Caterham and add a Flyin Miata turbo system and leave the Miata as is. Details on the Miata and its engine are on another page in my garage.

The buildup is at ENGINE INSTALLATION

As far as I have been able to determine, no one has put a Miata engine in a Caterham. There are a number of the CMC Locost 7s with Miata engines, but that is a different installation. If anyone knows of a Miata engine already installed in a Caterham, I would like to hear about it.