After playing around with the excellent Caterham Configurator during the summer holiday I had in mind a basic specification based on the 420R which has about the same performance as my old GD427 but in a car about half the weight:

420R, S3 chassis, weather gear, carbon seats and LED headlights

I put a call into Caterham Gatwick and spoke to James who patiently answered all my questions and told me that a £3000 deposit would secure a build slot in Week 4 2020, with delivery expected around April 2020.

I dropped into Caterham Gatwick the following weekend to have a closer look at the cars and to finalise the specification (or so I thought).   Caterham Gatwick have virtually all models on show and I spent an hour or so with James to help decide between the options:

Standard Chassis or SV Chassis:  After hopping in and out of both several times I found I preferred the standard (S3) option for my height and build.  I checked the pedal box and although tightly spaced I found this OK.

Normal or lowered floor:  Definitely the lowered floor.  Better visibility out front and slightly more headroom to the roll bar.

Heater or no-Heater:  Persuaded that the heater makes sense for winter use and helps resale vale, so I ticked this box

Full weather gear: One of the main reasons the GD427 did not get a lot of use was that I did not have any weather kit. This time around I want to do things differently and have specified the full weather protection option of windscreen, full hood and doors. I also added the half-hood as I am determined to use the car as much as possible.

Carbon padded seats:  Surprisingly comfortable indeed, decided not to go with the heated option.

Standard or Track Day roll bar:  Much discussion, research and head-scratching over this.  The benefit of the track day bar over the standard bar is that is gives slightly more head clearance and is a minimum requirement for access to Lotus 7 club trackdays.  I eventually ticked the Track-Day box after changing my mind a couple of times.

Side screen armrests:  I liked these so ticked this box as well.

Boot cover material:  Selected the carbon vinyl option as this is a better cosmetic match with the R pack transmission tunnel material

Detachable steering wheel:  I had one of these on the GD427, definitely makes getting in and out easier and is an extra security measure. Suede option is really nice.

620 dashboard:  A pure luxury selected from the Signature options.  I just preferred the switchgear and layout of the 620 dash over the standard 420 – personal choice.

Other: Aero wishbones, uprated brakes, carbon cycle wings, clear lenses and carbon indicator pods

Colour:  Gravity black with Ballistic Orange noseband, bonnet stripe and painted grill

That was it.  Deposit paid and I had until the end of October 2019 to tweak the specification.  Payment of the second deposit will lock the build and then it is a matter of waiting until early 2020 to make the final payment and arrange delivery of the kit – hopefully at the end of March as Caterham are apparently a little ahead of schedule at the moment.

Late additions: 

Carbon interior panels.  I seem to be suffering from early onset ‘carbonitis’  and decided to order the carbon interior panels after looking at a few cars in the Caterham Gatwick showroom. Unfortunately I made my mind up after the 2nd deposit payment so these will have to be installed as part of the build (ie an extra few days on the build to drill out about 250 rivets in order to remove the factory fitted aluminium panels before replacing them with the new carbon ones – this is where the air rivet gun will come in handy).

Upgraded suspension: Having exchanged several email messages with Simon Rogers at Meteor Motorsports I decided to upgrade the standard Bilsteins to a set of Quantum Two-Zero digressive shock absorbers with Hypercoil springs. The intention is to fit these during the main build instead of the standard dampers.

Carbon-fibre headlight bowls: I ordered these from Classic Carbon in early January and hope they arrive before the kit delivery as I really want to fit them as part of the main build rather than have to take most of the front end apart after the IVA in order to replace the standard items.

Eccles wing mirror mounts: I’d read about these on the Lotus 7 Owners Club forum and although the designer is no longer supplying the made up parts he has very kindly made the CAD files available for general use. After downloading the files and checking them on Michael’s CAD software I ordered a set to be 3-D printed in a carbon fibre reinforced plastic. The parts arrived, look really great but as I’ll go with the Caterham standard mirrors for the IVA they have gone into the ‘post-IVA’ box along with a set of SPA ‘Formula’ carbon wide-angle wing mirrors.