Caterham Seven Supersprint Pricey retro rocket
Retro racer is predictably a blast to drive, but does it offer what other Sevens can’t?
The Caterham Seven Supersprint is further proof that the smartest ploy for a niche-market sports car maker to guarantee success for its new model is simply to make it look like an old one. This car reportedly sold out its 60-unit production run within just six hours at the Goodwood Revival earlier this year.
The second of two limited editions introduced to mark the 60th anniversary of the original Lotus Seven, the Supersprint is based on the Suzuki-engined entry-level Seven 160; but, with a more purposeful specification than even the Sprint had, it’s intended for track, as well as for road, use. A fettle for the Suzukisourced 660cc three-cylinder turbo petrol engine increases power from 80 to 95bhp, which finds its way to the tarmac via the same five-speed manual gearbox and live axle rear suspension as both the Seven 160 and Sprint have. In the Supersprint, however, you get a limited-slip differential as standard as well as uprated adjustable suspension, complete with Bilstein struts.
And yet, circuit-ready or not, this Seven has the aura of a car intended primarily for the stationary affection of the owners’ club crowd. From its polished exhaust to its 1960s-era ‘Brooklands’ glass aero screens and wooden-rimmed ‘Moto-lita’ steering wheel, the Supersprint is delectable in almost every throwback detail. Firing one into the gravel at Oulton Park would make you feel like burying your head in the paddock cesspit.
The wooden-rimmed steering wheel is a fixed affair, mind you, and it doesn’t make the act of levering yourself into the Supersprint any easier. There’s no option of a larger ‘SV’ body here and, whether you’re taller than average height or not, you’re likely to feel the squeeze in more ways than one.
The engine is quiet by Caterham standards but still makes a promising and characterful noise. The gearshift’s action is short, though it can be stubborn and inconsistently heavy, and the spacing of its ratios is open to criticism too. But the engine has got strong flexibility and likes to rev, and has the outright potency to give the featherweight Supersprint as much performance as its skinnytyred rolling chassis can handle.
Caterham’s been clever enough to uprate the Seven Sprint’s suspension for this car without adding grip. The Supersprint uses the same 14in steel wheels and 155-section Avon tyres as the Seven 160, and so its hold on a dry road is only gently tenacious. Body control has been improved just enough to make it feel composed at quicker road speeds, but there’s still no more adhesiveness here than is strictly necessary – and there’s also supremely delicate throttleadjustable handling guaranteed to keep you giggling. Despite its suspension makeover, then, this car remains more dedicated to entertaining its driver at low speeds than almost any other Seven.
Extend the car too sternly down tough B-roads and over testing surfaces, however, and its suspension shows a bit of crudity. That live axle stumbles somewhat in response to bigger vertical inputs, and can make the body fuss and fidget where it ought to be more hunkered down.
Not that one or two dynamic deficiencies relative to the besthandling Caterhams will matter too much to Supersprint owners, who are likely to have bought one as much for what the car is as what it might be like to drive. There’s just no denying how appealing this car is in the metal; it’s been designed and appointed with genuine care and finished to a higher standard than almost any comparable car I can think of.
After a decent drive and a wander through Caterham’s price list, though, you can’t help but conclude that £30,000 seems like a lot to ask for any Seven with this engine and suspension. This would buy you a nicely equipped, factory-built Seven 310 SV that would be faster, more capable-handling, more usable and every bit as absorbing to drive as this – albeit in a slightly different way.