Not so super
£33,495 FOR An engine that washes your senses with everything they crave AGAINST It’s not the best Caterham to drive
It’s simple. You either get the seminal, stripped-back driving experience a Caterham offers, or you don’t. And if you’re laughing right now at what looks like Noddy on a track day, you’re probably not a fan. TG, on the other hand, is. But this new Caterham puts a bit more nuance into the picture. Which is not necessarily a good thing.
It’s dubbed the Super Seven 1600 and follows last year’s retrotastic Sprint and screenless Super Sprint Speedster, to become the third car to join Caterham’s Heritage collection. The previous two incredibly twee nods to nostalgia were based on the charming 660cc turbocharged 160 Classic. Popular, too – both selling out instantly. So Caterham is having another crack at kicking it old-school, but this time with more power and more retro. Oh, and a wide-body option – so you can enjoy those Fifties looks with a 2020 waistline.
The extra oomph comes courtesy of the 1.6-litre Ford-sourced motor from the 270 – meaning 135bhp in a 500kg package, all fed to the rear wheels via a five-speed gearbox. Where the Suzuki motor was peppy, this naturally aspirated number fizzes with character thanks to DCOE throttle body injection and those two chrome air filters punching out the side of the bonnet. It’s an engine that loves to rev, and rewards you for it, thanks to an intoxicating, purring induction noise from a time gone by. A time when engines could sing before being snuffed out by emission filters and turbos.
Unfortunately, this retro two-seat tub lacks the bits of hardware that make more focused
Caterhams so addictive and engaging. There’s no adjustable suspension, and the set-up it comes with is baggy. An attribute compounded by weedy Avon ZT5s, which, when paired with the larger, optional (£300) Moto-Lita steering wheel, make direction changes unpredictable and uninspiring. And it’s not at the ballistic end of the Caterham spectrum, either – seeing off 0–62 mph in 5.0secs and topping out at 122mph. Expensive too, coming in at £40k when you tick essentials like the strawberry and cream colourway, roof, doors and other period touches.
So with the dynamics not being what we crave, and the power running very thin on track, it’s more of a styling exercise. And Caterham may also be a bit wide of the mark there. Where the previous throwbacks were well-judged and quaint with period detailing and enviable paint palettes, the Super Sprint 1600 is nudging dangerously close to pastiche. With flimsy running boards and gold-painted 14in alloys, it looks over-egged and kit car-y. But not in a good way.
It comes with the normal raft of Caterham ownership quirks too (needing to drip fuel into it at the rate of a litre a minute/always anxious that something will break), but you’re not rewarded with exquisite moments of driving that normally push these to the back to your mind.
So if you want dated looks with comfort and usability, you may be better off with a Morgan. Or just save up more and buy a ‘proper’ Caterham that’s built for driving. As that’s what they’re best at. Rowan Horncastle
“THIS NATURALLY ASPIRATED NUMBER FIZZES WITH CHARACTER”