Super-Detailed Super Seven: Tamiya Master’s Coachwork Caterham Super Seven BDR
1:12 | $526
Tamiya’s open-air roadster is rare air for builders, with the size and realism to rival any other production kit out there. It is patterned after one of the purest examples of the sports car ever to race road or track: the Lotus Seven, the manufacture of which was taken up by Caterham when Lotus production ceased in 1973. Caterham continued to develop the ultra-light roadster, adding a succession of increasingly powerful engines to go along with its highly refined suspension. The model represents the mid-1980s’ Super Seven “BDR,” so named for its 150hp Cosworth BDR 1701cc inline-4 engine. Tamiya’s kit is actually an update of a previously released model, but it adds detail and features to make it even more appealing to builders and collectors. In addition to the traditional plastic parts, Tamiya includes several other materials. Diecast metal parts are supplied for the suspension, allowing it to move on functional metal coil springs. The engine benefits from metal parts too: chrome hats for the air cleaners, which stick out of the right side of the real-aluminum bodywork, and a chromemetal exhaust system on the left. There’s a rubber timing belt, braided-metal oil lines, vinyl water lines and ignition wires, and fabric racing belts—an impressive array of materials to maximize authenticity. This reissue also adds a display base with a metal ID plaque and cobblestone-paver diorama sheet.