A return to the Swinging Sixties with the Caterham Seven Sprint

This may look like a prop from Dixon of Dock Green, but it is in fact a new car – the latest model from Caterham, the Seven Sprint.

Stuart Watkins
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published
in Features

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This may look like a prop from Dixon of Dock Green, but it is in fact a new car the latest model from Caterham, the Seven Sprint, says Will Beaumont in Evo magazine. It has been built to commemorate the 60 years since the Lotus Seven was first launched, and has been built to look like a Series 2 Seven. You get more retro styling than is normal for the Caterham Seven models, red leather seats, a large wood-rimmed steering wheel, and the choice of colours that would have faced a 1960s' buyer, including British Racing Green, Misty Blue and Mellow Yellow.

The 660cc Suzuki engine also does "a good impression of being ancient". It makes a "dreadful industrial noise", which won't matter so much once you're going as the wind noise is so great it gets drowned out. But for all the flaws, this Seven is still a colossal amount of fun to drive. It feels like you've borrowed it from Toad of Toad Hall, and is "delicate, immersive and entertaining" to drive.

The £27,995 price tag is eye-watering, says Ben Whitworth in Car, but the car has successfully recaptured the mood of the Swinging Sixties, without "the slightest whiff of retro cheesiness". It's a "great car to look at, and an even better one to drive". It is a fitting tribute to the 1960s roadster, says Jonathan Burn in AutoExpress, and is "dripping with character and charm that is elsewhere hard to come by".

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Sadly, though, you can't have one: all 60 examples have already been sold. Still, as Whitworth points out, a ready-to-drive Caterham-built 160 is a lot cheaper. Use your imagination and console yourself with the thought of your £8,500 savings.

Stuart Watkins
Stuart Watkins
Comment editor, MoneyWeek

Stuart graduated from the University of Leeds with an honours degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, and from Bath Spa University College with a postgraduate diploma in creative writing. 

He started his career in journalism working on newspapers and magazines for the medical profession before joining MoneyWeek shortly after its first issue appeared in November 2000. He has worked for the magazine ever since, and is now the comment editor. 

He has long had an interest in political economy and philosophy and writes occasional think pieces on this theme for the magazine, as well as a weekly round up of the best blogs in finance. 

His work has appeared in The Lancet and The Idler and in numerous other small-press and online publications.

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