Only in a Caterham can you truly be free
Almost 70 years since it was first launched, the Caterham Seven is still the very essence of driving pleasure.
There are moments where it all comes together. The sun was out on a crisp August afternoon, the roads of Norfolk were clear and surprisingly smooth, and the roar of a 2.0-litre Ford Duratec engine was all the radio I needed. The car could only be a Caterham, specifically the Super Seven 2000 (SS2000).
If there is such a thing as luxury on a Seven, then it is surely the absence of distraction. In a world of ever-larger cars, with ever-increasing driving aids, catharsis can be found in a car that offers no radio, no power steering and an indicator that doesn’t even self cancel.
The funny thing about a cliché is that while they are lazy, they can be true. Of course it’s nice to drive a convertible on a sunny day. What is not lazy, however, is the machine itself. Behind the flared front wings, Smiths dials, chrome finishes and heritage-style steering wheel is a lean, mean, racing machine. That Ford engine knocks out 180bhp, which — in a car that only weighs 560kg — translates to 321bhp per tonne. That's the sort of number you'd expect of a Ferrari 458, and translates to a top-speed of 130mph and a 0-60mph time of 4.8 seconds. Fast on paper, then, but when your backside is only a few inches from the road, it might as well be lightspeed.
The Caterham Super Seven 2000 in its natural habitat.
‘There is simply no other driving experience like it,’ says Trevor Steel, CFO and senior vice president of operations at Caterham. ‘Sitting in the car, feeling every bump in the road, having lightning fast inputs and reacting to the driving conditions, seeing the suspension working as you go around corners. There is still no experience quite like it.’
It’s true that the joy of a Caterham Seven is its anachronistic purity. It is a new car that looks like an old car because, well, it is one. Originally brought to market by Colin Chapman and Lotus in 1957, Caterham Cars bought the rights to manufacture the Seven in 1973. By 1987, the business had grown out of its headquarters in Caterham in Surrey and moved to Dartford, Kent, where it remains to this day (albeit in a brand-new manufacturing facility). ‘We’ve been going for 53 years now and, hopefully, all being well, with the ability to keep the car on the road, I see no reason why both the product and the business won’t continue,’ says Steel.
'People look at it and think, “what a funny-looking car”. But you have to get people into it and driving it. That's when the smiles appear and they understand'
A walk around the factory is a delightful day’s entertainment, and a real chance to see behind the scenes at one of the nation’s most legendary car makers. From heritage models, such as the Superlight R500 (which famously demolished the 1,000bhp Bugatti Veyron to take top spot on the Top Gear leaderboard back in 2008) to old Formula 1 cars and everything in between, to the rows and rows of slowly evolving chassis being built by hand by the small army of engineers and craftspeople on the production line.
I am never a fan of being interrupted in the middle of the working day, but the technicians at Caterham are more than happy to show me how to build a car — something, of course, you can do yourself, if you fancy a discount on your own Seven. What is surprising is the amount of customisation that goes into every car, each of which is built to order.
Caterham has had a presence in Dartford since 1987, with its new factory opening its doors in 2024.
For many of the employees here, building a Caterham is a lifelong passion. Of the roughly 120 staff working at Caterham today, 10% have been working at the Dartford factory since 1987. One staff member, who joined 35 years ago, now works alongside his son. Even though some of those original technicians are now looking towards retirement, production of the Seven will continue, and the baton is being carefully passed over. ‘People want to come and work here, and this building helps, if we're honest. It's such a modern, clean facility, and that really helps with recruitment,’ Steel says. ‘So we think the future looks pretty good in terms of retaining skilled people who know how to build and work on a Seven for quite some time to come.’
While Caterham the company is only 53 years old, next year the Seven will celebrate its 70th birthday. That’s an awfully long time to have been making one, singular product. ‘We’ve always considered ourselves the custodians of a very historic brand and model, and we take that very seriously,’ says Trevor. ‘We don’t want to see this product become unavailable in the future. It’s a struggle, a constant battle, to keep it relevant in today’s market while also ensuring it can still be registered for road use.’
If, in Burnham’s Britain, the Seven were ever removed from the road, what a shame it would be. After a week with SS2000, what surprised me more than anything was its versatility. I expected it to be lightning on a hot summer’s day around Norfolk, shouting and screaming and straining around corners, like riding a wasp on rails. But even in town, it’s perfectly docile and delightfully agile. It’ll go over speedbumps, you can pop your shopping in the passenger seat, and it’s very easy to park.
Best of all is the looks. It draws the attention of a hypercar, without any eye rolling. People are curious. Conversations can be had at traffic lights with waiting cyclists (who, somewhat eerily, tower above you). It’s a car that somehow puts a smile on your face wherever you go and however you are driving.
‘It's sometimes very difficult for us to market the product because you can simply look at it and wonder what on earth it is,’ says Trevor. ‘A good example is when we try to take it to America. People look at it and think, “what a funny-looking car”. But you have to get people into it and driving it. That's when the smiles appear and they understand.’
All the cars are still manufactured by hand, and moved around the production line from station to station.
Keeping the essence of the car as pure as it can be, while finding ways to modernise it, is a fine balancing act. ‘It’s less about innovation and more about refinement,’ Trevor says. ‘The components have gradually improved over the years. The engineering and the structure of the car haven’t changed dramatically, but the quality of the components we use has slowly got better. Our ability to produce faster cars that can handle just as well has been made possible by those improved components. But we’re not going to mess with the overall driving experience, because if we do, we’re taking away the very reason people want to experience the Seven.’
It’s a determination shared across the firm. ‘I had a long chat with our head of engineering the other day about some of the ideas we have for future products. He said that whenever someone proposes putting something on the car that serves no purpose, he leaves the room. We're not here simply to stick bits of carbon on the Seven to make it look prettier.’
'As a result, they are making very big and very heavy cars. Mr Chapman wouldn’t like that, and it’s not in our DNA'
That being said, Caterham is working hard to bring something new to market. As well as an updated engine model from 2028 for the Seven, development for the company’s first electric car, Project V, continues. ‘Keeping the Seven on the road indefinitely will be impossible, so we need more products in our range,’ says Trevor. ‘We need to acknowledge where the future is inevitably heading.’
‘The whole philosophy behind Project V was to look at what most manufacturers are doing in that space. They’re building electric cars with the biggest battery capacity they can possibly squeeze in, based on current technology, chasing range and performance figures. As a result, they are making very big and very heavy cars. Mr Chapman wouldn’t like that, and it’s not in our DNA.’ Project V, Trevor explains, is based on Caterham’s core principles, which is to make it as light as possible and to focus on the driving experience. ‘We didn't chase the longest range we could achieve or the best performance figures available. We didn't want to build cars capable of doing 0–60mph in 1.6 seconds or reaching 200mph, because ultimately people don't use that level of performance anyway.’
Project V. Creating quite the 'buzz'.
A second pre-production prototype is under construction and while engineering challenges mean that the car will no longer be the lightest electric two-seat sports car (the Longbow Speedster currently holds that claim), it’s ‘as light as anything being developed today’. ‘We think we’ve still got a product that we can bring to market in a couple of years’ time, with some significant unique selling points.’
But for now, the core essence of Caterham remains the Seven. As Steel says, the car won’t last on the road forever (although as a pure racing car, it will surely endure), but while we’ve still got it, there’s no doubt it’s one of life’s great pleasures.
There is much that makes Caterham and the Seven so uniquely British. There’s the style, obviously, but also the pure determination to make a world-beating car not with raw power, but with great design. Protecting and preserving one of the great sports cars for 70 years is no mean feat, and that it can still compete with almost anything else on the road in terms of performance is the very essence of that English underdog spirit. And you can find it just off the M25 in Kent, hopefully for many years more.
See more at the Caterham Cars website — just be wary of how easy it is to 'accidentally' order one without telling your significant other.
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