English automakers must be the most attached to own traditions of the entire car world. Aston Martin with sports cars, Land Rover with off-roads, Mini with its iconic Cooper, Rolls-Royce with producing flawless cars… Even foreigners had to succumb: Opel doesn’t control all GM’s European operations because United Kingdom used to work with Vauxhall, so these were transformed into “twin” marques. But what would be the equally British Caterham’s tradition? That’s what you’ll know after reading this article.
Looking at the pictures anticipates this automaker’s purpose is way different of the others’. Specially after completing the visual observation with facts like Caterham has been modernizing essentially the very same vehicle for forty years. However, these characteristics are precisely a part of what has made Seven so famous over these decades. This isn’t a car for travelling with the family, transporting heavy loads nor any other typical use. Caterham is dedicated to offer what it calls “accessible fun”. The intention is to take the driver to enjoy the car, basically. Enjoy the driving, through a series of tight turns, under a sunny day and preferrably alone. That’s also the reason why this car seems so different from what we’ve become used to expect: this automaker invests only on what enhances those characteristics. In other words, it doesn’t perform visual changes or project a new vehicle because the way how Seven’s customers feel about it could be expressed by that Barry White’s famous song. On the other hand, all these decades have seen Caterham execute successive improvements on its roadster’s performance, whether aerodynamic, engine or structure-wise. Not to mention creating different trims: there are five of them, in nowadays.
While Classic delivers Caterham’s typical lightweight sportiness paired to fuel efficiency, Roadsport features weather protection and internal heater in order to accept several driving conditions. The Academy package is recommended for those who want to enter racing competitions, and CSR is the very-high-performance variation. Superlight, in turn, was conceived to be enjoyed. 620R will replace R500, and received gunmetal chassis, reshaped front section, bigger racing dampers and extra cooling. Carbon fiber makes its appearance in interior panels, also. Everything to take the weight to around only 500 kg. But the automaker CEO’s statement of this being “the most hardcore production Seven ever built for the road” comes from more. Comes from the supercharged Ford Duratec 2.0L engine, which produces 310 hp and 219 lb-ft – such numbers are what makes it the most powerful Seven ever produced and even names the vehicle, from having 620 hp per tonne. The six-speed manual transmission takes this car from 0 to 60 mph in 2s8 and to 155 mph of top speed. The car keeps justifying the price of £ 49,995 with items such as carbon fiber competition seats, lightweight 13” wheels with Avon ZZR tyres and the typical De Dion suspension. Whoever prefers a “less-hardcore” 620 will be able to take the 620S, which will arrive soon with less-focused chassis settings.
