From the April 1997 problem of Automotive and Driver.

Varied old-fogy automo­tive wankers are endlessly lamenting the demise of rattletrap roadsters—the sort that had been round when the common man might let you know who Neville Chamberlain was. Effectively, cheer up, graybeards, just a few of those old-timer vehicles are nonetheless round.

Caterham Automobiles of Cater­ham, England, produces a vari­ation of the unique Lotus 7 that first appeared in 1957. When Lotus determined to cease producing the automobile in 1973, Caterham bought the rights to provide the tiny English roadster. Immediately, Caterham presents two fashions on the market in package kind within the U.S.: the Supersprint and the Basic SE. Each vehicles use 1.6- or 1.7-liter carbureted Ford Cortina-based 4­-cylinder engines that date again to the Sixties.

The Supersprint has an impartial rear suspension; the Basic makes do with a strong rear axle identical to the unique. It additionally eschews bucket seats in favor of a bench that stretches throughout the cockpit—­identical to the unique—with solely the trans­mission tunnel and belts left to carry the motive force in place. Plus, the smaller tires of the Basic are dwarfed by the automobile’s rear fenders. The aluminum masking the body was polished (you will get it painted), and the fiberglass fenders and the nostril cone had been painted crimson.

In 1982, Caterham lengthened the automobile by two inches to extend its legroom, but it surely’s nonetheless extraordinarily tight inside. To get into this roadster, you first stand on the seat after which help your physique on the roll bar and facet sill as you slide your legs below the steering wheel. After just a few tries, it turns into comparatively straightforward, however there’s little room when you’re in there. Fortunately, the park­ing brake is positioned below the passenger-side sprint so it does not intrude.

Footroom can also be valuable. Actually, this tester needed to drive barefoot as a result of his dimension ten­-and-a-half sneakers merely would not work—miserable the clutch meant making use of the brake, too. However being cramped is a part of the enjoyable, proper?

The automobile weighs simply 1124 kilos. Weight is the enemy of efficiency, and this automobile’s gentle weight makes for a very energetic drive. Our check automobile’s 100-horsepower 1.6-liter motor did the 0-to-60-mph routine in 6.5 seconds, which beats each a Mazda Miata and a BMW Z3. The engine pulls cleanly proper off idle, and a correct exhaust bark bellows proper beneath your left ear. The one clue that there are carburetors meter­ing the gasoline move is the looks of two air cleaners poking by means of a gap reduce in the correct facet of the hood—or ought to we are saying “bonnet”? Moreover that, the engine ran simply as easily as a fuel-injected one throughout our fair-weather check. Skidpad grip is spectacular at 0.91 g, however a bent to lock the correct entrance brake stretched out stops from 70 mph to 220 toes.

My expertise with previous sports activities vehicles is proscribed to a few aged Triumphs I as soon as thought of shopping for. After only a few miles in both the TR3 or the TR6, I walked away amazed that I used to be in a position to drive each for brief journeys with out having to stroll again—the vehicles felt able to fail at any second. The Caterham undoubtedly seems to be like a classic automobile, however someplace alongside its evolution, it has misplaced that rattle­lure really feel. You’ll be able to speed up laborious, dive into corners, and mash the brakes with­out worry of imminent breakage. You end up hustling round and grinning lots on this kooky-looking machine.

The four-speed gearbox is pirated from a Nineteen Seventies-vintage European Ford Escort. It is excellent for the automobile. The lever is tiny—smaller than a Miata’s—and snicks into gears with an enormously satisfying mechanical really feel that so few vehicles provide today.

Although the automobile begins as a package, you’d hardly realize it when driving. The body is strengthened by aluminum honeycomb panels which might be riveted to its sides, and the result’s an impressively stiff automobile. No rattles or squeaks accom­pany laborious driving, which speaks volumes in regards to the automobile’s high quality.

The package for the automobile pictured right here, which incorporates the engine, prices $23,500. A Caterham seller will put it collectively for you for $2500. Doing it your self is alleged to take about 50 hours. A 1.7-liter assembled Supersprint prices $33,000. Of the 700 Caterhams professional­duced every year, solely 50 make it throughout the pond, and that has created the cur­lease 16-week ready listing.

Did we’ve enjoyable driving the Basic? Sure, however in all probability not as a lot as guys sufficiently old to recollect Neville Chamberlain.