Caterham Super Seven 1600

So whilst I'm waiting for news on the build I thought I'd do a post with some general info on the Super Seven 1600 model. In late 2016 Caterham introduced a limited edition called the Sprint. This was a heritage version of the Suzuki-powered 160, designed to look like the original Lotus 7s from the 1960s. This was followed up by the Super Sprint in late 2017. Both models were popular with customers, selling-out their 60 unit runs in record time. On the back of these it must have been an obvious decision to create a heritage version of the standard Sigma-engined car and in April 2020 they introduced the Super Seven 1600. This is basically a 270 model (specifically the EU 275) with the 135bhp 1.6 Ford Sigma engine but with styling cues from Caterhams of the 1970s and 80s. Crucially they also did a mechanical change, replacing the standard induction unit with the Jenvey twin throttle bodies. On the exterior we get the flared wings, chrome finishes to...

One of the highlights of the Super Seven 1600 is the Jenvey Heritage Throttle bodies. These are twin throttle body fuel injection units that are designed to look like Weber DCOEs (Doppio Corpo Orizzontale E).   These things totally transform the sound of the engine, as well as looking amazing. Here's some setup info I found on the Jenvey site.

Got an email from James at CC today. Apparently there's a delay due to a parts shortage, there's no bellhousing to mount the gearbox. So the car is currently sat in Dartford with no engine, great ! Oh well, hopefully they can sort that out soon and then it's just a matter of IVA (which is required due to the model being available in kit form in the UK) and registration with my personalised plate. Realistically we're looking at some time in June or July. 

As mentioned I've owned sevens before. My first was a 1.6 Superlight, number 126 (as far as I remember). I ordered it as a factory build in 2000 and owned it for a year and a half before selling it back to Caterham. They then used it as a mock-up demonstrator for the new R300 model. Here's a pic of the car as shown in the 2002 brochure.   Note the rather nice split-rim mag wheels with body-coloured centres, which I spec'd originally! As a side note, after 2 months of ownership Simon Lambert rang me up and said "Can you bring your car back to the factory for a little upgrade? We need to fit a Watts linkage else the rear wheels could fall off".. Here's another press pic of the car with some odd wheels. Then in 2004 I ordered a factory built 1.8 Roadsport 140 Xpower, this time with a windscreen and weather equipment (although for some reason no heater). Same colour, Lotus Azure Blue metallic. That was a great car, did 30k miles and lots of adven...

I've owned 2 sevens in the past; an original 1.6 Superlight (no windscreen therefore not much use on the road) and a 1.8 K-series Roadsport which had a windscreen and full weather equipment. Now that car was very driveable on the road, so much so that I did 30k miles in 4 years. However, the one thing I never liked was the full hood. It's such a faff to put on/remove, makes getting into the car extremely tricky, and in the rain everything mists up. Not ideal. In the 14 years since I sold that car I've had lower back issues (surgery last year!) so with the exhaust now on the driver's side there's no way I'm going to be able to use a full hood. Even though I'm in South-East England some kind of hood is going to be necessary, so I've settled on a custom half-hood. I got this direct from Oxted Trimming. It's mohair with Old English piping and welting, with additional Easy-In zips. It looks great, and I'm hoping it'll work well on the car. Just fo...

And this is where it's going to live. A newly renovated garage, almost complete.. My car will be factory built so this is not going to be a build blog. It's more of a 'living with the car' blog to show you what these last Sigma-engined cars are like. 

So back in June 2021 I ordered this. A bit expensive. It was originally £1,800 cheaper when I ordered it at Caterham Gatwick. However, later that afternoon I got a call saying they had just stopped taking orders for Sigma-engined road cars and if I wanted to keep mine I had to pay the extra amount. Hmm.  Anyway, 11 months later and the car should be ready for delivery in a couple of weeks time!