Caterham Super Seven 1600

Last week I got to do a proper road trip, from London to North Wales and back. It was very much a last minute adventure. I checked the weather forecast on Monday morning and it was high pressure all week. So Monday afternoon I set off. First stop was the Double Tree by Hilton outside Chester, a place I had stayed at before. This was to get the initial motorway drive done before heading into Wales. For Day 2 I had a room booked at the Chainbridge Hotel in Llangollen. I wanted to stay at Portmeirion but it was fully booked, so instead my plan was to visit Portmeirion in the morning and then head over to the Chainbridge. I set off early and drove to Bangor, then down to Porthmadog, arriving at Portmeirion at 10am.  Had a good wander around, the weather was amazing ! After lunch I headed off to Llangollen, driving through the Snowdonia roads. The Chainbridge Hotel is perched on the side of a hill overlooking a river. It's quite an interesting place, had a nice meal and then an early ni...

Today was the 2024 Open Day run by Lotus specialist Malcolm Ricketts, at his workshops out in Wheathampsted. He has a great collection of early Lotus vehicles, and many more turned-up ! Quite a few Caterhams as well. Justin from Caterham Cars was there with the Super Seven 600 demonstrator. He also told me something very interesting about the Super Seven 1600. Despite having a Sigma Ti-VCT engine, the Variable Valve Timing is turned off due to the Jenvey Throttle bodies. So it actually has slightly less power and torque than a standard 270/275 engine. Holbay Twin Cam SS.. I really like the 11-inch steering wheel from the Super Seven 600, it's a much better size for the S3 chassis than my 12-inch. I feel an upgrade coming on..