Caterham Super Seven 2000 2022 first drive

Caterham has rebooted its luxury retro model for 2022. The Caterham Super Seven 1600 came out a few years ago and was based on the standard Caterham Seven 270 but added retro features including fixed front wings, a mesh grille, classic gauges, a leather dash, a choice of exclusive paint colours, and Minilite-style wheels.

Since it proved popular, but Ford discontinued the 1600 Sigma engine powering it, Caterham has now extended the Super Seven treatment to the rest of the range. Using the Caterham 170 with the turbocharged 660cc Suzuki three-pot and the 2.0-litre Ford Duratec powered Caterham 360 as a base, Caterham has created the Super Seven 600 and 2000.

The basic 600 version starts from £29,990, or £32,585 if you’re not one to get the spanners out and prefer Caterham build it for you. That’s £5000 more than the standard 170. The 2000 version we’re driving starts from £39,990, which is a £8000 premium over a normal 360.

Both Super Sevens get a bit of extra equipment such as the spare wheel, and the 2000 gains a lightened flywheel, but the real draw is all the retro touches. You also get the option of a slightly plusher interior and some chassis choices that aren’t normally available on the standard car. Certainly, it’s not enough to make a Super Seven in any way a bargain – you have to buy into the retro vibe.

Then again, any Caterham isn’t really a rational purchase, even though they do hold their value well. And it appears there is still plenty of enthusiasm for the old Seven – more than ever, in fact: Caterham’s order books are so full that if you order one today it’ll be at least a year before it gets built.

Drive the Super Seven and it’s easy to be smitten. If you’ve tried any other Caterham, there won’t be any major surprises, but the spec of our test car, with the standard suspension, 180bhp engine and normal road tyres, felt like a particularly sweet one.

The 2.0-litre’s got a slug more torque than the other engines. That might sound like the wrong priority in an energetic 585kg bathtub, but the Duratec is still more than happy to rev to well past 7000rpm, and makes quite a vintage sort of noise while doing it. The exhaust exiting by your right hip certainly helps with the acoustics.

No, having the extra low-down grunt just makes it much easier to play with the balance, the skinny Avon tyres smudging wide on command. It also means the gearing can be more relaxed, which makes seeking out good roads further afield less of an undertaking.