Caterham Super Seven 2000

FIRST DRIVE Special marks 50th anniversary of Caterham getting rights to build the Seven

- Alex Ingram

IT'S 50 years since Caterham bought the rights to the old Lotus Seven, and to celebrate this half-century of small sports car history, this new Super Seven 2000 marks the occasion with lots of seventies flair.

While Caterham has been building the Seven, it has become one of the biggest and best names when it comes to lightweight performance cars, and the Super Seven 2000 doesn't buck that trend. It's one of two specials to mark the 50th anniversary, the other being the Super Seven 600.

The most obvious period touch is the long, flowing front wings like those used on a host of Caterhams in the seventies and eighties. Other nods to the past include the chrome fuel filler cap and polished exhaust, although the bright LED tail-lights add a modern safety element.

Four new colours are available that are exclusive to the 600 and 2000. Our car's Tobacco Brown finish is a £1,250 option. Inside, the traditional theme continues. Instead of a suede-trimmed, quick-release steering wheel, there's a handsome, leather Moto-Lita rim. The Smiths gauges really look the part, as does the 'ginger' leather upholstery, which not only looks achingly period but smells wonderful, too. We could take or leave the dashboard's mock-wood finish, though. At least it's an option.