Caterham reveals bonkers 620R

Enjoy the BAC Mono on last week's show? But think that the 2.8-second 0-60mph time was a little too... pedestrian? Step up, into and onto the throttle of Caterham's most powerful road-going Seven... in the world.

It's called the 620R. Like the R400 and R500 Superlights, there's a supercharged 2.0-litre Ford Duratec engine, only this one makes a marginally terrifying 311bhp and 219lb ft. The manufacturer won't tell us exactly how much it weighs, but says it's good for 620bhp per tonne, so it'll get to 60mph in 2.79 seconds. Holy mackerel.

Under the engine, there's a gunmetal chassis and special new snout sculpted to help the race-derived cooling system along, and aid airflow. There's de Dion rear suspension astern, and coilovers up front, with 13-inch alloys and profoundly aggressive Avon ZZR tyres.

Inside, it's the usual mixture of racy seats, Q/R steering wheel, and what look like switches bought from Maplin Electronics in the seventies (though Caterham prefers to call them "performance-focused", and "ergonomic"). And if you're going to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend, you'll be able to see Caterham F1 driver Charles Pic postured on one of those carbonfibre chairs, thrashing it up the hill.

So, cost? £49,995. Which is a lot of money. More so when you consider that it's £7500 more than the still-plenty-terrifying R500. But if you were tempted by a BAC Mono, you could pick up TWO of the faster Caterhams for the same cash - one for practice, one for best.

Two 620Rs, or a BAC Mono then, internet?