Caterham Seven review

The range starts at £29,490 for the Seven 170. The 360 is £38,490, or about the same as a well-specced Mazda MX-5.

The 420 is £3.5k on top, and then there's the 420 Cup track special at £56,490. It's a lot for a Seven and a large jump from the standard 420, but for a tool that'll bother a Porsche 911 GT3 RS on a track day, an absolute bargain.

Top of the tree and dripping with lunacy is the 620, which also starts at £54,990 and offers Bugatti levels of power-to-weight.

Of the heritage models, the 600 (which gets the same Suzuki engine as the 170) is £30,490, and the 2000 (which gets the same larger Ford engine as the 360) is £40,990. So, £1k and £2.5k on top respectively.

Any boxes worth ticking on the configurator?

Spec-wise, we'd go for the R pack to really unlock the best from the Seven at any price point, and also select the lower floor so you don't feel perched on top of the car, a £600 option.

Another useful extra are the roll cages (you’ve a choice between track day, sport and race cages): they look purposeful, increase chassis stiffness and safety if you feel a little exposed, and also help entry and exit as you've got a framework to lower yourself in off. The R pack does automatically add an aero lip rather than a windscreen, but for £1,600 Caterham will screw a proper glass screen back on. 

Unless you tick the right box the aluminium body panels are left unpainted, but get creative on the configurator and there are some delightfully bright colours and combinations to be had. If you want to spend a little more money and save even more weight, you can have a number of panels in carbon fibre too.

We really do recommend a go on the aforementioned configurator too, because the amount of options available for a Seven puts most manufacturers to shame. It's a brilliant way to spend an evening. Or six.

What's the depreciation like?

Put it this way: your money should be safe in a Seven. It continues to punch well above its weight, there remains a healthy waiting list, and you needn’t worry about electrification killing off the car either. Caterham says it's in the process of stockpiling up to ten years' worth of the Ford engines it depends on, and in the meantime, it's investigating other powertrain options.

Why? Caterham is a small cottage industry, so it's not likely to be kiboshed by the headlong rush into battery-powered EVs. But just in case... an electric sports car codenamed Project V has already been revealed as a concept. Whether it goes any further will depend on customer appetite...