Car 23 is a car which I had wanted for some years but never got around to buying partly because they always seemed so expensive but also as a car on its own a vehicle such as this might be hard to live with as an every day car for commuting in, so I bought another car as a runabout (more of that on the next page). Number twentythree is a Caterham Seven and is quite frankly the most fun I have ever had in a car. For many years I had read about Lotus Sevens in magazines which were reviewing the X1/9, yes the Fiat was more practical but the Seven was a better performer and also a better handling car. I managed to get to Caterham cars once in the early nineties and was taken out by one of their salesmen for a blast but was put off by the sheer cost of the things, I also did an Autosport arranged autotest at Brooklands a year or so later which further fueled my appetite for these great little cars.
So, towards the end of summer 2001 I sold my last car (the BMW) and went in search of a Caterham... firstly joining the Lotus Seven Owners Club of GB to get a taste of what ownership had to hold... and secondly scouring sites such as FindIt and the infamous (L7Club run) Blatchat 'for sale' section. After a short period of looking a suitable car was found, purchased and driven back from Newcastle ! Perhaps a baptism of fire or just the best way to get to know a new car especially one such as this, I certainly experienced all the emotions whilst driving it home right from 'this is grrrreat' to 'what have I done' and back again !.
The car itself is a 1994 1400 Rover 'K' series engined 'Supersport' model with about 130 or so horsepower on tap, capable of 0-60 in about 6 seconds and a top speed of somewhere near 115mph. The car itself never fails to turn heads wherever I go and also never fails to impress me with its abilities everytime I drive it. My plan is only to sell this car if I ever want a faster Seven but, for now this one is just about quick enough !