Caterham Super 7 - "The Big Wheel for Big Kids"

My Seven rounding the Keyhole at Mid-Ohio.

I need one

I don't know when I first wanted a Seven, but it was a long time ago. My brother played a big role by introducing me to racing (Can-Am races back in the early 70's) and introducing me to "spirited" driving. (My brother has since reformed himself to thinking station wagons are cool). Or perhaps it was the hours spent watching The Prisoner (who drove a Seven when he wasn't locked up).

The Caterham comes

The Caterham Factory

Lotus came out with the Seven in 1957, and produced them until 1973 when they sold the rights, jigs, and parts to Caterham, a distributor for Lotus. Caterham resumed production of the Series 3 Seven (Lotus had come out with the Series 4, a fiberglass bodied machine that was just not in the spirit of things). Caterham continued the tradition of selling primarily kits. Although the frame was strengthened, real seats were installed, and they started to put stronger engines in, the Caterham remains very true to the original Seven.

My Seven Arrives Home

I finally ordered one in July, 1992. There are a bunch of options, but I went with the high performance 2.0L carburated Vauxhall engine. It was rated at 218HP, which I figured would be adequate in a 1400lb car. The construction story provides the assembly story. I ordered my car through Chris at Sevens and Elans, working with Chris Tchornicki, who was a godsend over the telephone when I needed to know why this thingamajig didn't fit where I thought it should.

Driving a Seven - "I had no concept"

Driving one is hard to describe. At a SCCA solo II event, I took a friend, Scott, on his first ride - he had owned Ferraris, a Lotus Esprit Turbo, etc. At the end of the ride, my camcorder caught him remarking "I had no concept" (click to hear a .wav of his comment - the video of the ride is available in the Solo section). A postscript - Scott now has a Seven.

Car and Driver did a review of the Caterham and came up with the nickname "The Big Wheel for Big Kids". Seems fitting to me.

Some thoughts on the experience:

• you can literally drag knuckles on the ground
• your butt is inches off the ground and inches of the rear axle - this makes turning an interesting sensation
• it is very noisy car - when I was ordering the kit I was stupid enough to ask where I could put in a radio - I couldn't understand why they kept laughing.
• performance is outstanding - I keep up with just about anything on the striates until aerodynamics stop me around 120mph, and can drive around anything on the turns. I have turned laps below 1:45 around Mid-Ohio.
• people either give you the thumbs up as you drive by or give you very odd looks. Driving in the winter produces more odd looks than thumbs.
• speeds over 70mph on the road leave me wishing I had a helmet on - wind can hurt.

Tips and Problems

Part of the joy of driving something like the Seven is that it requires some work to keep it running. Here are some problems that I ran into - some with answers, and some I hope you might have some ideas about. Keep those e-mails coming.

• Brakes overheat - in my early track outings, I frequently had problems with my brakes overheating and getting soft. I was cursing that I had not ordered the car with the "big brake kit". Chris T. gave me the simple answer - "don't use them so much". At that point I just didn't understand how well the car could corner. So now I go faster and have no problem with the brakes.
• Plug fouling - Ever since the beginning I have had problems with the plugs becoming fouled. I went to smaller main jets and idle jets, and no longer have the problem when I drive on the track, but still need to change plugs after a couple of hundred miles on the street. Oh well.
• Valve guides -this hasn't bothered me, but another Caterham (Scott's) with the same engine lost all of it's valve guides while running at Mid-Ohio. As Scott put it, it was a blessing, because now he can get a even more radical engine built (he's shooting for 260hp).
• Corner weighting - I have figured out that I can turn faster laps with a passenger than by myself. I'm figuring that means that the car is not a balanced as it could be. I would love to hear from someone who has gone to the trouble to balance the car. Probably a project for this winter.

More Pictures of Sevens - including a trip to the Caterham factory.

Links to other Seven Owner's Pages

The OFFICIAL Caterham Site - nicely done, see both the Seven and the Caterham 21

Sevens and Elans - Sevens & Elans, Ltd. is the oldest dealer and the Number 1 volume Caterham Seven dealer in the United States.  Founded in 1984 by Christopher Tchorznicki, Sevens & Elans has delivered more Super Sevens to US customers than any other company in North America. 

Steve Boffin's page - keeper of the Sevens mailing list (recommended), and currently building a Seven. Steve is posting daily reports on his build progress.

Lotus Super Seven, A Nimble Car - another fanatic's story, great description of autocrossing in a Seven

A look at the Westfield - not a seven (a bit of a religious debate) but quite a bit of fun

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