Caterham Seven Sprint sold out

Caterham sells 500 cars a year and now it's sold 60 in a week!

Those of you who went to Goodwood Revival will have seen the Caterham Seven Sprint on display, fitting in rather nicely in the motor circuit's traditional surroundings. Using PH's crack journalism skills (or rather, speaking to the Caterham people we know), it was discovered that people were waiting at the stand on Friday morning to buy one and 20 deposits had been taken by Saturday.

At the Lego launch last week there were only 13 remaining and now, probably unsurprisingly, the Seven Sprint has sold out. All 60 of them. In fact the last one sold the day after the Lego event.

Caterham's Chief Commercial Officer Dave Ridley said the response was "unprecedented" and that the Sprint's success is "the perfect scene-setter for our 60 Years of Seven celebrations."

So with this car having been received so well, how about some more retro Sevens for the celebration? It's been a while since a Caterham has had a bike engine...

ORIGINAL STORY, 09/09/16:
Believe it or not, the Caterham Seven Sprint is a model that hasn't existed before. Sounds like it should have, doesn't it? There have been Supersprints and a 1600 Sprint, but this is the first Seven Sprint sold by Caterham.

Pip pip!

Originally mooted as a range addition in the mid-60s, the model has now been launched ahead of Caterham's '60 years of Seven' celebrations next year. Paying tribute to the Sevens of the 60s (say that after a couple of drinks) the Sprint comes with a "host of nostalgia-soaked features" including the flared front wings, retro rear lights, new (but old, if that makes sense) badges and six heritage paint colours - Cream, Mellow Yellow, Regency Red, Camberwick Green, British Racing Green and Misty Blue.

Caterham says the "sepia-toned impression" continues inside with a wooden wheel, instruments in the traditional style and hand stitched leather seats. It's red or red for those seats too, which is worth bearing in mind when choosing an exterior colour.

The Seven Sprint will even be traditional in its performance, fitted as it is with the 660cc three-cylinder engine from the 160. Officially "it generates performance good enough to be considered beyond mundane, but perfectly capable of a more leisurely application." Sticking a 2.0-litre Duratec that revved to 8,000rpm in it wouldn't really have been keeping with the aesthetic, would it?

The Seven Sprint is available to order now as a factory build only, priced from £27,995. Best like the retro vibe then, because a factory built Seven 160 S would be £21,995. Even a factory built 360 is £26,995, albeit without any options. Coming to a country pub near you soon!