Caterham Seven Supersprint spectacular! (update)

The Seven Supersprint sells out in seven hours

UPDATE, 14/09/2017 1100h:
Seven hours. Seven hours is all it took for 60 Caterham Seven Supersprints to sell out. Remember that's not even on general release earlier, but simply a debut at the Goodwood last weekend. Well if there was a car that was going to prove popular at Revival...

30 of the cars will remain in the UK, with another 30 heading to Europe. Apparently all 60 were accounted for by 1:30pm last Friday, although deposits are being taken if a cancellation does occur. Dave Ridley, Caterham's Chief Commercial officer, said of the news: "To sell out within seven hours is something we've never seen before and it has set a new sales precedent for Caterham... There is quite clearly an appetite for retro styled cars and we've tapped into that trend". Bear in mind that Caterham sells around 600 cars a year and that's an even more remarkable achievement.

Is anybody on PH getting one? We'd love to know. Clearly Caterham now needs to sell every car in limited numbers and retro soak every single one...

ORIGINAL STORY, AS REPORTED 08/09/2017:
Remember last year's Goodwood Revival? Caterham launched the Seven Sprint there, the 160-derived retro runabout. It was a storming success too, selling out all 60 units in a week. So with Revival here again for another year...

You have to admit, this does look pretty cool

Yep, it's another classic Seven, harking back to the very early days of the Lotus sports car - don't forget 2017 marks six decades of the first Seven. This is the Supersprint, again based on the three-cylinder Seven but now offering "the ultimate in gentleman racer style".

To that end the Supersprint is offered in six paint schemes, all named after classic racetracks: Aintree (green with orange noseband), Hockenheim (silver with red noseband), Imola (red with white noseband), Dijon (navy blue with white noseband), Zandvoort (light green with black roundels) and Watkins Glen (white with Gulf racing stripes. In addition there's the Brooklands aeroscreen (full weather gear is available), quilted leather seats and a wooden steering wheel. Note too the polished exhaust, non-louvered bonnet and classic rear lights. For those truly committed to the retro racer vibe - or those without friends - there is a single-seater option.

Single-seat option there for the committed

Don't think, however, that this is a screaming track tearaway throwback. Despite Caterham's claims that the SuperSprint is as comfortable on the circuit as it is on the road, and despite some engine tuning from Caterham Works Racing, this is still only making 96hp. Even allowing for the light weight of a Seven - and the standard limited-slip diff - that's not an awful lot. It's probably a right giggle on the road, but track seems a big optimistic. Imagine one of these with the Duratec in - then it could sound like an old racing car too!

Looking like this though, you can't imagine Caterham struggling to sell the Supersprint. It will be at Goodwood this entire Revival weekend, so do go and have a look when the rain has stopped and when you can leave the TVR alone. Price is £29,995, or £31,990 if you want a roof...