It's easy to see the appeal of the Caterham Seven Supersprint. By combining a retro aesthetic with just enough performance for road and track, it has unsurprisingly struck a chord with buyers - as evidenced by 60 cars selling out in a day.
All well and good, though there's no escaping the fact that the Supersprint does look a little pricey, even in the world of Caterhams. And if more than £30k for less than 100hp sounds steep already, bear in mind that used Sprints - the predecessor of the Supersprint, with just the 80hp - are for sale at £40k. Potential buyers would have to really, really want the three cylinders and throwback styling.
How about, therefore, a Caterham Supersprint for a third of the price of the new one? It's a name that's been seen on Sevens in the past, following exactly the same template as has just been resurrected: a classic look, more power, and only the most rudimentary equipment. Remarkably - or perhaps not, if summer really is on its way - there are currently five very similar Supersprints for sale on PistonHeads, all priced between £10,500 and £12,500. Which isn't an awful lot.
We've featured this car, for sale at Sevens and Classics, not just because it's yellow - and Caterhams always suit lairy colours - but also because it best typifies the Supersprint mantra. Like the new car it only uses an aeroscreen, doesn't have doors and comes with just the most basic of weather protection. The similarities extend even further, in fact, with both new and old Supersprints using a live axle and drum brakes at the rear.
Where the older car surpasses the new one, in fact, is in power; while the 660cc turbocharged car soon reaching customers makes 96hp, all of the older cars make 136hp. With a car as light as a Seven, that extra 40hp is guaranteed to make a difference, and in the current Caterham line up that's as much power as a 270.
Granted, in an old Supersprint you must make do with an ancient Ford crossflow engine to generate that oomph; that being said, the advert of this yellow car says "popping, banging and occasional flames" are not uncommon. You'll take a rough engine for some flames, right?
While all five Supersprints available at less than £12.5k will use that crossflow lump, they all have quite different specs. So if the yellow car doesn't suit, this slightly more subtle
burgundy Seven
is also for sale. Its more focused options, with a limited-slip diff and 'Competition Exhaust', will make it appealing to track day fiends. This
BRG Supersprint
could appeal to more occasional users, with only 16,000 miles recorded.
This Supersprint
has full weather gear (as well as adjustable dampers), while
this one is just £10k
- you're spoilt for choice!
All will provide the raw thrills that Sevens are best known for (and which no other car can still quite match), plus sufficient power to take on a track day if you so desire. Finally, while it's unlikely that a 20th century Supersprint will ever make you any money, it seems very unlikely that any of these five will ever be worth less than what's being asked for them currently. All you need to hope for now is that the sun sticks around...
SPECIFICATION - CATERHAM SEVEN SUPERSPRINT
Engine: 1.7-litre, four-cyl
Transmission: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 136@N/Arpm
Torque (lb ft): N/A
First registered: 1996
Recorded mileage: 41,000
Price new: £N/A
Yours for: £12,495
See the original advert here.
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