Estimated Price: £25,000 - £30,000

Caterham Cars is a manufacturer of specialist lightweight sports cars that are a direct evolution of the Series III Lotus Seven designed by Colin Chapman and originally launched in 1973. Caterham had been a major Lotus Seven dealer during the 1960s and its founder, Graham Nearn, purchased the rights to continue manufacture of the Seven design after Lotus announced its intention to discontinue the model. As with its Lotus Seven predecessor, Caterhams are constructed of aluminium sheet attached to a tubular steel chassis and all are front-engined with rear-wheel drive and two seats. Up until fairly recently, the Seven's remarkable performance and agility was achieved as a result of their light weight and superb chassis balance rather than from having particularly powerful engines, however, over the years engine sizes have increased with significantly larger power outputs.

By 2017, when the car offered here was built, Caterham had simplified their range and offered just five core models, bookended by the little three-cylinder 160 at the lower end and the ballistic supercharged 620R at the other. In the middle sat the 270, 360 and 420 models each of which could be specified in S or R trim. The former was aimed at road use and included such luxuries as leather seats and carpets (in a Caterham!) whereas the R-Pack was performance focussed and included lots of carbon fibre, a limited-slip differential, lightweight flywheel, uprated brakes, wide track sports suspension, carbon fibre dashboard, composite race seats, and full harnesses.

The striking, 2017 Caterham Seven 420R presented here obviously benefits from the R-Pack and is finished in the perennially cool, blue and orange Gulf Oil colours with the road-spec roll-cage painted in body colour. It's powered by a dry-sumped 2.0-litre Ford Duratec engine generating 210bhp fed through the 5-speed gearbox to the rear wheels and the lubrication system means there’s no danger of oil starvation when lapping a track at high levels of G. Weighing just 560kg with 210bhp available equates to a horsepower-per-tonne ratio of 420, which is where the name came from, and consequently performance is seriously impressive with 0-60 mph in 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 136mph - which is probably enough with your coccyx about six inches from the tarmac.

Privately owned, the Caterham has been used lightly over the years and has covered an indicated 6,591 miles from new. Patently well cared for, it appears to be in immaculate condition throughout and we understand has a full service record. It's turn-key and ready to go this Spring and at today's estimate seems incredible value, probably the best value in the current market. We invite and encourage your viewing of this remarkable Caterham at our Race Retro Sale.