CATERHAM SEVENTH HEAVEN; What Colin Chapman meant when he said `add lightness'.(evaluation of Caterham Steven automobile)

Byline: MARK VAUGHN

If there is a street car lower and lighter than a Caterham Seven, we haven't driven it. Strapped into the driver's seat you can set your hand palm-first on the ground. The ride height is just over three inches, lower than most speed bumps. The overall height is less than three feet, lower than most parking lot arms. And at 1080 pounds and 204 hp, the power-to-weight ratio (1 hp: 5.3 pounds) of this Superlight R model beats every production street car sold in America.

It's as terrific on the road as it sounds on paper.

No doubt that's just how Colin Chapman wanted it when he unveiled the Lotus Seven at the 1957 London Motor Show. The Caterham Seven can trace its roots (not very far back) to the cars Chapman built in his girlfriend's garage in North London in 1948. It's like a time machine, though better engineered. Chapman built the Lotus Seven until 1973, when production was turned over to Caterham, which has been making it in England ever since. Caterham USA now sells the kits over here.

Through it all, the engineering has not lagged one whit. The Superlight R model we drove was as tightly screwed together as any full-scale production car, better than many. Tolerances were exact, nothing squeaked, nothing rattled. In proportion, it was like sitting at the back of a long, low go-kart with a big snout.

Ours had no real windshield to speak of, just two little flaps that suggested the breeze go north. It didn't. So the Caterham guys ...