The Caterham 620R is one of the world's most extreme lightweight sports cars ever built. Steve Sutcliffe puts it to the test.
The Caterham 620R packs wide-track front suspension, a supercharged 2.0-litre Ford Duratec motor producing 311bhp and 219lb ft driving the back wheels through a straight-cut, sequential six-speed gearbox and limited-slip differential. It is a few ancillaries away from being a race car, and not much this side of a hypercar such as the Bugatti Veyron could keep pace with it. It is extreme in a way only drivers of a BAC Mono or Ariel Atom could understand. The fastest Caterham road car ever is also one of the most intoxicating.
In the market for a bonkers track car? Steve Sutcliffe drives three of the most powerful British track toys money can buy.
But which one is fastest? Only a track battle at the infamous Castle Combe race circuit can find out!
Top Gear magazine took delivery of a Seven 160 and assembled their Caterham in the middle of their London office. This is a shortened time-lapse of the assembly.
It's the battle of the British sports cars, as Caterham battles Morgan at Mallory Park. The pair share just five cylinders, the Caterham using a dinky turbocharged three-cylinder engine borrowed from Suzuki while the Morgan has a V-twin engine strapped to its front end, driving the single wheel at the back. The Seven is a familiar shape while several years on from its launch, the 3 Wheeler can still stop traffic with its looks.
What we want to know, though, is how they perform on track. Which is quickest, and which is the biggest hoot?