1991 Caterham 7 JPE from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing.

An absolute missile. I've had it for 7 years and it still gives a stab of adrenaline every time I floor it.

Uses the heavenly Vauxhall XE 2.0 16v lump, tuned by Jonathan Palmer to give a whopping 250 bhp. In something that weighs around 500kg, that's enough to frighten pretty much anything on the road apart from a litre sportsbike. 0-60 comes up in around 3.5 seconds, and the ton in around 6.

And boy, does it handle. Impreza WRX's, Mitsubishi EVO's, BMW M3's. Not to mention Ferraris, Porsches and Astons. None of these cars stand a chance. You can flick the car through bends as quickly as your brain can send the nerve impulses to your arms, and it just complies. You can induce lairy opposite lock powerslides at will when you want to play. You can lap roundabouts inch perfect on opposite lock. It's an amazing bit of kit.

Totally impractical though. Room for two if you're intimate, no luggage space, no heater, no frivolities. Just a seat, a steering wheel and one of the best engine and chassis combinations known to man.

Downsides? Fuel consumption will hit the teens when booting it, and you can't exactly use it every day, but when you want a rush on weekends or summer evenings, nothing else on the road touches it. Why buy a Ferrari?

I'll have to agree. I'm 13 and I'm the smart guy when it comes to cars in my family. Although there is no hope of me being able to even get near a JPE I still worship it. The company Caterham is what turned my attention from mopars to European cars. As well as the Lancia Stratos it sometimes get over looked.

I would love to have go in a Caterham, they are made for pure speed and that's it. Good for a little excitement at the weekend, I mean 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and the 100 in 6, that's a pure adrenalin rush.

However, I would never buy one, the rawness is also its downside to me, because its got no style, it's like a bathtub with 4 wheels, I would be embarrassed to drive it. That's why I would buy a Ferrari [not that I could afford a Caterham or Ferrari].

A Caterham has "no style"?

It's a style ICON!

It's been one for 50 years... and "bathtub" would be more appropriate for one of the plastic bodied variants... the Caterham IS the Lotus Seven, and aluminium is its skin, not GRP. If you filled a Cateringvan with water, it would run out immediately, probably faster than you could put it in... I know about this from experience.(Don't ask...) You can get one secondhand for a very reasonable price, in fact. Plus they aren't expensive to run if you avoid the syndrome of "upgraditis".

Goes like excrement off a teflon shovel and sticks to the corners like it too!

Serious piece of kit for the knowing petrol head.

Sure you can have fun in the less powerful versions, but this will make you wish you had a windscreen wiper on the seat!

Don't waste your breath on him, he's probably some Chave who drives a Nova with neons and wears Burberry and his every other word is innit.

On the subject of the Caterham 7, I built mine seven years ago and love it, it's a relationship not ownership, you get out of it what you put in, out on the road you become 'at one' with the car, you wear it, you don't just sit in it. As for Ferraris, a fair few Caterhams will give a lot of Ferraris a run for their money below about 130, if you want to go past that then go buy a Ferrari and wait for the garage bills to start rolling in.

I'm not saying they are not a serious peace of kit, of course they are, you can't get more of a drivers car. For the track not much compares. But not everyone has the same taste, in the 50 years its been an icon its probably not changed much has it? I mean I wouldn't call them sexy. Someone said I probably drive a nova and wear burbery, well that's not me, I'm not saying its wrong, but something that 17 yr olds would do. I'm 31 and drive a subaru P1, its fast its sexy.

Ask most girls what they think of a scuby and they'll think it's ugly. Ask most girls what they think of a 7 and they think it's cute, but then are quite likely to think it's rather silly little car as well ;)

Subaru P1 sexy, say no more!!!

You can get rich, but you can't buy taste. The Caterham is a beautiful car and gets respect from old/young alike, plus it's a perfect weekend toy to compliment the 911.

Well they are not silly little cars are they, but you are right some people might think they are, hence the no style comment, but that's just my taste. I don't use cars to attract women, but if you did ask an average woman that question she'll probably say: whats a caterham.

I am 14, and I dream of owning a Caterham. I knew somebody that drove an R300 once, just around a cone slalom and car park; he never even left 1st gear, but he said the thrill was sensational.

It would be nice to see another wacky Caterham like the JPE or the R500. Maybe, just maybe, they should make a deal with Mitsubishi, and use the 360bhp engine from the Evo IX, put it in a superlight chassis, and imagine the thrill.

I'm a Brit living in Ontario. I dream of pulling up at the lights in a JPE alongside some big fat piece of Mopar rubbish weighing about 14.5 tons with an 8-litre V8 producing 500hp and a rib-shaking rumble. In fact, let's make it a Hemi 'Cuda, or better yet, a Viper.

I want him to look over at me and laugh. I want him to prod his buddy next to him so he can look over and laugh. I want him use a couple of gallons gunning the engine to intimidate me. And then I want the lights to change.

I don't think I have to say anymore. Ahhhh...

Yea, I know what happens, you'll zoom off into the distance and he'll still be laughing at you!