MOTORING
BRITISH & BONKERS The Caterham 620S By Maarten Hoffmann, Senior Motoring Editor
As the Caterham was named after the town in which they built it and they have now moved to Crawley, there were no happy faces at the factory when l suggested they change the name to the ‘Crawley’. I therefore will not be doing that again. Caterham delivered me the 620S and that is only one small step away from the total bonkers and extreme hardcore model, the 620R. For once, l was pleased they didn’t offer me the fastest model as the S really is quite fast enough even for one such as l who seems to have little fear and has been accused of having a death wish; l don’t, l just like to drive very fast cars as fast as they will go. ‘Drive it like you
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stole it’ goes the mantra and who am l to disobey?
Motorsport legend Colin Chapman, who wanted to allow petrolheads to be able to build their own car and then thrash it round a track, launched the history. His mantra was ‘simplify, and then add lightness’. Years later, Caterham acquired the rights to the eponymous ‘Seven’ from Chapman in 1973. To this day, they still adhere to Chapman’s original philosophy, as all their models are based on that famous early car and can be purchased as a kit
car for home build or sold complete. Caterham models don’t so much shout ‘fun’, as grab you by the lapels and scream in your face.
❛❛ The 620S weighs in at 610kg and is powered by a 2.0-litre, 310bhp supercharged engine which gives the same power-to-weight ratio at the Bugatti Veyron! ❜❜
