If I were to pick one such fun car, it’d be Caterham Seven 620

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Nope, this ain’t a sponsored post. The other day I was just thinking about those super-lightweight, open two-seat roadtsters; you know, the likes of Caterham, Ariel, KTM X-Bow, and Donkervoort. I was thinking, if I were to pick one such fun car — for both going to work every day and weekend fun adventures, which would that be. Well, Donkervoorts are the best-looking ones with an Audi-sourced TFSI motor but they’re way too expensive, and I find Ariel to be a bit more on the extreme side — both the Atom and Nomad. Don’t get me wrong, Ariels are mad, but what if I want something that is not-so-mad? The X-Bows are also on the expensive side. So, how about a Caterham?

In my personal opinion, I think Caterhams look pretty close to a traditional classic roadster rather than looking just like a roll cage with wheels and an engine. Caterham’s current road-going models start at £27,490 which is not exactly cheap when you convert it to Indian money, but still, a lot more affordable than a Donkervoort and X-Bow. And so, if I’m picking a Caterham, I might as well go for the Seven 620, which starts at £50,390.

The S Pack (standard) gets you a full windscreen, a sport suspension, limited-slip differential, 15-inch alloy wheels with ZZS tyres, ventilated discs with quad piston calipers, carbon fibre dashboard, black leather seats, 4-point race harnesses, Momo steering wheel, and a heater. The R Pack gets you a 6-speed sequential gearbox (5-speed MT standard), 13-inch alloy wheels with ZZR tyres, and composite race seats.

Powering the Caterham Seven 620 is a Ford-sourced 2.0L 4-cylinder Supercharged engine that pumps out 231 kW (314 metric hp/310 bhp) at 7,700 rpm and 297 Nm (219 lb-ft) of torque at 7,350 rpm. The car weighs only 610 kg (1,345 lbs), which results in a power-to-weight ratio of 0.514 metric hp/kg (over a half horsepower per kg!).

Caterham claims a 0-60 mph (96.5 km/h) sprint time of 2.79 seconds for the 620R, while the 620S takes 3.44 seconds. The top speed is claimed to be 145 mph (233 km/h).