• Surprisingly good quality in places
• Don’t expect any form of infotainment
• Little to go wrong

How is the quality and layout?

The Caterham is no nonsense car that’s focussed on just one thing, driver enjoyment. So it’s little surprise to find a spartan cabin with just the essential dials and switches on the dashboard.

The small steering wheel and tight gearbox all reinforce the point that this is nothing short of a race-bred car that is also road legal. Layout-wise it’s all simple enough. Heating controls and wipers are on switches, while lights are little toggles. This is not the sort of car where you’ll be able to choose a precise cabin temperature.

Despite this, Caterhams can project an air of quality thanks to the standards of finish and materials such as leather and carbon fibre in their construction.

Infotainment and tech

There is no infotainment. Not even a radio. The best solution is to buy a phone cradle and simply use that. Admittedly, with the roof off you won’t be able to hear a thing. But it can at least be called upon for Google maps.

14

Comfort

• Not much room
• Gets hot
• Very comfortable seats

The seats are supportive and surprisingly comfortable (as long as you fit) but on some models padding is entirely absent, which isn’t ideal for longer journeys.

Bizarrely the front passenger actually has even less legroom than the driver and overall the cockpit is very cramped unless you order the more spacious large chassis model.

There’s little protection from the elements and in the winter the heater will be working overtime to keep the cockpit moderately warm. In the summer however, the heat from the engine will keep you toasty. Maybe even a little bit too toasty.