LOTUS Seven S4

The lower prices today tell you Lotus lost the plot a bit with the S4. In some ways it’s a better car, with decent legroom at last, improved front and rear suspension and all-glassfibre bodywork over a new steel chassis. Unfortunately that all added an extra couple of hundred pounds to the weight, slightly blunting the scorching performance and handling that Sevens are all about. Plus that new bodywork falls somewhere between archaic special and racing beach buggy. It offers a way in to Seven ownership, but you can see why Caterham went back to the S3 when they took over manufacture.