Seventh Heaven Reacquaintance at Festival of Speed | Axon’s Automotive Anorak

With his hand held out firmly in greeting he declared: “Hello Gary, I’m Tim. You probably won’t remember me, but we met many years ago when you bought a car from me.”

Although I didn’t recognise him initially, his prompting of the green, used Caterham Super Seven I bought from him and the sleek new black Saab 9000CS Aero that I first arrived in to view his Seven quickly brought it all back to me.

Having owned a series of second-hand cars that I’d always admired in my early motoring days, by the mid-1990s my tastes had become more refined, with many of the older classic cars I still desired also becoming more expensive and out of my financial reach.

After a string of mostly French and Italian classics I decided it was time to buy my first British car. Sadly, my finances at the time wouldn’t stretch to the old, classic Bristol, Alvis or Lotus Elan I had always fancied, so I set my heart on a Lotus (or later Caterham) Seven, as by now I had a sensible new company car that I could rely on for virtually all of my motoring needs.

After inspecting a number of used Lotus Sevens (mainly the 1970-72 Series 4 model that I favoured) I went to a nice house near Towcester to look at an early Caterham-built Super Seven S3. Finished in British Racing Green with a yellow nose cone and fitted with a Lotus Twin Cam engine, this 1976 Series 3 example had clearly led a pampered life and was presented in exceptionally good order.

Tim was a fellow Saab fan with a nice 900 Convertible parked on the drive. This was an encouraging sign to me, so after a memorable test drive and some polite haggling over the price, we shook hands on his tidy BRG Caterham. In many respects, the Seven’s Lotus Twin Cam motor was a bonus, although I would have been quite happy with a lesser Ford or Rover engine, as the Twin Cam had a certain reputation to be temperamental, costly and troublesome to run.

I needn’t have worried; the Twin Cam proved to be faultlessly reliable. My brief time with the Super Seven was tremendous fun, though somewhat tainted when one of my work colleagues refused to get into the car out of safety concerns. My enjoyment of the Seven was never that same after that, as the ‘what if’s’ always played on my mind when I drove it.

During our brief chat at the Festival of Speed, Tim asked if I still had the Seven after all these years. I had to confess that I sold the car much sooner than I’d originally planned but was pleased to have owned a Seven and get it out of my system. 

Fast forward a few weeks, and who should I bump into again but Tim, who had driven to an event in nothing less than a brand-new Caterham Super Seven. Tim had mourned the selling of his 1976 Seven to me for years, and now retired he thought he would relive his youth and invest in a new model.

“Jump in!” he said, and kindly took me for a quick nostalgic drive, before stopping to suggest I give it a try, for old time’s sake. A quick blast along the A43 brought back many happy memories of just what fun the lively Caterham was and is, though I had forgotten just how exposed you feel in the tight cockpit, open to the elements with your head at the same height as the wheel nuts and exhaust of passing trucks. 

Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed my short time in another Seven, as well as meeting Tim again. Understandably, he now longer drives a Saab but hung onto one for as long as possible and stayed loyal to the Swedish by now driving an electric Polestar as his everyday transport. Good man. Thanks to the Festival of Speed for helping to revive some enjoyable memories…

The 2027 Festival of Speed will take place on 15th-18th July 2027, sign up for ticket alerts to make sure you don't miss out. Tickets are available for GRRC Members and Fellows, you can join the Fellowship today.

Main image photography by Joe Harding.