We’ll go over the history and all the usual features in a minute - let’s just say first of all that the R500 is a monster - in the truest sense of the word. That ‘500′ in the name refers to the bhp-per-tonne, except it’s wrong. This car has 520 brake horsepower per tonne. This is generated from a Ford 2.0 litre Duratec engine - so it will be hardy and reasonably free to rev.

Let’s get this over with - it’ll probably take you longer to read this than it will for the R500 to get to 60mph. The reason being that with 263bhp and 177lb/ft of torque, you’ll be going 62mph in about 2.88 seconds. Let’s put that in perspective. It’s faster than a lot of motorbikes and is only one-third of a second behind the Bugatti Veyron.

Yes, it’s only slightly slower from the standing start than the car that was, for a time, fastest in the world. That came with the benefit of many electronic controls and four wheel drive too, unlike Caterham’s effort.

The R500 puts the power through a six speed manual gearbox (none of this fancy e-gearing or steering wheel pedal nonsense) straight to the rear wheels and the 13-inch lightweight Caterham alloys. Whilst you might think that they sound too small, remember, this is not exactly a huge car to begin with and it actually makes it look extremely well proportioned.

So you’re probably wondering what the secret is behind the Caterham? Well as I mentioned at the start of this article, it’s all down to the weight. A real focus has taken place at the factory for this car - putting it on an athlete’s diet. As such, it comes with carbon-fibre fro the nose, dash and wings, as well as thinner body panels, wishbones and aluminium housings. All this means a further 9kg from the kerb-weight.

Of course, you need to be able to stop well too, so you’ve got four piston callipers grabbing vented discs at the front and twin piston callipers at the back - so even more weight is saved. Granted, the carbon fibre gear stick, instrument panel and keyless ignition. However, you won’t be seeing many toys in here - this is after all a proper racecar to tan the hides of such young upstarts as the Ariel Atom.

No doubt you’re wondering who Caterham is, if this is the first time you’ve heard the company mentioned. Well, here’s a quick history lesson. Colin Chapman created the original ‘7′ (you can see that image on the grille) as a Lotus in 1957, with the idea of ‘adding lightness’ - an ethos that is still followed to this day. The whole point therefore is to create a sports car that has a low mass, has great agility and is a pure ‘drivers car’.

Forward to 1973 and Caterham purchased the rights to manufacture the car from Lotus - a decision that I’m sure they have never looked back on. Whilst mechanically things have improved, the overall design was so solid that you’d be hard pressed to really highlight all of the differences.

Newer developments include the Nearn family selling the marque. However, the new management team is still dedicated to respect the heritage and yet continue to progress into the future. If the R500 is anything to go by, I’d certainly say they are true to their word.

Caterham Cars remains one of the few British owned and British manufacturers - they even purchase their parts in the UK where at all possible. Another interesting thing to note is that Caterhams remain the choice for those looking into building a kit car - they are simply the ‘must have’ marque for a race or a part-time garage project.

So why get excited about it? Well, there’s nothing quite like driving an incredibly low-slung agile rear-wheeler. If you don’t believe me, hire one of these, or even a Mazda MX-5 (still significantly bigger than a Caterham) or similar and you’ll see what I mean. The purity of the driving experience, the thrill of the tires against the tarmac and the wind in your hair will be something you’ll want to do again and again.

I’m undertaking a new project very soon - the restoration of a Mazda MX-5.  ‘Restoration?’  You might be thinking.  Well, I’m looking at, ideally, a model for around £1,000 with a removable hard top, rather than a soft cover.  No doubt it’ll be an import, or Eunos as they’re also known in the UK.  Almost certainly not a Limited Edition ‘Arctic’ as they go for more.  Will it have galactic mileage?  Will it be right hand drive?  Is it the coupe?  Is it a soft-top?

You can see from the questions above that when you’re considering a used MX-5 there is a range of options.  One of the reasons for this is that it is one of the best selling sports two-seaters of all time, with more than three quarters of a million sold globally and three generations (or main body variants).  The nippy little vehicle has also scratched up more than 150 awards in its’ time.

So why do I want one?  Well where else can you get a rear wheel drive, proper sporty, two-seater convertible?  Well unless you get a ‘galactic’ mileage vintage oddsmobile, the answer is absolutely nowhere at all.  The car is popular for a very good reason.

If you haven’t been in a small two-seater sports car with the roof down, I’d recommend that you give it a go.  Go to your local dealership or car supermarket and test-drive one, even if you’ve no intention of buying.  It’s like being in control of an over-sized go cart, in a way that’s incredibly fulfilling to drive.  It’s an experience (no doubt due to the wind in your hair and the low driving position) that’s enjoyable even at reasonable (legal) speeds.

How I envisage the project
Of course the first part of the project is understanding exactly what I’m going to be buying, beyond of course a second car in the shape of a Mazda MX-5.  At the price I’m looking at, it won’t be a brand new motor by any means.  It’ll be in the either 1.6 (reactive but not sprightly) or the 1.8 litre variety, which has a little more oomph to it.

I wouldn’t be surprised (or really that bothered) if it had more than 100,000 on the clock.  I’ve heard of many Mazda vehicles going beyond 250,000 - these things are built to last.  However, I won’t take my chances so I’ll have a home service with new sparks, air filter, oil change and general checks.  Of course, the main thing to look at when buying any car is the panels - if the engine is okay and the panels are too then you should be sound.

The next part of the project will be development of the battle plan.  If you’re unfamiliar with the MSA, then you’re probably not into motor racing.  I’ll tell you a bit more about my motoring club in another article, but I’m going to get my MSA license (not sure which class yet) later this year.  When I have this, the car will start to see more modifications in the form of a sports exhaust and sports cams and valves.  This could be an increase of up to 35 BHP.  I thoroughly intend to spank it around a track a short time after that.

Whilst I’m sure I’m not the next Lewis Hamilton (have you tried concentrating that hard for that long?) I can’t wait to get a few laps done on the track, or even cruise around the coast with the top down.  One thing I can’t change however is the British weather - so if you are thinking of following a similar plan, make sure to check that the roof doesn’t leak!  I’ll follow this post up when I purchase the thing (some time after the Scottish Motorshow in case I broker a deal for something else whilst I’m there), but in the meantime the planning contines - as well as the heartfelt recommendation to give a soft-top a go.