Chris' Object of Automotive Desire - 1/16

Any automotive engineer will tell you that weight is the enemy of any aspect of vehicle dynamics - a heavy car will accelerate more slowly, reach a lower top speed, handle more ponderously, and get worse fuel mileage.

No automaker has preached the gospel of light weight more religiously than Lotus - and the ultimate expression of that fervor was the Lotus Seven - a long-obsolete design that yet lives on both on the street and as a dominant force in amateur racing as the Caterham Super Seven.

While the Seven looks quaint - and well it should, as it's a 48-year-old design - it weighs not much more than 1,000 - and married to a modern engines in Caterham form, the Seven boasts a power-to-weight ratio of a supercar. The straightline performance belies the Seven's antedivulian looks, making the featherweight Seven a holy terror on the racetrack and a blast on the road.

The top-of-the-line Caterham Seven comes with a 260-horsepower Cosworth four-cylinder - propelling the Seven to a claimed 0-60 time of 3.1 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph. The acceleration numbers, in particular, are world-beaters.

Just don't expect to be too comfortable or to use the Seven to give your Black Lab a ride to the vet.