Caterham has been using K-series Rover engine for over 10 years. Last year they formed a partnership with MG Rover which was much greater than just the exclusive supply of powertrain and technology. The arrangement also allows Caterham to use MG Rover's XPOWER branding on its racing and high performance road cars.

I had heard that Scalextric were planning to produce a MG Caterham last year so I was a little disappointed when it eventually arrived in the Gulf colours - I expected one covered in MG logos! There is a MG logo low down on each side but being a light green it doesn't show very well against the light blue.

The car is not a true copy, as can be seen from the actual car pictured above, but is a more than acceptable model for a mass produced product. All the sponsor logos are there in their correct places so the model looks right.

I have thought about correcting the errors. Removing the head lights and the different exhaust are easy enough but matching the paint might be a problem if the complicated roll cage was built and the rear light clusters removed..

Gulf Lubricants UK has reintroduced their brand into the UK market and to mark its return to motor sport sponsored the defending champion, Chris Cooper, in the 2002 IGC Caterham Superlight Challenge. This is a model of that car.

 The car is a Caterham R400 which, though outwardly recognisable as having as its basis Colin Chapman's timeless Lotus 7 design, has over 46 years of refinement and evolution become a very different and much more sophisticated sports car.

Under the bonnet is a naturally aspirated MG-Rover 1.8-litre, 16-valve engine which develops 200bhp at 7900rpm, delivered to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. With a minimum weight set at just 500kg - less than half that of a new Mini - it's easy to see why the R400 flies.