Caterham Cars has been selling the Seven, a lightweight sports
car originally created by Colin Chapman and launched as a Lotus,
since the late 1950's. In 1973 Caterham purchased the rights to
manufacture the car from Lotus, and has been building and selling
it ever since. Over the decades Caterham have continued to refine
and enhance the design, whilst always respecting the brilliance of
the original formula by "adding lightness".
Motorsport is at the heart of the Seven and it is the original
'race car for the road'. The car was designated 'too fast to race'
by the authorities in the 1970's due to its overwhelming
superiority over its rivals, and was banned from competition. This
inspired Caterham to pioneer one make racing with strict
regulations to minimise cost and produce close, exciting
racing.
Meanwhile, a devastating class victory at the 2002 Nurburgring
24-Hours underlined the car's abilities even against modern rivals
- to the extent that Caterham were once again banned from future
races. Today there are more Sevens racing around the world than
almost any other single marque, with over 700 competitors spread
over 11 countries.
Caterham's road cars continue to receive universal praise for
their shocking level of performance and their ability to deliver
forgotten levels of driver involvement and feedback. In 2009
Caterham's flagship model the Superlight R500 was awarded Top
Gear's coveted "Car of the Year" prize following the car's
appearance on the television show.
In 2011 Caterham announced the introduction of an all new racing
car, the SP/300.R. Developed in partnership with another iconic
British race car manufacturer, Lola Cars, it demonstrates the
perfect alchemy of British engineering superiority and rich
motorsport heritage to deliver a lightweight, minimalist product
that still reflects Colin Chapman's original philosophy.