5
The Perfect Racing Machine
CreatedbyvisionaryFormulaOnedesigner
ColinChapmantheLotusSevenwasaroad-
goingsportscarbasedonracingcarprinciples
andsuppliedtothecustomerasabuild-it-
yourselfkitALotusdealerintheSurreytown
ofCaterhamsawagreatpotentialforthetiny
sportscarandinCaterhamCarsbought
therightsfromLotusandstartedtobuildthe
third generation ‘Series ’ version which
remainsinproductiontoday
PutsidebysideanoriginalLotusSevenSeries
fromwouldlookverysimilartothecars
beingbuiltnearlyfiftyyearslaterHowever
undertheskinCaterhamhascontinuedto
refineanddevelopthecarensuringthatits
overallracingperformanceisalwayshighly
competitive
ThemostpowerfulCaterhamcartodatethe
SevenRwasrevealedinWitha
BHPsuperchargedFordenginedeveloped
byCaterhamcoupledtoasix-speedsequential
racing gearboxthelbskgcar
acceleratesfrom-mph-kphinjust
secondsandhasatopspeedofmph
kphItalsoutilisesthelatestinmaterial
engineeringwithlightweightcarbon-fibreused
forthewingsinteriorpanelsdashboardand
seatswhilstthewheelsandtyreshavebeen
developedespeciallyforthecar
Itisestimatedthatthereareasmanyas
Sevenscompetingonanygivenweekendwith
championshipsallovertheworldfromColombia
toTaiwanTheCaterhamfactoryinDartford
Kentcontinuestobuildcarseachyear
withwelloverhalfofthecarsbeingexported
aroundtheworldAlthoughallexportcarsare
nowfullybuiltlikeanyotherregularroadcar
customersintheUKstillhavetheoptionto
buildtheircarfromakitjustliketheoriginal
andmorethandosoeachyear