Power About Caterham
Caterham Cars is a manufacturer of specialist lightweight sports cars based in Caterham, Surrey, England and part of the British motor industry. Their only current model, the Caterham Seven, is a direct evolution of the Series 3 Lotus Seven designed by Colin Chapman.
Background
Caterham Cars had been a major Lotus dealer during the 60's, and its founder, Graham Nearn, purchased the rights to continue manufacture of the Seven design from Chapman in 1973, after Lotus announced their intention to discontinue the model. Caterham initially restarted manufacture of the Lotus Seven Series 4; however, when this proved unpopular, production switched to a Series 3 model in 1974.
The Lotus/Caterham 7 is widely regarded by car enthusiasts and the media as one of the iconic sports cars of the 20th Century. With production entering its 50th year in 2007, the Seven still leads the market in track performance and driving enjoyment.
As with their Lotus Seven precursors, Caterhams are constructed of aluminium sheet attached to a tubular steel chassis. All Sevens are front engined with rear wheel drive and two seats. Their extremely high performance is achieved through light weight (less than 500 kg on some versions) rather than particularly powerful engines.
