5
The Perfect Racing Machine
CreatedbyvisionaryFormulaOnedesigner
ColinChapmantheLotusSevenwasaroad-
goingsportscarbasedonracingcarprinciples
andsuppliedtothecustomerasabuild-it-
yourselfkitALotusdealerintheSurreytown
ofCaterhamsawagreatpotentialforthetiny
sportscarandinCaterhamCarsbought
therightsfromLotusandstartedtobuildthe
third generation ‘Series ’ version which
remainsinproductiontoday
PutsidebysideanoriginalLotusSevenSeries
fromwouldlookverysimilartothecars
beingbuiltnearlyfiftyyearslaterButunder
theskinCaterhamhascontinuedtorefineand
developthecarensuringthatitsoverallracing
performanceisalwayshighlycompetitive
ThemostpowerfulCaterhamcartodatethe
SevenRwasrevealedinWitha
HPsuperchargedFordenginedevelopedby
Caterhamcoupledwithasix-speedsequential
racinggearboxthelbskgcar
acceleratesfrom-mph-kphinjust
secondsandhasatopspeedofmph
kphItalsoutilizesthelatestinmaterial
engineeringwithlightweightcarbon-fiberused
forthefendersinteriorpanelsdashboardand
seatswhilethewheelsandtireshavebeen
developedespeciallyforthecar
Itisestimatedthatthereareasmanyas
Sevenscompetingonanygivenweekendwith
championshipsallovertheworldfromColombia
toTaiwanTheCaterhamfactoryinDartford
KentUKcontinuestobuildcarseachyear
withwelloverhalfofthecarsbeingexported
aroundtheworldAlthoughallexportcarsare
nowfullypre-builtlikeanyotherregularroad
carcustomersintheUKstillhavetheoption
tobuildtheircarfromakitjustliketheoriginal
andmorethandosoeachyear