The Caterham 7 Sports Car

When the visionary designer Colin Chapmen first set out to design the Lotus 7 he had lightness, speed and agility at the forefront of his mind. What he could not of known was that he was about to create a timeless design classic, which still has the ability to embarrass supercars costing over ten times as much.


The first Lotus 7 was released to the public in 1957 and cost £1000 pounds to buy new. However the simplicity of the design meant that Lotus could also offer the 7 in kit form where it would cost half as much. Chapman's constant aim throughout all of his cars at Lotus was to lightness, ensuring that the cars he produced had supreme agility and road holding.


As Lotus grew in stature Chapman realized that the company would need to shed its kit car image if they were ever to be considered a serious supercar manufacturers and so, in 1973, the designs and rights to the Lotus 7 were sold to Caterham Cars and the new Caterham 7 was born.

It is no surprise that the Caterham 7 has continued to be popular with enthusiastic driver throughout the decades, with its simple engine at the front, power at the back and two seats in the middle philosophy, this sports car was destined to be a hit. As is often the case when you have a winning design on your hands you often find others trying to copy it and Caterham is no exception, pursing several legal cases to protect the design rights.

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