F1’s Team Lotus Acquires British Sportscar Maker Caterham

The owners of Formula One Team Lotus announced today the acquisition of lightweight sportscar manufacturer Caterham, for an undisclosed sum from the shareholder consortium led by Corven Ventures.

Based in England, Caterham has made a name for itself for building the Seven, a lightweight two-seater sports car that was designed by Lotus founder Colin Chapman and who sold the rights of the car to Caterham in 1973.

Team Lotus chiefs Tony Fernandes, Kamarudin Meranun and SM Nasarudin said in a statement that the company plans to expand Caterham’s profile and product family while also continuing the development of the Seven.

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New Caterham Seven Supersport Targets Hardcore Enthusiasts on a Bugdet

A little over two months after the introduction of its first truly new model in 15 years, the SP/300R, Caterham has now presented the first brand new addition in two years to its core model series, the Seven. As its name implies, the new Seven Supersport is derived directly from the race-prepped version that competes in the one-make Caterham Supersport championship.

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Artist Envisions a New Take on the Lotus Caterham 7

Much in the same way as Morgan’s pre-Supersports models, the Lotus / Caterham 7 has remained relatively unchanged throughout its long life. A lightweight body with no fixed doors or roof, a flat windscreen, exposed front wheels and a four cylinder motor embody the Seven’s design and engineering philosophy.

Diseno-Art has drawn up a nice design study in the form of the “New 7”, a vehicle designed to expand and complement the existing range of 7-badged vehicles.

With larger proportions and more refinement than the archaic (yet still beautiful) lines of the current generation, the New 7 is designed to be uniquely tailored to each customer’s needs and offer a high level of customer service while still holding to the brand’s philosophy of lightweight, simple and fun.

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Caterham-Lola SP/300R: British Sportscar Maker Reveals its First Ever Prototype Racer, Road Going Model a Possibility

The Autosport International Show in Birmingham, UK, welcomed the world premiere of Caterham's first ever sports prototype racing car, the Caterham-Lola SP/300R. Created in partnership with legendary British racing and engineering brand Lola, the SP/300R is currently in the final stages of development and will be ready for a one-make championship in 2012, with the company planning to build up to 25 examples per year. Caterham said that a road-legal version of the sports car is also being considered.

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Caterham Retires The Stig's Superlight R500 [with VIDEO]

The Caterham Superlight R500 took the world by surprise in 2008 with its 263 hp 2.0-liter naturally aspirated four-pot and sub-3.0 seconds 0-60mph sprint time. The same year it was launched, Top Gear’s racing driver, The Stig, drove it around the show’s test track completing a lap in just 1 minute and 17.9 seconds. That's the seventh fastest official lap time ever recorded on the show, putting to shame “heavyweights” like the Bugatti Veyron.

But everything comes to an end, and today, Caterham announced that the special model is making its final journey next week before being retired from active service.

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Caterham launches Roadsport 125 Monaco Special Edition

Caterham is ready to release another "entry-level" special edition Seven in order to celebrate the amazing city-state that is Monaco. Called the "Roadsport 125 Monaco", this Seven gets a unique paint scheme representing the Monegasque flag to highlight its aluminum body; also, "Monaco" is pasted down the side if people can't make the connection.

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Caterham Launches Special Edition Seven Designed by Lambretta

Caterham has joined forces with British-owned fashion company, Lambretta Clothing, to produce a special edition version of its Seven sportscar. The visual overhaul includes a unique body paint, decals and livery that would make Austin Powers feel pretty groovy baby...

The same theme continues inside with a matching color scheme spanning the leather seats, dash, carpets and boot. Hand-stitched seat piping, embossed Lambretta motifs and a Moto-Lita steering wheel round off the interior upgrades.

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Useless Fact of the Day: Sunseeker Predator's Boot Easily Fits a Caterham Seven

So, what does Sunseeker International's new Predator 108 Special Edition luxury yacht have in common with the lightweight Caterham Seven sports car? Well, for most, nothing much other than they wouldn't mind owning the keys to both. But for the luxury super yacht builder, the storage of the Caterham Seven in the garage area at the stern of the Predator is "the ultimate expression of the millionaire lifestyle".

We know a few Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin -you get the picture- owners that would disagree, but whatever.

The Sunseeker Predator 108 Special Edition seen here with the Caterham made its world debut at this week's London International Boat Show 2010 (LIBS) that's open until the 17th of January.

Notably, it is the largest craft ever to be displayed inside the ExCel centre, in London's Docklands.

According to Sunseeker, the Predator 108 Special Edition is capable of speeds up to 34 knots with prices starting from around £7.1 million or at today's exchange rates, US$11.3 million / €7.9 million.

Caterham Increases Production by 10 Percent, Hires Extra Staff

An increased demand for its Seven sports car has prompted Caterham to rise 2009 production levels by around ten percent to about 420 units. The British firm said that it will recruit additional workforce to the production side of the business to help cope with the increased pressure as the company's order book is already full until mid-October. The maker of the classic two-seater that has remained unchanged over the years said that growth from UK, mainland Europe and other markets has exceeded expectations in 2009.

"Our international sales drive is delivering the results thanks not only to favorable exchange rates but more importantly the quality of business partners we have established in markets including France, Italy, Japan and Germany," said Ansar Ali, Caterham Cars managing director.

Caterham RS Levante 500HP Sold Out - All Eight of Them (with Video)

Eight cars might not sound a lot, but at a cost of £115,000+ each, which is the equivalent of around $200,500 or €148,000 with the current exchange rates, it is somewhat surprising that that Caterham managed to sell all RS Levante supercars in a relatively short period of time. The most powerful production Caterham ever which is being hand-built by Hertfordshire-based RS Performance in association with Caterham Cars, packs a 500+bhp 2.4-liter supercharged V8 engine, housed in a modified version of the lightweight Caterham SV chassis. -Continued

Weighing in at just 520kg or 1,146 pounds, the RS Levante boasts a power to weight ratio close to 1000bhp-per-tonne, or nearly double that of the Bugatti Veyron... So it's not surprising that the Brits announce a 0-60 mph (96 km/h) sprint time of under 3,0 seconds -even though the top speed is limited to 150mph or 241 km/h.

Aspid: Caterham-esque Sportscar with up to 400Hp Coming to London Show

The never ending saga of small firms popping up from nowhere continues with the Aspid that will make its world debut at the British International Motor Show in late July. The Aspid (Spanish name for the snake that killed Cleopatra) has been developed by the automotive engineering consultancy IFR Automotive that was founded by automotive engineer Ignacio Fernández Rodriquez who has worked in the past for Prodrive and the Mitsubishi World Rally Championship team.

IFR Automotive supports that the Aspid is the only car in the world to meet both FIA safety requirements and European homologation standards. Initial prototypes feature a 2.0-litre engine; either naturally aspirated to deliver 270Hp or supercharged to 400Hp with power delivered in both cases to the rear wheels via a 6-speed manual gearbox and limited-slip differential. -Continued

The lightweight aluminium and carbon structure of the car, which has a mass of just 700kg (1,550lb) and the resulting 570Hp-per-tonne (1.75kg/Hp) power-to-weight ratio give awe-inspiring performance figures with the Aspid accelerating from zero to 62mph (100km/h) in just 2.8 seconds and 100mph (160km/h) in a mouth dropping 5.9 seconds. Maximum speed is restricted to 155mph (250km/

The Aspid braking performance is equally impressive with IFR Automotive supporting that the sportscar can come to a complete halt from 100mph (160km/h) in a mere 3.0 seconds. When cornering, the car has been said to generate an intense 1.6g of lateral acceleration.

IFR Automotive says that journalists will have the opportunity to drive the first production models later this year, with the first cars being delivered to customers in summer 2009. Prices are set to start at £75,000 (€95,000) with fully loaded models expected to cost twice as much. (Pic edited by Carscoop)