Caterham is a manufacturer of light sports cars headquartered in Caterham, Surrey, England. Its only current model, the Caterham Seven, is a direct evolution of the Lotus Seven Series 3 designed by Colin Chapman and originally launched in 1968. It is one of the most successful sports car manufacturers in the UK. Over the decades, Caterham has continued to refine the design, always respecting the brilliance of the original lightweight construction of Chapman, a true designer, inventor and builder. Today at COOLthelifestyle we analyze in detail the history of this famous car brand.
Anthony Cullen Bruce Chapman was an automobile designer, inventor, and builder. He graduated from University College London with a bachelor's degree in structural engineering and later joined the Royal Air Force.
His acquired knowledge of the latest aerospace engineering techniques was vital to achieving the best automotive technology, which he will always remember.
In 1952 he founded Lotus Cars, a sports car company that has now become an icon. His team, Lotus, won 7 Formula 1 World Championships and the Indianapolis 500. Its Lotus line consists of several hundred sports cars, which use in-line 4-cylinder engines, with less power than competitors, but with light chassis, bodies and highly tuned suspensions, thus achieving extremely high performance.
In 1957, mustachioed genius Colin Chapman built a peppy little two-seat sports car. The car was designed to be 'fit for purpose': Chapman wanted owners to be able to experience the joy and pride of building their own car and then taking it to the track.
To this end, he came up with the motto: “Simplify, then add lightness.” Thus seven were born.
“Simplify, then add lightness.”
After a life devoted to engineering, Chapman died, aged just 54, in 1982, and remains brilliantly remembered as one of the great names in Formula 1 history.
More than sixty years later, Caterham, which acquired the rights to build and develop Seven from Chapman in 1973, remains committed to the original Chapman philosophy and continues to produce Seven variants.
With a model range ranging in power from 125hp to 310hp, and with each car weighing just over 500kg, Caterham's eight variants offer something to suit every taste, and every level of driving experience.
Caterham's exclusive British cars are produced exclusively in the UK, from start to finish, with the ultimate goal of reducing weight and increasing power.
But one thing remains constant… Whether you're behind the wheel of the relatively quiet Seven 270 or the incredibly fast Seven 620R, the fun remains.
“At Caterham, we have always put driver experience at the heart of what we do. Just as Chapman has done for more than 60 years, we are committed to reducing weight, increasing power and giving our customers an exciting drive, both on road and track, as part of our popular Single Model Car Championship Series .from the brand.
“At Caterham, we have always put driver experience at the heart of what we do.”
“In keeping with our ethos, we have created more than 1,000 new racing drivers through the Caterham Academy programme, but all seven have the ability to make you feel like a champion wherever you drive.”
Caterham and the Seven have a history forever intertwined. “We are the proud custodians of Seven, the people who know and love this car – that's how they define themselves. We are the passion and engineering behind the current incarnation of Chapman Design. A uniquely British car and sometimes strange in our own way, we consider it our duty to push the limits and limits of this little car to the absolute limit, while maintaining the driving purity and racing spirit that defined the original car and “they turned it into a great car”. icon.”
“We are the passion and engineering behind the current incarnation of the Chapman design.”
“Our collection of models may or may not be mainstream. But its precise shapes include everything a real driver would want from a car. From Sunday Cruiser to racing enthusiast and aspiring racing driver, you'll find a Caterham Seven to suit your needs. It is handcrafted, backed by an ideology and heritage unparalleled in our sector.
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