Caterham Seven

In short

• Built since 1973 under the rights bought from Lotus; made in Dartford, Kent, since 1987.
• Spaceframe chassis with stressed aluminium panels; live rear axle or De Dion suspension depending on the model.
• Current range from the Seven 170 with a 62 kW (85 PS) Suzuki 660 cc turbo to the 620 with 231 kW (314 PS).
• The 170 weighs 440 kg in R specification; the 2013 620R had 232 kW (315 PS) and 297 Nm.

Caterham Seven at a glance

From Lotus Seven to Caterham Seven

Colin Chapman's Lotus launched the Seven in 1957, and the story of the original is told in our history of the Lotus Seven. In 1973 Lotus sold the rights to its agents: Caterham Cars in England and Steel Brothers in New Zealand. Caterham's first cars, from 1974, were Series 3 Sevens, built after the stock of Series 4 kits ran out. Between 1974 and 1989 the company traded as Seven Cars Limited.

The Seven has stayed in production since then, with new engines, chassis widths and suspension layouts over the years. Chapman himself is profiled on our page about Colin Chapman, and his company in our history of Lotus.

Chassis and suspension

The Seven uses a steel spaceframe with stressed aluminium body panels. Early Caterhams kept the Lotus live rear axle. In the mid-1980s Caterham introduced De Dion rear suspension, and the live axle was phased out in 2002. It came back for the light Suzuki-engined 160, 165 and 170 models.

Two chassis widths are offered. The SV gives 110 mm more cockpit width than the original Series 3 chassis and adds 25 kg. The CSR of October 2004 went further: it used an SV-based frame with pushrod front suspension and double-wishbone rear suspension, and its torsional stiffness rose by 25 %.

Engines over the years

The Seven has used engines from several makers.

The 170, with 62 kW (85 PS), weighs 440 kg in R specification. At the other end, the supercharged Ford Duratec of the 620 makes 231 kW (314 PS).

Current models and performance

English Wikipedia's infobox lists a typical kerb weight of 545 kg. The 620 is sold only as a factory-built car; the other models are also available as kits. Our car rankings compare power-to-weight across models. With 62 kW and 440 kg, even the 170 has about 141 kW per tonne.

Special versions: R500 and CSR

The R500 is the best-known of the extreme Sevens. Its 0–100 mph time of 8.2 seconds comes from English Wikipedia, while EVO magazine measured 8.8 seconds. Caterham also built a small number of other models: the Caterham 21 roadster of 1994 reached only 48 cars, and only eight Caterham Levante cars were made to mark more than 50 years of production.

Caterham in motorsport

The Seven has its own racing ladder in Britain. Caterham Super 7 Racing has run as a one-make series since 1986. The Caterham Academy, introduced in 1995, is for novice drivers and uses a sealed 89 kW (120 bhp) engine and a five-speed gearbox. Further steps are the Caterham Motorsport Ladder and the Caterham Graduates Racing Club. In Formula One, the Caterham name appeared on the former Team Lotus from 2012 to 2014, before the team folded for financial reasons.

Photo gallery