Caterham Seven Driving Experiences

It’s actually Lotus we have to thank for the Caterham Seven coming into being. Their model, the Lotus 7, was designed and conceptualized by their founder, Colin Chapman, in 1957, and was famously driven to victory by Graham Hill in several Formula One championships.

However, after Lotus decided to move away from producing kit cars and focus on production of more advanced sports cars and supercars in 1973, they sold the rights to Caterham Cars, and the rest, as they say, is history. The Caterham Seven first went into production in 1974, and adopted the same ‘lightness, then performance’ approach their successors had.

It perhaps explains why the Seven, with its light frame chassis and stressed aluminium body panels, really comes into its own out on the track, with a 1.8 litre engine packing 165 bhp, and the ability to zip from 0 - 60 mph in a super swift 3.5 seconds, with a maximum speed of 130 mph.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary since initial production, Caterham produced a special commemorative model of the Seven in the summer of 2007, which included optional celebratory livery options to mark the occasion too.

It has also been the subject of many books, including Dennis Ortenberger’s 1981 publication 'The Legend of the Lotus Seven', which traced its early roots with Lotus to the present day, and Chris Rees’ 1997 biography, titled 'Caterham Sevens: The Official Story of a Unique British Sportscar'.