 |
|
Caterham – A Small Scale Success Story
|
Some people like to draw up ‘bucket lists’, detailed lists of things they want to do before they die. When I was a teenager – and that, readers, was some time yonder – I drew up my own. It included such clichéd and hackneyed choices as visiting New York, Rome, Paris and a number of other seemingly far-fetched destinations, marrying the (then) girl of my dreams and, perhaps the most desirable of all, owning a Lotus 7.
Alas, my travelling experience has been limited, she married a friend of mine and I still do not own a Lotus 7. I have driven one, though. Well, sort of, for the one I drove was actually a Caterham. If you’re unfamiliar with the 7 it was Colin Chapman’s original ‘race car for the road’, a basic, tiny, two seat sports car designed for fun rather than practicality.
Fast, Fun and Furious!
When Chapman had grand ideas and discontinued the 7 in the early 1970′s the rights to manufacture the model were bought by an enterprising dealer, Caterham Cars. That decision was to be a winner for the man concerned, one Graham Nearn, for the model is still made today, and apart from more modern components and powerful engine choices, is little changed from the original.
Less of the history lesson, and on to the point: if you like fast, exciting and purpose built sports cars, you simply have to try a Caterham 7. There is, and this is no cliché, nothing else like it on the road (bar a few imitators – see Westfield). It’s crude, very quick, alarmingly simple and absolutely fantastic fun. It’s a bucket list dead-cert.
Now, the 7 has not been the only car that Caterham has produced. Far from it, in fact, for the company has tried its hand at a range of small, quick and sometimes impressive sports cars. The 21, for instance, was an attempt at a low volume sports car to challenge the likes of the Lotus Elise and various TVR’s, and it was well received. The problem was that Caterham simply did not have the resources to produce the car and as a result less than fifty were made. It is now a sought after collectors car, and one that will increase in value.
Motor Racing Ambitions
With the 21 came the first serious foray in motor sport – something we will come back to in a moment – and the realisation that the 7, in its various forms, was the way to go. The latest versions, the Superlight and CRS, offer performance that is simply breathtaking, and a power to weight ratio among the best of all road cars.
Now, in 2012, Caterham has announced its intention to enter the market again with a new, lightweight sports car design, and this has come about thanks to the ambitions of the new owners. Have I mentioned the new owners? Have you heard of a gentleman by the name of Tony Fernandes? If you happen to be a fan of the UK football team Queens Park Rangers you will have done. Likewise if you are a Formula One fan.
Fernandes is a Malaysian businessman who heads up AirAsia, a major player in the airline business, as well as a number of other ventures. In 2011 he also bought Caterham Cars. Many people questioned what interest such a businessman would have in a small, little known motor manufacturer that still gives its customers the option of building their cars from a kit, but dig a little deeper and the reason becomes clear.
Caterham vs. Lotus – Formula One Feud
In 2010 the Lotus name returned to Formula One, under the ‘Lotus Racing’ banner, and owned by Fernandes. The team met with little success, as was expected of a brand new team, but also met with plenty controversy. Fernandes claimed the rights to the Lotus name via a convoluted legal case claiming that ‘Team Lotus’ – as the team would be known in 2011 – was a different entity to ‘Lotus Cars’. Now, things became ever more diluted when Proton, the Malaysian company that owns Lotus Cars, became involved with the Renault F1 team, and decided they would also use the Lotus name. So, for 2011 there were two teams using the brand name Lotus, each of whom had nothing to do with the other.
Are you with me so far? Team Lotus – Fernandes’ outfit – ran in the old green and yellow colours that the Lotus team had used in the 1960′s, while Lotus-Renault decided upon black and gold, the famous John Player Special colours from the 1970′s. It all got very confusing, and then more so when the case came to court.
It seems that, rather than go to the trouble of an expensive lawsuit, agreement was met and, with the purchase of Caterham Cars, Fernandes gave himself the best get out clause, and rebranded his team as Caterham F1 for the 2012 season.
There, that’s the complex stuff out of the way. Now we have the saga of Caterham Cars, with its intended new model aimed at Lotus buyers, and Lotus Cars whom, rumour has it, Proton now wants to off-load to the highest bidder!
It will be interesting to see what the new Caterham looks like; we have stories that it will be a traditional, full body coupe style design rather than the 7′s open body style, and that it will be somewhat more refined. That is fitting when you are pitching a Formula One team as the publicity vehicle. Look where Ferrari ended up….
Tags: Caterham
 |
Other Posts You Might Like
BMW's New M Performance Range
Out of The Running: Peugeot Leaves Racing
The 2013 SRT Viper: The Snake Pit's Next Hatchling
Hangout With Toyota 86 Lead Engineer Tada-San
