2009 Caterham 7 SV Roadsport

Of all the race car manufacturers, Colin Chapman was undoubtedly the man who has had the biggest influence and legacy. Often described as a wayward yet innovative genius, his list of important innovations is far too long to list here – if you’re curious check out wikipedia!

He started racing in 1948 with a modified Austin Seven, which he nicknamed ‘Lotus’ after his pet name for his then girlfriend and future wife Hazel, whom he nicknamed ‘lotus blossom’. His car was immediately successful and he used the winnings to develop the Lotus Mk2 from a lock-up garage in North London. By 1952 he had moved on to the Lotus 6, and started selling the chassis as a kit so other racers could install their own favoured engine and gearbox combination and thus the car would be eligible in a much wider variety of formulae.

By 1957 Chapman had sold around 100 of the Lotus 6 kits, enough to persuade him that there was a market for a road/race car based on similar principles to the 6 – this was to be called the 7. Chapman was convinced of the advantages of small lightweight racing cars, giving huge power to weight benefits. He actually referred to the Seven as something he had dreamed of designing since he was a schoolboy - a 'four wheeled motorbike'.

The first sevens were priced at £587 and were powered by a 40bhp Ford engine coupled to a single dry plate clutch and a three speed Ford gearbox. The design proved to be an instant success, Graham Hill being the first driver to race the seven in 1958. Over the next decade there were three more series of the Seven developed, improving transmission, suspension and increasing power to 84bhp.

The success of the 7 – Chapman sold 2,500 in the 15 years to 1973 – allowed Lotus Engineering to move to a purpose built factory in Cheshunt in 1959 from where he was able to plot Lotus’ dominance of F1 in the 60’s.

In 1967 Caterham Cars became the sole distributor of the 7, and in 1973 when Chapman decided to move Lotus Cars upmarket into cars such as the Esprit, he sold the production rights to Caterham Cars. They have continually developed and improved the car since. Major developments over the years have included the introduction of double wishbone front and de Dion rear suspension, four wheel disc brakes, a six speed close ration gear box, and lead free engines with catalytic converters.

In 1976 the R.A.C. banned the seven from racing, as they said it was ‘too fast’ - so the Caterham Seven developed its own racing championships (of which there are now four).

Caterham (and it’s competitors!) produce around 1,000 7-a-likes per year, and in this day of huge power and driver aids, the Caterham 7 appeals to those who like their driving experience raw (and occasionally wet, as the weather gear was an afterthought) and direct. Our car is a 2004 SV, with the punchy and lightweight (although somewhat fragile) K-series engine mated with Caterham’s own 6-speed gearbox. The SV is the wider and longer version of the 7 – as the population of the UK is much taller and wider now than it was in 1957!

And Chapman? Lotus F1 success continued through the 70’s, but he died of a heart attack in 1982 just before investigations started into his role in the Delorean affair, which would have almost certainly seen him jailed.