RE: Caterham Seven Sprint announced

[NuisanceFactor]

Ah yes, that's true, but next year it's 50 years since The Prisoner was first broadcast.

[Hugh Jarse]

subirg said:

I like it! It's clearly different to all the other caterhams in the line up and offers something retro cool to those that want it. Good one Caterham. I hope they sell out fast!

It is a lovely, lovely thing. Hot cakes etc.

[Vroom101]

Fair enough to Caterham for cashing in on the whole 'retro' thing which is so prevalent at the moment. If anything, they've got more claim to it than most other manufacturers.

I just wish, at the same time, they'd be bit more forward thinking and produce something similar looking to the Honda 2&4 concept from last year.



http://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-japanesecars/ho...

[hufggfg]

Vroom101 said:

Fair enough to Caterham for cashing in on the whole 'retro' thing which is so prevalent at the moment. If anything, they've got more claim to it than most other manufacturers.

I just wish, at the same time, they'd be bit more forward thinking and produce something similar looking to the Honda 2&4 concept from last year.



http://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-japanesecars/ho...

There's a massive discussion in the Caterham section on the "Ultimate Seven Product" which is what Caterham have been marketing. With a lot of varying views how they could evolve the car, but personally I don't think loosing all luggage space, one seat, and all weather protection, would be the right way to do it. Awesome for a design exercise of course (as Honda showed), but I doubt there are many people who'd actually want to buy such a thing, and likely wouldn't appeal to much of the existing Seven ownership.

[Drummond Baize]

Nanook said:

Looks cool I suppose, but who's going to buy it?

By all accounts, they've all been sold on the strength of its unveiling at Goodwood alone. So, to answer your question, sixty people are going to buy it.

[Vroom101]

hufggfg said:

There's a massive discussion in the Caterham section on the "Ultimate Seven Product" which is what Caterham have been marketing. With a lot of varying views how they could evolve the car, but personally I don't think loosing all luggage space, one seat, and all weather protection, would be the right way to do it. Awesome for a design exercise of course (as Honda showed), but I doubt there are many people who'd actually want to buy such a thing, and likely wouldn't appeal to much of the existing Seven ownership.

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear in my post. I don't think Caterham should do a carbon copy of the Honda, with all the restrictions that would entail. I just think they should move the visual design on. Keep (or heaven forbid, even improve ) the practicality of the current car, but with a more modern body. Carry on producing the Seven, but make the modern version alongside it. And I don't mean another 21

I know Caterham are a small company, but one thing that the bosses of small car companies love telling us is how they can move quickly as they aren't weighed down with the corporate baggage of large manufacturers. Well Caterham, show us the way...

[cptsideways]

Love it, have been very tempted by a 160 for a while but this ticks all the boxes, err except the ££'s

[DonkeyApple]

Vroom101 said:

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear in my post. I don't think Caterham should do a carbon copy of the Honda, with all the restrictions that would entail. I just think they should move the visual design on. Keep (or heaven forbid, even improve ) the practicality of the current car, but with a more modern body. Carry on producing the Seven, but make the modern version alongside it. And I don't mean another 21

I know Caterham are a small company, but one thing that the bosses of small car companies love telling us is how they can move quickly as they aren't weighed down with the corporate baggage of large manufacturers. Well Caterham, show us the way...

Trouble is, they can move quickly but when they get it wrong they are dead, as opposed to just stting down a division, firing some people and moving on.

Caterham, like many small business that are built on one great product, have that massive problem that trying anything new could bankrupt them.

The real reason why these small companies churn out special additions is that it is how they market their brand without having the budget of the majors to buy ad space. Without releasing specials through the year we would never see a small business like Caterham mentioned in the motoring press and they would lose brand presence.

I quite like this one though.

[CABC]

Looked good in flesh at Goodwood. It sort of looks like a Morgan (retro tick for missus) yet drives like a Caterham. Not surprised they sold out at Goodwood.

[Ozzie Osmond]

CABC said:

Looked good in flesh at Goodwood.

But did it look £28,000 good?

I thought it looked like a grossly overpriced toy.

[Pan Pan Pan]

As others have pointed out, Caterham are a small company, and each car is built by engineers, not by robots, so as with many hand made goods, they tend to be on the pricey side, But all of them from the cheapest to the top model are generally a hoot to drive. Not sure I could justify or would pay the prices for the top model/s but with a TG lap time of 1.17.9, the only cars on the power lap board ahead of the Seven, are of the multi, multi thousand pound hyper/super car variety.
Not sure about some peoples idea that Caterham should change the way the car looks. Many, if not all buy a Seven precisely `because' of the way it looks. Changing the look of a Caterham is like saying the look of a Giraffe or a Whale should be changed simply because it is a `look. that has been around for a long, long time. It might be possible to change their looks, but if we did, they would no longer be a `proper' Giraffe or Whale.
If Caterham were to modernize, IMHO it should be to upgrade the tech of the `materials' used for the chassis, body work and to uprate the fittings and components, but not to change the shape, or context of the car at all.

[CABC]

Ozzie Osmond said:

CABC said:

Looked good in flesh at Goodwood.

But did it look £28,000 good?

I thought it looked like a grossly overpriced toy.

Toys often are high priced because they're not mass produced. Price you pay for focused machine. This one is high though; good for their profitability hopefully. I suspect some orders made as wives will feel it cute, fair enough.

What price for pure driving machine ?

[anonymous-user]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Yes, the Tony Fernandes "new product" initiatives seem to have evaporated in a way only Dany Bahar could equal. The poor old Caterham 21 never got anywhere either.

The CSR and Aeroseven being the most recent failures IMO. Each time I see another 'Special Edition' it makes me cringe.

[anonymous-user]

Pan Pan Pan said:

As others have pointed out, Caterham are a small company, and each car is built by engineers, not by robots, so as with many hand made goods, they tend to be on the pricey side, But all of them from the cheapest to the top model are generally a hoot to drive. Not sure I could justify or would pay the prices for the top model/s but with a TG lap time of 1.17.9, the only cars on the power lap board ahead of the Seven, are of the multi, multi thousand pound hyper/super car variety.
Not sure about some peoples idea that Caterham should change the way the car looks. Many, if not all buy a Seven precisely `because' of the way it looks. Changing the look of a Caterham is like saying the look of a Giraffe or a Whale should be changed simply because it is a `look. that has been around for a long, long time. It might be possible to change their looks, but if we did, they would no longer be a `proper' Giraffe or Whale.
If Caterham were to modernize, IMHO it should be to upgrade the tech of the `materials' used for the chassis, body work and to uprate the fittings and components, but not to change the shape, or context of the car at all.

There are smaller companies that are more progressive and work harder with their customers quite frankly.

[aeropilot]

Ozzie Osmond said:

CABC said:

Looked good in flesh at Goodwood.

But did it look £28,000 good?

I thought it certainly 'looked' £28k good......I think it looked absolutely brilliant.

But, for me that engine doesn't make it 'worth' the £28k price tag...
I'd want something with some retro sound to go with the retro looks.

60 people clearly think otherwise though, so what do I know.

[thegreenhell]

giveitfish said:

Just need a Prisoner special edition of this for the series 50th next year

Prisoner Edition Mk2, surely?

[hufggfg]

Vroom101 said:

hufggfg said:

There's a massive discussion in the Caterham section on the "Ultimate Seven Product" which is what Caterham have been marketing. With a lot of varying views how they could evolve the car, but personally I don't think loosing all luggage space, one seat, and all weather protection, would be the right way to do it. Awesome for a design exercise of course (as Honda showed), but I doubt there are many people who'd actually want to buy such a thing, and likely wouldn't appeal to much of the existing Seven ownership.

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear in my post. I don't think Caterham should do a carbon copy of the Honda, with all the restrictions that would entail. I just think they should move the visual design on. Keep (or heaven forbid, even improve ) the practicality of the current car, but with a more modern body. Carry on producing the Seven, but make the modern version alongside it. And I don't mean another 21

I know Caterham are a small company, but one thing that the bosses of small car companies love telling us is how they can move quickly as they aren't weighed down with the corporate baggage of large manufacturers. Well Caterham, show us the way...

Ah ok, completely agree with you then. I personally think it would be better to effectively dramatically evolve the Seven, than start with a completely blank sheet, but when I say that I more mean evolve the concepts, rather than the engineering itself, so from an engineering point you can start with a blank sheet, but with specific goals such as "Steering feel AT LEAST as good as a Seven", "Weight no more than 600kgs", "Luggage space at least that of a Seven", etc etc

[CABC]

At 600kgs it'll look pretty similar tho.

Also, consider that one of the must-haves of a 7 is a lowered floor. So it's not a practical car in any shape. That's where the 21 came in, and that's more competitive.

[HustleRussell]

Regarding development direction;

Caterham, I think, have done a particularly good job in recent years of updating their product. I really mean it. The deal they brokered with Suzuki to provide little 3-pot turbocharged drivetrain, the variants of the Ford Sigma, the new Mazda gearbox and the new BMW differential units, plus in the past 10 years the move over to the more rigid and more cost effective welded metric chassis. Meanwhile they have focused heavily on expanding markets overseas with some success. All of this in a period which has seen a very unfavourable climate for toy cars and greater than ever competition with the arrival of the Morgan 3-wheeler, the KTM X-bow, Ariel Atom / Nomad etc etc.

They are building a lot of cars comparatively speaking.

Anybody who says the cars have been 'the same for 60 years' or whatever knows very little about these cars.

What has remained consistent is the silhouette and the fundamental construction methodology. Personally I think this is the 7's niche.

Everybody has forgotten about the Reynolds tubing partnership which I find interesting. That could make the chassis lighter and stiffer still. Perhaps Caterham could revive it's independent rear suspension development. Maybe they can then look at offering the option of replacing the riveted aluminium skin with bonded composites.

Sorry revolutionaries, the Silhouette will probably stay the same.

[MKnight702]

thegreenhell said:

Prisoner Edition Mk2, surely?

I have that brochure somewhere. If they do release a MK11 Prisoner Edition then I could be persuaded to change the Ultima for one. Would prefer the swept wings of the Seven Sprint though.

If they could do the Seven Sprint looks with a Sigma engine in Prisoner colours I think my wish list would be complete.

I also prefer the narrow tyres, if it handles like my XI did then I think the Ultima's days are definitely numbered!