Caterham 21: Unsung Hero

Does the largely forgotten Caterham 21 deserve another look? Chris Rees admits a vested interest

So PH has finally driven the Zenos E10 this week. The fact that it's very much a product of ex-Caterham people (namely Ansar Ali, Mark Edwards and Chris Weston) immediately got me thinking of another spin-off from the Caterham fold - the ill-fated Caterham 21 that first saw the light of day 20 years ago.

Right. I'm going to declare more than a little interest up front, because I actually own a Caterham 21. I swapped my faithful BDA-engined Caterham Seven for a primrose yellow 21. In retrospect, a large part of me thinks this was madness. But a larger part of me recognises that I've come out of the deal with something quite special.

220hp and 655kg. More interested now?

Grown-up and plush
First, a bit of background about the 21. Very much the brainchild of Jez Coates, Caterham Cars' Technical Director back in 1995, he conceived it as a grown-up Seven. The chassis was basically the same as a Seven but it added a few niceties such as opening doors, glass windows, a hinging bonnet and even a boot big enough to swallow, yes, the ultimate cliche of two sets of golf clubs.

For me, what makes it most special is its sensational prettiness, courtesy of the genius penwork of Iain Robertson. Its interior still looks great today, and totally unique. The 21 realised its potential in at least one sense: Caterham made a cracking race car out of it, the 21 GTO, which was quicker than a Seven Superlight racer and out-performed race Elises in its day.

But Caterham customers never really 'got' the 21, which ignored Colin Chapman's fundamental call always to "add lightness", dulling performance and steering precision compared to a Seven. Plenty of grip and a surprisingly good ride didn't make up for the added understeer and less controllable tail-out action. And Caterham never fully got to grips with the technology of opening panels.

Well there's no mistaking it for anything else

Norfolk Nemesis
What really scuppered the 21, though, was the nemesis that was the Lotus Elise, launched at pretty much the same time as the 21. While the 21 was lighter (665kg versus 723kg), it felt a bit 'old' tech with its steel-tubed frame versus Hethel's exotic extruded aluminium chassis. It was also more cramped, noisier and had even worse weather gear. And the killer: the Elise launched at £18,950 fully-built, whereas Caterham charged £18,750 for the 21 in kit form. Small wonder that the Elise S1 sold over 10,000 examples, while the 21 petered out at just 50 - yes, 50 - examples between 1995 and 2000.

So finding one for sale these days is very difficult. In fact, there's just one up in the classifieds but it's a cracker. Unusually it has Vauxhall power (most had Rover K-Series), and not just any Vauxhall lump: a Caterham 'red-top' tuned unit with 220hp. My 21 has a 140hp 1.6 Rover engine and feels fast, so this must be ballistic. In fact, the seller - Sevens & Classics of Brands Hatch (run by another ex-Caterham man, Andy Noble) quotes a 0-60 time of five seconds, which to me feels like an underestimate.

Priced at £17,250, it doesn't seem unreasonable value for a car of such rarity. Elises are 10 a penny in comparison. And even that other super-rare contemporary - Renault's alien-looking Sport Spider - has far more presence in the classifieds.

If you're in the market for a Caterham, all sense tells you that you should buy a Seven. But perhaps, like me, the 21 will sing its siren song from quiet side streets. Speaking from personal experience it proved an irresistible allure.