Friday 17th October 2008

Caterham Levante Sold Out

Caterham shifts all of its £115,000 mega Sevens

---

'Modern' take on the Seven

Financial crisis? Credit crunch? Not phrases Caterham has heard lately. The specialist carmaker has managed to sell all of its crazy RS Levante ‘supercars’. OK, so there was only ever going to be eight made so we are not talking big numbers, but then they did have to find customers who want to part with £115,000 for a Caterham.

Equipped with a 2.4-litre V8, churning out over 500bhp, the super feathery seven has a power-to-

Large anchors are a must in the RS

weight ratio of over 1000bhp per tonne. That’s knocking on two Veyron’s worth of grunt.

The engine itself is made by welding two bike engines together and adding a supercharger into the mix. It’s built by RS Performance in Hertfordshire (in conjunction with Caterham, naturally) and each new owner is required to undertake a two day advanced driving course to make sure they don’t overcook it and park their new cars in a tree.

In addition to the extra grunt the RS Levante is styled with 'a modern and aggressive interpretation of the Seven’s classic looks' and it has a few extra electronic gizmos – including launch control.

[smele]

That's a lot of money with no roof. Has to be a lot of fun if you can get traction.

[Jukesy007]

smele said:

That's a lot of money with no roof. Has to be a lot of fun if you can get traction.

Must be great fun but in the wet i think the only way people will stop will be with the help of a tree

[dublet]

Jukesy007 said:

Must be great fun but in the wet i think the only way people will stop will be with the help of a tree

It does come with a two day driving course.

Here's a video of it being driven! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zxdc1JsBgY

Take note that the 500bhp is at 10krpm.

Edited by dublet on Friday 17th October 11:47

[Essex Exile]

Got to give credit to Caterham for knocking them out at that price and getting away with it.

[grahamw48]

Absolutely fantastic !

[plg101]

woosh.

blimey.

Now that its a production car and will go over speed bumps.... can someone nice lend one to Top Gear please?

[morgrp]

I heard its totally mental to drive! - Step Aside Catterham JPE, I have a new favorite!

The V8's based (very loosely) on 2 1000cc Yamaha 20valve inline 4's

Edited by morgrp on Friday 17th October 12:03

[Piers917]

Definitely on my lottery win car list

[DS1086]

dublet said:

Jukesy007 said:

Must be great fun but in the wet i think the only way people will stop will be with the help of a tree

It does come with a two day driving course.

Here's a video of it being driven! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zxdc1JsBgY

Take note that the 500bhp is at 10krpm.

Edited by dublet on Friday 17th October 11:47

Notice how both of the occupants are bald. There's nothing like the feeling of the wind in your hair.

[RB Will]

Video says its limited to 150mph. I guess above that in a Caterham would be scary but why limit? There should be a race series for these.

[Dr S]

I admire Caterham to engineer and build this machine. Finally a different take on the supercar which I'm sure will be highly entertaining

[Essex Exile]

dublet said:

Jukesy007 said:

Must be great fun but in the wet i think the only way people will stop will be with the help of a tree

It does come with a two day driving course.

Here's a video of it being driven! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zxdc1JsBgY

Take note that the 500bhp is at 10krpm.

Edited by dublet on Friday 17th October 11:47

How good does that thing sound!

[White-Noise]

Insaaaane! I love it! After seeing that video - not sure I would feel safe driving it without a lid on though

[Northern-Loop]

haha madness!

[Andrew[MG]]

Picture of the week surely?

[Alex Gurr]

The great thing about Caterhams is that every one is different and they are so easy to modify. This is the ultimate expression of that art. Totally over the top, but joyus at the same time.

I can only imagine that it is a heck of a machine to drive. Caterhams are maleable and managable like no other car, so providing you show a little respect I imagine that this one is controlled violence personified :-)

[slikrs]

Awesome piece of engineering but I have to confess that I would not have one unless I was wanting to kill myself in spectacular fashion... I think I'd be genuinely scared of myself each time I got in to drive it (but then that's half the point)...

Those engines are awesome, I've seen a few of the bike bred V8's and I'd love to have one fitted in something but they tend to be priced at around 15K and reair costs are not low either...

Awesome piece of engineering.... Will be awesome when/if such engines make it to mass production, highish revs but more conservative levels of tune would surely make them an interesting economical performance option as they weigh little and punch well above their capacity.

[tinman0]

Jukesy007 said:

smele said:

That's a lot of money with no roof. Has to be a lot of fun if you can get traction.

Must be great fun but in the wet i think the only way people will stop will be with the help of a tree

why would you even drive it in the wet?

[stuart-b]

Wow, totally amazing.

What's the durability of these engines and gearboxes? Will Launch Control break it? ;-)

Seriously, what sort of milage could you do on an engine like this before a rebuild?

Cheers,

Stuart

[waynepixel]

I just want a drive of the mad machine?