Wednesday 13th August 2014

New Caterham Sevens for America

US really are keen on lightweight roadsters as Caterham range expands

---

Just to prove it's not all last remaining prototypes and lavish SUVs at Pebble Beach, Caterham has announced two US-only Sevens for Monterey Car Week.

He doesn't live his life a quarter mile at a time

It's all fairly familiar as Sevens go as well: an off-the-shelf Ford engine, some uprated internals, a dinky steering wheel and not a lot else. The Seven 480 will cost $52,900 (£31,480) and appears similar in spec to the Seven 485 homologated for European markets last year. With 240hp it will hit 60 in 3.4 seconds and a 140mph top speed. Might even be quicker than a Corvette away from the lights.

The Seven 360 is perhaps most similar to the Supersport R offered here with 180hp and a 4.9-second 60mph sprint. The name therefore relates to its power-to-weight ratio rather than a predilection for doughnuts... It costs $44,900 (£26,720).

Caterhams have been officially on sale in the US since January through Superformance. It's not a simple process though, with the cars shipped part-built and sold in Superformance dealers as rolling chassis for customers to complete personally. But surely the effort would be worth it for some American track days? Just imagine a Seven 480 at Laguna Seca.

 

 

[Zumbruk]

Good for Caterham, but driving a Caterfield on the road here is scary enough, but in among all those soccer-mom SUV drivers, octagenarians in "lead sleds" and huge 18 wheelers? Terrifying!

[BoRED S2upid]

Two problems I see, The size of Americans not being able to actually get into a Caterham and the size of Americans having a whopping impact on the nature of a Caterham.

[HaloGen8]

Zumbruk said:

Good for Caterham, but driving a Caterfield on the road here is scary enough, but in among all those soccer-mom SUV drivers, octagenarians in "lead sleds" and huge 18 wheelers? Terrifying!

True but the US have some pretty amazing roads and road surfaces so the little Caterham should be a real hoot.

[slipstream 1985]

HaloGen8 said:

Zumbruk said:

Good for Caterham, but driving a Caterfield on the road here is scary enough, but in among all those soccer-mom SUV drivers, octagenarians in "lead sleds" and huge 18 wheelers? Terrifying!

True but the US have some pretty amazing roads and road surfaces so the little Caterham should be a real hoot.

I think we brits see america as all straight long highways. The same they see us as all thatched cottage living with windy country roads and no highways.

[red_slr]

[quote]Just imagine a Seven 480 at Laguna Seca.
[/quote]

You read my mind.

[richs2891]

BoRED S2upid said:

Two problems I see, The size of Americans not being able to actually get into a Caterham and the size of Americans having a whopping impact on the nature of a Caterham.

Cant help laughing in agreement at that, I can picture a Caterham on its side on 2 wheels

[Zumbruk]

slipstream 1985 said:

HaloGen8 said:

Zumbruk said:

Good for Caterham, but driving a Caterfield on the road here is scary enough, but in among all those soccer-mom SUV drivers, octagenarians in "lead sleds" and huge 18 wheelers? Terrifying!

True but the US have some pretty amazing roads and road surfaces so the little Caterham should be a real hoot.

I think we brits see america as all straight long highways. The same they see us as all thatched cottage living with windy country roads and no highways.

My parents live in Pennsylvania - I go there a lot. I'm quite familiar with, for example, some of the mountain roads in the Poconos. They'd be fabulous roads to drive in a Caterham but the chances of getting wiped out by someone coming the other way in (say) a Chevy Suburban, paying the usual amount of attention Americans do to driving (none) would genuinely scare me - especially since I've had a couple of SMIDSY moments on the roads here in my Westfield.

[suffolk009]

amazed that nobody is mentioning the undersized cupholders, the lack of screen thingy on the dash, or doors that don't go Bong - Bong - Bong when they're open.

[anglophile]

BoRED S2upid said:

Two problems I see, The size of Americans not being able to actually get into a Caterham and the size of Americans having a whopping impact on the nature of a Caterham.

We aren't all huge by large! I fit handily in one without issue, and most sports car people do, no matter where they are from. I do like one with a removable wheel, mostly because of the short distance between the wheel and seat, as well as the high sill, but once in, I'm fine.

Really though, the only reason a lot of folks wouldn't have one is because they have to use them all year long, and then a used 911 or Corvette makes a lot more sense. Especially here in the Northwest, where our winters greatly resemble those in Old Blighty!

[ivantate]

That's funny, I saw a caterham on the way to work this morning and was thinking I see more over here (burbs of Chicago) than I used to see in the UK.

Maybe the Caterham will start to make people eat less and think more about driving over here. Then again, maybe not.

[BBL-Sean]

I just enjoyed the annual Northern California 7s picnic near San Jose on Saturday (primarily because I am the organizer of the event!) where seventeen 7s were in attendance. So they are around here, in limited numbers. There are many more in the area who did not attend, and even more in So Cal.

Yesterday, I went to the annual Carmel Concours On The Avenue event in Carmel (right next to Monterey). I did not see a Caterham stand anywhere, but the Car Week event is enormous, at many venues. I hope to find it this weekend.

[anonymous-user]

"With 240hp it will hit 60 in 3.4 seconds and a 140mph top speed. Might even be quicker than a Corvette away from the lights."

Well, it's certainly the same price as a Corvette and both cars hit 60 in under 4 seconds.

But then you get to the 50s. The Caterham's design is 50 years older than the Vette and its top speed 50 mph down on the Vette! I think customers might notice.

Caterham should find a handful of sales in the trackday crowd but I don't think this US market car is going to solve Mr Fernandes problems.

[bobberz]

Believe it or not, we Americans aren't all of the "straight lines" or "turn left" variety. We're blessed with some really fine (and historic) road courses. The whole notion that Americans aren't into sports cars is ridiculous. Like I've pointed out before, it's hard to overstate the influence of the US on sports car culture, design, and production. Certain cars (such as the 300SL and 275 GTB/S N.A.R.T. Spyder) wouldn't exist if not for American customer demand and influence. I wish I could remember the statistic about the ratio of British sports cars exported to America to those sold in the UK market. I think it's safe to claim that the British auto industry would've collapsed far earlier if not for the US market.

Additionally, let's not forget the number of British and European sports/gt cars utilising American engines: Jensen Interceptor/FF (Chrysler 383/440 V8); De Tomaso Mangusta, Pantera (Ford 289/351 V8s); later Bristols (Chrysler V8s); Monteverdi Hai (Chrysler 440, IIRC); Iso Rivolta/Grifo, various Bizzarinis (Chevy 327 and 427 V8s); AC/Shelby Cobra, Sunbeam Tiger, AC 428 (260, 289, 427, and 428 Ford V8s); Facel Vega (Chrysler V8s), plus various coachbuilt cars and one offs based on Corvettes, Corvairs, and Ghias built with Chrysler drivetrains. Allard, Intermeccanica, there are too many to list.

In any case, for "car guys" living here, news of Caterham bringing new models here is not surprising. There are a few around here (plus a couple oddities like the Rotus, a Lotus 7 clone built in Maryland and powered by a Mazda rotary engine). There are a number of Ariel Atoms here, as well as a few Morgan three wheelers, and the US Radical franchise is close to where I live (although Radicals aren't street-legal, here).

Unfortunately, I conform to the "fat American" stereotype (6'3" and 235 lbs.), but I would eagerly shoe-horn myself into a Seven if I could afford one.

[bobberz]

5 USA said:

"With 240hp it will hit 60 in 3.4 seconds and a 140mph top speed. Might even be quicker than a Corvette away from the lights."

Well, it's certainly the same price as a Corvette and both cars hit 60 in under 4 seconds.

But then you get to the 50s. The Caterham's design is 50 years older than the Vette and its top speed 50 mph down on the Vette! I think customers might notice.

Caterham should find a handful of sales in the trackday crowd but I don't think this US market car is going to solve Mr Fernandes problems.

The Vette and Seven are in completely different target demographics. "'Vette guys" will always buy 'Vettes (just as "Harley guys" aren't going to give a second glance to any Honda or Yamaha). There definitely is a market for lightweight, track-day cars, such as the Seven, here (let's face it, if there wasn't, Caterham wouldn't bother).

I think the biggest problems for Caterham in America is the fact they can't sell factory-built versions and the high price for a car that you have to finish building yourself. For those who don't have the neccessary skills to finish construction themselves, that leaves two options: pay a shop an exorbitant amount of money (on top of an already expensive car) to finish the build, or try to find one already built (which may be of dodgy quality, depending on the builder's skills), which could cost you even more.

If Caterham were to, somehow, receive approval to sell factory-built cars here (which they won't), I'd imagine their sales would skyrocket (relatively speaking).

[Pan Pan]

Having driven across the US in a Caterham I can confirm America has some truly superb roads for this type of car, and I do mean superb.
They seem to be popular there, and their version of a seven (Texan) are some of the fastest cars I have seen anywhere. On the trip they walked away from Corvettes, Porsches, Caterhams, Superbikes, and the Moroso V8 Westfields that were on the trip with us, and left for dead, everything else on the the track, including single seat race cars, when were racing around the Infineon raceway.
Some of the twisting mountain roads in the Rockies, are sheer driving heaven for a car that can go around corners. We pitched up at the solar observatory at Cloud, and we given a personal tour of the facility, `just' because we turned up in a Caterham.
One of the weirdest things was pulling into petrol stations in the middle of no where, where we hadn't seen a house (or much of anything) for miles, and yet by the time we had filled up and paid for the fuel
dozens of petrol heads in all kinds of fantastic machinery had turned up, for a chat and a look at the cars. As others have said here the US isn't all 8 lane highways, they have driving roads that make having a 7 there perfect sense, and an absolute hoot!

[Pan Pan]

Pan Pan said:

Having driven across the US in a Caterham I can confirm America has some truly superb roads for this type of car, and I do mean superb.
They seem to be popular there, and their version of a seven (Texan) are some of the fastest cars I have seen anywhere. On the trip they walked away from Corvettes, Porsches, Caterhams, Superbikes, and the Moroso V8 Westfields that were on the trip with us, and left for dead, everything else on the the track, including single seat race cars, when were racing around the Infineon raceway.
Some of the twisting mountain roads in the Rockies, are sheer driving heaven for a car that can go around corners. We pitched up at the solar observatory at Cloud, and we given a personal tour of the facility, `just' because we turned up in a Caterham.
One of the weirdest things was pulling into petrol stations in the middle of no where, where we hadn't seen a house (or much of anything) for miles, and yet by the time we had filled up and paid for the fuel
dozens of petrol heads in all kinds of fantastic machinery had turned up, for a chat and a look at the cars. As others have said here the US isn't all 8 lane highways, they have driving roads that make having a 7 there perfect sense, and an absolute hoot!

PS I think if some people look they will find we have a fair and growing number of lard ar*ses on this side of the Atlantic, but that doesn't seem to stop Caterhams selling well here.

[Pan Pan]

bobberz said:

Believe it or not, we Americans aren't all of the "straight lines" or "turn left" variety. We're blessed with some really fine (and historic) road courses. The whole notion that Americans aren't into sports cars is ridiculous. Like I've pointed out before, it's hard to overstate the influence of the US on sports car culture, design, and production. Certain cars (such as the 300SL and 275 GTB/S N.A.R.T. Spyder) wouldn't exist if not for American customer demand and influence. I wish I could remember the statistic about the ratio of British sports cars exported to America to those sold in the UK market. I think it's safe to claim that the British auto industry would've collapsed far earlier if not for the US market.

Additionally, let's not forget the number of British and European sports/gt cars utilising American engines: Jensen Interceptor/FF (Chrysler 383/440 V8); De Tomaso Mangusta, Pantera (Ford 289/351 V8s); later Bristols (Chrysler V8s); Monteverdi Hai (Chrysler 440, IIRC); Iso Rivolta/Grifo, various Bizzarinis (Chevy 327 and 427 V8s); AC/Shelby Cobra, Sunbeam Tiger, AC 428 (260, 289, 427, and 428 Ford V8s); Facel Vega (Chrysler V8s), plus various coachbuilt cars and one offs based on Corvettes, Corvairs, and Ghias built with Chrysler drivetrains. Allard, Intermeccanica, there are too many to list.

In any case, for "car guys" living here, news of Caterham bringing new models here is not surprising. There are a few around here (plus a couple oddities like the Rotus, a Lotus 7 clone built in Maryland and powered by a Mazda rotary engine). There are a number of Ariel Atoms here, as well as a few Morgan three wheelers, and the US Radical franchise is close to where I live (although Radicals aren't street-legal, here).

Unfortunately, I conform to the "fat American" stereotype (6'3" and 235 lbs.), but I would eagerly shoe-horn myself into a Seven if I could afford one.

Hi Bobberz

Have you had the chance to try a Caterham SV?. You might find that it is OK size wise, and that you then have to start thinking about selling off the kids/ wife /anything to get the money for one

[skinny]

haha it is a bit rich us stereotyping the yanks for being all overweight and only ever driving in a straight line at 55. we're not far behind on the obesity rich list and we probably have far fewer decent roads than they do in the states, owing to the fact that they have rather more mountains than we do.

what's required to finish off a caterham in the states - is it enough to just a steering wheel on?

[SteveSteveson]

suffolk009 said:

or doors that don't go Bong - Bong - Bong when they're open.

Doors on a caterham? Your doing it wrong...

5 USA said:

But then you get to the 50s. The Caterham's design is 50 years older than the Vette and its top speed 50 mph down on the Vette! I think customers might notice.

Vette: Year of first production: 1953.
Lotus 7: Year of first production: 1957.

And both current cars have about as much in common with the original design. And I'm not sure which customers will notice the top speed given that they will both double the speed limit. Even on a track few people will run out of steam. Some might complain, but its willy waving and bar room bragging.

They are totally different concepts anyway. Someone might own both, but few are going to be making a choice between them.

skinny said:

haha it is a bit rich us stereotyping the yanks for being all overweight and only ever driving in a straight line at 55. we're not far behind on the obesity rich list and we probably have far fewer decent roads than they do in the states, owing to the fact that they have rather more mountains than we do.

what's required to finish off a caterham in the states - is it enough to just a steering wheel on?

I THINK its the mid level build Caterham do (Or did as I can't find any details now on the website). The basic is they send you a box of bits and you need to be able to do some quite major work, the mid level is more like a big meccano kit, with the major components put together. Something like 20 odd hours work. Then there is the factory built option of course.

Edited by SteveSteveson on Thursday 14th August 10:04

[rodericb]

How did they come up with the names 480 and 360?