They say..

The Seven is the original British lightweight sportscar. Originally created by Colin Chapman and launched as the Lotus 7 in 1957, the car embodies the Chapman design ethos of ‘adding lightness’. The low mass of the car makes it inherently agile, gives startling performance and, most of all, imbues the driving experience with its unparalleled sense of purity, control and reward. It is, quite simply, a motoring icon.

Caterham Cars has been selling the Seven since the late 1950’s. In 1973 Caterham purchased the rights to manufacture the car from Lotus, and has been building and selling it ever since. Over the decades Caterham have continued to refine and enhance the design, whilst always respecting the brilliance of the original formula.

Motorsport is at the heart of the Seven and it is the original 'race car for the road'. The car was designated 'too fast to race' by the authorities in the 1970’s due to its overwhelming superiority over its rivals, and was banned from competition. This inspired Caterham to pioneer one make racing with strict regulations to minimise cost and produce close, exciting racing. Meanwhile, overall victory in the 1992 Nelson Ledges 24-Hours race and class victory at the 2002 Nurburgring 24-Hours underlined the car’s abilities even against modern rivals.

Today there are more Sevens racing around the world than almost any other single marque, with over 700 competitors in 11 countries during the 2006 season.