Caterham Seven 2000-2010: Road Test Book (Road Test Portfolio) Paperback – Illustrated, November 1, 2010

When Colin Chapman decided that in order to secure the future of his company it was necessary to abandon the less-profitable kit car sector and move the Lotus brand upmarket to concentrate on more sophisticated sports cars, this was regarded as a logical move. From a strictly financial point of view, abandoning the less-profitable kit car sector must have seemed a sensible and straightforward decision and nobody back then could possibly have predicted how things would turn out. When Graham Nearn of Caterham Cars bought the manufacturing rights to the Lotus Seven in 1973 he was confident that Chapman's design could be successfully developed into a long term business. To begin with, Caterham built Sevens that were virtually identical to the Lotus, but changes were gradually required and with the changes came improvements and upgrades. The evolution of the Caterham Seven arguably reached its peak with the introduction of the 'R' Series. From its humble beginnings as a self-assembly kit, the Seven has been transformed into an ultra-modern supercar, with performance that equals far more expensive and exotic machinery. This book covers the story of an exciting new generation of Caterham Seven models over a decade which saw the cars achieve speeds and levels of sophistication that Colin Chapman could surely never have dreamed of. Featured are road and comparison tests, new model introductions and performance data. Included is a buying guide advising on acquiring a good pre-owned Seven. Models covered: Superlight • R300 • R400 • R500 • R600 • Roadsport • Super Seven • Classic • Blackbird • Fireblade • CSR 260 • RST V8 • Levante & CDX. Read more