Caterham Seven 160 - price,stats and photos

Caterham has opened its order books for the new, back to basics Seven 160.

The Caterham Seven 160 is the cheapest, slowest Caterham you can buy.  It costs £17,995, or you can build it yourself for £14,995, and does 0-60mph in 6.5 seconds.  So not that slow then.

The engine is a 3-cylinder, 660cc Suzuki unit which produces 80bhp and 79 lb ft of torque.  Normally this wouldn't be enough to pull the skin off a rice pudding, but the Seven 160 only weighs 490kg.

The Caterham Seven 160 gets a new rear axle, a live axle taken from the Suzuki Jimny of all things.

For the price there's nothing else on the market that provides the same bangs per buck.  Well done Caterham.  Love the steel wheels too.

Article by Matt Hubbard

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Catch-up Corner - some stories from the week we missed

Graham King rounds up some of the week's motoring stories you might have missed

Thrust 2 broke the land speed record 30 years ago this week

Last Friday (4 October) marked the 30th anniversary of Thrust 2’s record-breaking 633.468mph run at Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA. Driven by Richard Noble, the jet-powered car reached a top speed of 650.88mph, the record being the average speed of two timed runs completed within an hour. Noble re-claimed the record for the UK, which had been held by various Americans since 1964. Thrust 2 is now on display at the Coventry Transport Museum.

Noble went on to mastermind ThrustSSC, the first car to break the sound barrier, driven by Andy Green, achieving 763.035mph in 1997. Now, he is the driving force behind BloodhoundSSC, the jet- and rocket-propelled car that will hopefully become the first land-based vehicle to reach 1000mph.

Caterham Seven turns 40

It’s now 40 years since everybody’s favourite trackday weapon, the Caterham Seven, was launched. The car came into being when Surrey-based Lotus dealer Caterham Cars bought the manufacturing rights for the discontinued Lotus Seven, first seen in 1957. It was a logical step, as Caterham Cars had been responsible for keeping the Seven on sale since 1966, selling every single one that came out of the Lotus factory.

At least under the skin, today’s Sevens are very different from the first ones that rolled of out Caterham’s factory. But they look pretty much the same, and are conceptually exactly the same. Despite ever-increasing power outputs, the principle of back-to-basics thrills remains intact. And you still buy one in kit form.

They say life begins at 40, and with a well-moneyed owner, a Formula 1 team, the Aeroseven concept and an enticing tie-in with Renault’s Alpine brand, Caterham’s future is looking bright.

Jaguar and Bentley mine their design heritage

Jaguar has joined forces with design magazine Wallpaper* for an exhibition at Harrods in London. Jag’s designers have contributed various pieces to the Wallpaper* Handmade display. Apparently, the pieces translate Jaguar’s design language into other forms like a picnic basket and a pet transporter, whatever that is. An arguably more relevant display was parked up outside on opening night, as Jaguar gave the C-X17 crossover concept it’s UK debut.

Meanwhile, Bentley has launched a new range of furniture from its ‘Bentley Home’ merchandise collection. It includes a bed, chairs, tables and cupboards, all made from the same sorts of materials you would find in one of Bentley’s cars. They’re really classy too, although they’re sure to be fearsomely expensive. No doubt they’ll soon be found in every billionaire’s guest rooms - ‘The Bentley Room’ has a nice ring to it.

Article by Graham King

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Here's a new Caterham - the AeroSeven Concept

This is the new Caterham AeroSeven Concept.  Why AeroSeven?  Well, under the skin it's a Caterham Seven CSR, which the company has been making in one form or other since 1973, with a carbon fibre, aerodynamic skin.

The Caterham road car business used to be tiny, and then Tony Fernandes bought it in a fit of pique after his falling out with Lotus.  Fernandes has made a fortune from Air Asia.  He set up an F1 team and called it Lotus.  Several legal wrangles later and Fernandes dumped the Lotus name, bought Caterham cars and renamed the F1 team Caterham.

Which is great news for the formerly tiny Caterham cars.  For years their only product was the Seven, which was basically the same car as the Series 3 Lotus Seven (and similar to most Westfields).

But now Caterham have cash to invest in new models, and this is the first real departure away from the basic Seven.

The engine is a 2 litre naturally aspirated Ford Duratec unit with 236 bhp at 8,500rpm and 152 lb-ft of torque at 6,300rpm.  The gearbox is a 6-speed manual unit.  0-60mph will take under 4 seconds.  It weighs about 600kg.

The body is carbon fibre and was designed and constructed by the F1 division using CFD, wind tunnel testing and track time.  The AeroSeven's look is a product of function, rather than aesthetics.

It's not exactly the most beautiful of sports cars.  One can't help thinking it just looks like a Seven with some panels strapped on.  The front is cloaked in bodywork whilst the rear is largely Seven-shaped with some bodywork over the top.

This is the first Caterham to feature traction control.  It also gets launch control, F1-style inboard suspension and an engine management system with race and road functions.

This is just a concept but it will make it to market, albeit maybe with a different engine, in 2014.  Caterham has launched a few models recently - all variations on the Seven theme.  They have plans for more, including the de-rigueur SUV and the Alpine Caterham sports car that is expected in a few years.

Caterham has the heritage, the know-how, the engineering facilities, the F1 team's input and the cash to turn itself into a decent car company.  The AeroSeven is the real start of that journey.  For the moment the only things it seems to lack are medium scale production facilities and someone to beautify the product.

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