Things are getting interesting at Caterham, as a new interpretation of the Seven is unveiled.
When Caterham unveils a new car that’s not based on the Lotus 7, it’s sort of like AC/DC coming out with an electronic album. They did it recently with the track only SP/300.R, but that seemed to be more of an attempt to make up some ground that Caterham had lost to other small track car makers like Radical. The AeroSeven Concept, shown for the first time this week at the Singapore GP, is something all-together different.
It’s built on Caterham’s Seven CSR platform, and will be intended primarily as a road car. There are obvious nods to the original lotus Seven shape here. The black body work is a new interpretation of the traditional Seven shape, while the green body panels appear to clamp down around the car, giving it a thoroughly modern look. Caterham also says this design language will be used in the styling direction for other future models.
The concept is powered by a 2.0 liter 237 horsepower Ford Duratec, which will propel the AeroSeven to 60 in under four seconds. Though, Caterham says they will be looking at other engine options for the production car.
This will also be the first Caterham fitted with traction control. It uses a new Caterham developed engine management system, which will also include launch control. The interior might make the AeroSeven Concept the most comfy Caterham to date. Sure, there’s no windscreen, but there is a multifunction screen, which supplies realtime telemetry, and what appears to be some soft fabric on the center console.
Caterham seems to positioning itself for an offensive in the direction of the middle of the car market. Their new sportscar, being developed in partnership with Renault, is still on track for 2016, while we should be seeing the AeroSeven on the road before that in 2014.
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