caterham

Caterham SP/300R: For the Track-Day Enthusiast

More and more automotive enthusiasts with the means have been finding it harder and harder to drive their sportscars on public streets. More congestion and constricting regulations mean they just can't be enjoyed as much anymore. As a result, many moneyed speed freaks have been buying track-day cars.

A track car can be a street-legal sportscar optimized for use on a closed racing circuit, it can be a decommissioned racing car converted for private use, or it can be a purpose-built vehicle like this latest example from Caterham. The company famous for producing the iconic Seven long after Lotus moved on to newer things is now moving on itself with the SP/300R.

Built in partnership with racing car constructor Lola (the same company that makes Aston Martin's Le Mans Prototype, among others), the SP/300R's basic engine is a 2-liter Ford Duratec, supercharged in-house to around 300 horsepower. But with only 1,300 lbs to propel, that's enough to rocket the track car to 60 in just 2.5 seconds – that's Bugatti Veyron fast. Only 25 examples will be made each year, each fetching £60,000 (about $93,000).

Gallery: Caterham-Lola SP/300R

Tags: caterham, caterham SP300R, lola, SP300R, SportsCarSales

Caterham Seven Lambretta Special Edition

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Few icons are as quintessentially British as the Union Jack and the Caterham Seven. Originally engineered by Lotus, the 7 is still built by British sportscar-maker Caterham, and has now been outfitted for a special edition by British fashion house Lambretta.

The special Seven features a Union Jack motif, complemented inside by a red, white and blue color scheme. Power comes from a modest 1.6-liter Ford inline-four with 125 horsepower driving through a five-speed manual transmission. Which may not sound like much, but given the Caterham's low curb weight, it's still enough to drive it to 60 in six seconds flat.

The Caterham Seven Lambretta Special Edition sells in the UK for £26,995, equivalent to about $42k.

Tags: 7, caterham, caterham 7, caterham seven, caterham seven lambretta special edition, lambretta, lotus, lotus 7, lotus seven, seven, special edition

Sunseeker Predator 108 + Caterham 7 = Awesome by Land and Sea

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Luxury Cars & Autos

If you've laid out the £7.1 million ($11.4M U.S.) necessary to take ownership of a Sunseeker Predator 108 Special Edition, you might want to give serious thought to whether you need a tender. After all, there are docks, water taxis, and the smaller yachts of lesser mortals to get you from ship-to-shore.

What you might actually want is something as magnificent on land as the Predator is on the water in that case, Sunseeker would like to recommend you install a Caterham 7 in the hold. As a kickstart to inspiration for for visitors to the London Boat Show the yacht maker did just that. Fair warning though: the Predator sleeps eight but the Caterham only seats, so you'll probably need to be nice to the captain to get a ride. And if you really can't do without a tender – Caterhams are known to have a hard time floating in Aegean inlets – allow us to introduce you to the word "inflatable."

The London Boat Show runs until January 17.

Tags: Caterham, caterham 7, caterham seven, Caterham7, CaterhamSeven, london boat show, LondonBoatShow, predator, predator 108, Predator108, sunseeker, sunseeker predator 108, SunseekerPredator108