British Automaker Caterham’s New Car Weighs Less Than 1,000 Lbs.
Caterham’s Seven 170 looks like a classic car but runs brand new. What does this lightweight sports car cost?
Written by Andrew Koole
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
You likely haven’t heard of Caterham. The British
auto manufacturer
is often left off lists of European sports car makers. But that doesn’t mean the storied specialty car brand isn’t making headway.Caterham recently unveiled its newest model, Caterham Seven 170, which weighs in at only 970 pounds.
HICONSUMPTION
says that’s over 1,300 lbs. lighter than the more popular Mazda Miata or the Fiat 500. It’s not the lightest production car ever made, but it’s pretty dang close.Lightness has been a major factor throughout the history of Caterham, but the Seven 170 brings that quality to a whole new extreme.
Who is Caterham anyway?
Caterham is not a new
EV startup
or an exclusive hypercar brand selling spaceship-shaped roadsters to billionaires. In fact, you can buy a Seven 170 for a mere $30,000—not bad for a stylish sports car.The company started building cars in 1973, but its history began earlier than that. Caterham Cars was first a dealer of the more well-known Lotus brand. Its car, the Seven, was originally the Lotus 7, which
Silodrome
says Lotus launched back in 1957.When Lotus discontinued the model, Caterham CEO Graham Nearn bought the rights to it. Caterham has kept the car in production ever since, making only slight performance adjustments and keeping its classic size and shape.
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What makes the Caterham Seven 170 so special?
Caterham Sevens aren’t the flashiest sports cars on the market. The 170 reaches 60 mph in a humble 6.9 seconds, thanks to its tiny, turbocharged, 660cc, Suzuki-made engine. If you’re thinking that sounds like an engine for a motorcycle, you would pretty much be correct.
But owners of Sevens aren’t looking to win drag races. They’re looking for second glances. The retro style of the Caterham Seven Series is like nothing else on the road.
Its engine and body size make it especially appealing for drivers in big cities like Tokyo, where the
New York Times
says the government offers tax and car insurance benefits for owners of “kei cars”—tiny city vehicles meant to reduce pollution and improve parking availability.No wonder then that VT Holdings, a Japanese importer, bought Caterham from Lotus (who reacquired the automaker 10 years ago) in March 2021.
What type of car insurance do I need for a Caterham Seven?
At first glance, a Caterham Seven 170 looks like a classic car, but trying to buy
classic car insurance
for one will send you down a dead end. Access to classic car insurance requires that your vehicle be a certain age. In most cases, that means it needs to be at least 25 years old.
If you want to save money on car insurance, the
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