Light-weight sports car manufacturer Caterham has announced a new model in its Seven range, dubbed 310.
The new car has been developed out of knowledge gained from the British company’s motorsport endeavours, and is intended to hark back to the Superlight R300, which it claims is one of the most balanced cars it ever made.
Engineers working on an upgrade to the Sigma engine to allow racers to compete at a higher level fitted high-performance camshafts and revised the engine mapping. This liberated as much as 20bhp, with bosses so impressed they decided to make a new road going model. The 310 is sold with 152bhp.
Caterham says it remains committed to developing Colin Chapman’s ‘fit-for-purpose’ race car for the road, and that this new model is evidence of how seriously they take it.
Simon Lambert, Chief Motorsport and Technical Officer for Caterham Cars, said: “This car will be loved by Caterham enthusiasts but will also convert car fans in general who understand that creating a genuinely fun driving experience is not about simply adding more and more power; that often, less is more.
“Once the re-worked car hit the road, we knew it was far too good to be marketed simply as an [aftermarket] option. The Seven 310 was born.
“If Caterham was only going to make one car for the rest of its days, this would be it.”
The Caterham Seven 310 will cost £24,995 fully-built, while existing 270 owners can pay £1,495 to have the upgrade fitted to their car. Deliveries are expected in 2017.
