The Caterham 21: A #blogpost On The Seven's Forgotten Sister

Caterham did something other than the Seven?
Yep.
This is the Caterham 21, the only other car Caterham ever made.
It was pretty much a more comfortable, everyday-use Seven.

When did that happen?
Between 1994 and 1999.

Was it meant to replace the Seven?
No.
The production was already meant to be limited to 200 cars a year.

So, 200 cars a year, for 5 years, that makes for…
Yup.
48 cars.

What? Why?

Why was it called 21?
Caterham started making Sevens in 1973. This car was born in 1994. Take a look at the years…

Yep, it was presented as a celebration of Caterham’s 21 years. But since the goal was to build a car similar to the Lotus 11, the name might have something to do with that too.

Did all of them have that crazy silver look?
No, that was just the aluminum prototype. The production version was made out of fiberglass, and looked like this:

Hold up… Why do those taillights look familiar?
Erm…

Oh, and it doesn’t stop there, either.

Enough with the body, was the interior comfortable?
More than the Seven, of course (in the end, that was its goal): It had more creature comforts, such as proper doors, actual glass windows (which as a trade-off didn’t roll down), a dashboard that actually looks like there was some design work behind it, and a soft-top worth its name. Though comfort was still one of its weaker points.

Why so? Isn’t the car a lot wider? Where did all the additional width go?
Well…

Engine-wise?
Aside from a couple of Vauxhall 2.0 and 2.4 RST V8s exceptions, they were fitted with the almost stereotypical Rover K-series (yes, the same you found in the Elise. And in the Atom. And in the Freelander), either as a 1.6 or as a 1.8. Two featured a “Very High-Performance Derivative” (VHPD) specification.

Any specs?
Plenty.

1.6
0-60: 6.4s
Top Speed: 118mph
Max Power: 115 bhp @ 6000rpm
Max Torque: 107 lbft @ 3000rpm
Specific Output: 72bhp/litre
Power to weight: 177bhp/tonne

1.6SS
0-60: 5.8s
Top Speed: 131mph
Max Power: 138 bhp @ 6000rpm
Max Torque: 115 lbft @ 3000rpm
Specific Output: 87bhp/litre
Power to weight: 213bhp/tonne

1.8VVC
0 - 60 : 5.5s
Top speed : 130mph
Max Power : 151bhp at 7000rpm
Max Torque : 128lb ft at 4500rpm
Specific Output : 84bhp/litre
Power to weight : 232bhp/ton

1.8 VHPD
0 - 60 : 4.5s
Top speed : 135mph
Max Power : 190bhp at 7500rpm
Max Torque : 150lb ft at 5750rpm
Specific Output : 105bhp/litre
Power to weight : 292bhp/ton

How was the sound?
Better than a Viper’s. At least, according to Mike Rutherford from this Men and Motors segment from 1998. If you want to spare yourself some ear-piercing music, skip to 2:06 for the bold claim and some chatting with Jez Coates (Caterham’s technical director) about how they managed that.

How did that power get to the wheels?
As standard, it had the Ford Type 9 transmission, the one you’d find in a MKIII Capri or a Sierra, though a Caterham-made six-speed gearbox was offered as an option. It also had a limited-slip differential,of course.

So, how was it like to drive?
Probably better than the Seven: the chassis was 50% stiffer and the suspensions were tweaked for a better ride. And while it was bigger and heavier than the Seven it was based on, we’re still talking about less than 4 meters and 700kgs (or 1500 pounds, if you’re fond of using the wrong measurements).

So it’s a good racecar?
Very. So much that most of them were GT versions, devoted to racing from 1999 to 2001, though some are still racing to this day, like the GPS Racing team raced the Belcar 24h and won its class (beating a bunch of Lotus Elises too).

Oh, and then there was the GTO, an R500-engined version. Some specs? 230 hp from a 1.8l, 0-100 in 3,8 seconds, and all in 1994.

And, as if it wasn’t mad enough already, it later received the Levante’s V8 (supercharged to 500 hp!).

Wow, I want one now! Too bad it’s a rarity, prices must be sky-high…
Do you really think so? Well, you’re about to be pleasantly surprised: those Caterhams you saw above are actually up for sale, and with prices that rival used Sevens, too!

If you do buy one, the Caterham 21 has an official owner’s club (weird, I know) at caterham21.com, which contains a lot of useful and interesting information about them.

What do you think about this forgotten Elise rival? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

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See ya in the next blogpost,
BACTM out.