Team Lotus acquires Caterham

British lightweight sportscar specialist Caterham has been bought by Team Lotus Enterprise -- the company behind the Team Lotus Formula 1 outfit (not to be confused with the Group Lotus-backed Lotus Renault GP squad).

Team Lotus acquired Caterham from a shareholder consortium led by Corven Ventures, and the new owners of the niche marque say they plan to expand its brand profile and product family.

According to a press release issued by Team Lotus: "The acquisition of Caterham Cars by Team Lotus Enterprise will not only signal the continued development of the legendary Seven, but will provide Caterham with the platform to apply its philosophy of 'adding lightness' to exciting new models for the 21st Century."

It's not a wholesale revamp in terms of personnel though, as Caterham's existing management team, headed by Ansar Ali, will continue to run the show.

"Ansar's direction has been responsible for energising Caterham's export prowess during the last five years, creating the iconic Superlight R500 -- Top Gear's Car of the Year for 2008 -- and Caterham's first brand new model in 15 years, the stunning SP/300.R sports prototype racer," states the company's PR bumpf.

Commenting on the buyout, team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes said: "Caterham Cars has remained wholly faithful to Colin Chapman's philosophy of 'less is more', and the DNA of the original Seven can still be traced to the newest additions to Caterham's product offering.

"It is already a successful business with sales across Europe, Japan, Australia and the Middle East, and under the guidance of the existing management team, we now have all the ingredients and the launch pad to further evolve that spirit and take Caterham to new exciting horizons with innovative products and greater global brand exposure."

On paper the deal is a nice fit as Caterham has been the custodian of Colin Chapman's two-seater Seven since 1973, which was conceived by Lotus in 1957 as a 'fit for purpose' race-car for the road. (Of course it's another story that the Chapman family last December publicly backed Group Lotus in its legal battle with Team Lotus for the use of the Lotus name in F1)

Caterham has continued to refine and fettle the barebones Seven roadster, to the extent that it can still hold its own (in range-topping form) against far more expensive machinery and, to commemorate its new ownership, it will build a limited run of Team Lotus Special Edition Sevens.

Just 25 of the Team Lotus upgrade packages, which can be applied to any variant up to the top-of-the-range 196kW, 240km/h Superlight R500, will be offered for sale in the UK, with the same number allocated to the company's export markets.

For an additional $4600 (in the UK) over the price of your chosen car, the Sevens will be specially-liveried in the iconic green and yellow colours of Lotus and will come with a raft of bespoke Team Lotus additions.

Included in the upgrade package will be a plaque carrying the signatures of Team Lotus F1 drivers, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen, and an invitation to a customised tour of the Team Lotus F1 factory.

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