Great Machines: Automobiles: Brit Kit
June 1, 2006
When you first view the Caterham CSR 260, it is tempting to dismiss it as a toy because it is so small, simple, and unassuming. That impression is only reinforced by the knowledge that what the buyer receives is not a finished, ready-to-drive car, but several large boxes of parts, which a trusted mechanic must assemble before the car will even move. Think of it as a giant Revell kit.
Even the best model cars are incapable of out-accelerating supercars or
challenging motorcycles on winding roads. Their amusement value comes solely
through static display. But the CSR is no fragile plastic model destined for
life on a dusty display shelf—it is fun to look at and even more fun to
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The CSR 260 doesn’t handle well in heavy traffic, but on the open
road, its 260-hp engine offers a wild ride. (Click image to enlarge)
The CSR’s components include a light tubular frame with preattached painted
aluminum and carbon-fiber panels, a windshield, a basic wiring harness,
suspension parts, brakes, four wheels and tires, two seats, a steering wheel,
and a few odd pieces to mount here and there. Another big box contains the power
plant and gearbox.
That’s all there is to it. No audio or air-conditioning units, no electronics (save the engine computer), no window mechanisms, no doors, no bumpers, no deep-pile carpet. The Caterham is about as basic as a car can be—if you want to drive it legally on a highway. In fact, it is the CSR’s kit status that allows it on the highways.
Most owners and the would-be owners of Caterhams were not old enough to complete a scale model kit when the CSR’s ancestor was unveiled. Colin Chapman built the first Lotus Six in 1953; the car consisted of little more than a spindly chassis and a solid axle at each end—with the front beam split to allow for a modicum of independence between the wheels—wrapped in the smallest possible square footage of aluminum paneling. Englishmen raced them, but then Englishmen raced anything on wheels in those days.
After a few years, the Seven replaced the Six. With a more sophisticated—though still willowy—chassis, independent front suspension, and more “finished” coachwork (initially all-aluminum, but soon sporting fiberglass fenders and nose cone), the Seven was a better car, though still a do-it-yourself proposition. Evolutionary upgrades kept the Lotus Seven fresh for years, yet the final 1972 model differed little from the 1957 original.
The same might be said of the vehicles built when Caterham Cars Ltd. took over Seven production in 1973 and of the Caterham Sevens that are being built in 2006. Motive power has evolved considerably from the 40-hp BMC engines that filled the engine bays of many early Lotus Sevens, the frame has been reinforced, and Caterham’s own de Dion rear suspension has brought discernible handling, but in all major respects save horsepower, the gap between 1953 and 2006 is almost too small to notice.
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