Caterham Rolls Out Two New Vehicles for the U.S.

2015 Caterham Seven 480 (Credit: © Caterham Cars)

Caterham has a rather large following in Europe, as it has been building and selling small, lightweight sports cars across the pond for decades now. Until 2014, however, Caterham cars were only available in the U.S. by purchasing them overseas and importing them yourself. This all changed when the sports car manufacturer found a dealer network in California-based Superperformance.

With this American dealer network now working with the British automaker, Caterham saw it fit to double-down on its offerings to American buyers by launching two new vehicles for U.S. consumption, bringing its total U.S. lineup to four cars. Both cars are, of course, based on the iconic Caterham Seven, and are dubbed the Seven 360 and Seven 480.

There is still a little red tape, however, as these two new cars, like all U.S.-sold Caterhams, are shipped either as components cars for your assembly or as factory-built rolling chassis. No Caterham cars are sold with the engine installed; rather, the engine and gearbox are sold as independent packages.

The Seven 360 runs $44,900 in its factory-built, rolling-chassis form and you can lower that price to $42,505 if you receive it as an unassembled components car. The Seven 360 requires the 2.0-liter Duratec engine that produces 180 horsepower and 143 pound-feet of torque, and either a five-speed or six-speed manual transmission. This drivetrain kit is available for $10,500 with the five-cog gearbox or 11,750 with the six-speed. This combo allows the 535-kg (1,179-pound) Seven 360 to sprint to 60 mph in just 4.8 seconds and up to a top speed of 130 mph.

The Seven 480 is available for $52,900 as a rolling chassis and $50,500  unassembled. The Seven 480 is specified to use a modified 2.0-liter Duratec engine that produces 237 horsepower and 206 pound-feet of torque mated to a six-speed manual transmission. The drivetrain kit for the Seven 480 runs an extra $12,950. With this kit installed, the Seven 480 can hit 60 mph in just 3.4 seconds and continue on to a top speed of 140 mph.

Both cars are available for order now in six standard colors: Caterham Yellow, Caterham Blue, Caterham Green, Caterham Orange, Caterham Black and Caterham Red.