Caterham Seven price reduced

A PLUMETTING pound prompted by the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union has allowed bantamweight sportscar-maker Caterham to reduce its Australian pricing across the board, with up to $13,400 stripped from the cost of its Seven range.

With the pricing restructure, the line-up has also been rationalised from eight variants down to six, with the bespoke CSR now discontinued by the UK factory and the 355 S removed from the Australian list.

Six variants are now available with a choice of three engines, starting with the base Caterham Seven 275 from $64,000 before on-road costs, representing a discount of $5850, while the 275 S is a whole $13,400 cheaper at a new price of $69,900.

Both Seven variants are powered by a 100kW Ford Sigma four-cylinder for a zero to 100km/h acceleration time of 5.5 seconds thanks to an ultra-low kerb weight of 675kg.

Standard attire in the base 275 includes 14-inch wheels, cloth seats, a soft top, heater and five-speed manual gearbox.

Stepping up to the S brings 15-inch wheels, carpet on the floor and leather on the seats, a 12 volt power socket, S badging and paint – standard cars arrive with bare aluminium panels.

In the middle of the range, the Seven 355 is now $10,300 more affordable with its pricing adjusted to $76,600 or customers can opt for the more kit-laden 355 R for $94,800 which is $4000 cheaper.

Both versions feature a 2.0-litre Ford Duratec four-cylinder with 127kW and 0-100km acceleration time of 5.0 seconds. Weight creeps up to 700kg but top speed also rises– up to 208km/h compared with the 190km/h V-max of the 275.

Standard versions have 13-inch wheels, cloth seats, a mixture of aluminium and composite body panels and a five-speed gearbox.

Stumping the extra cash for the 355 R brings carbon-pattern leather seats, a limited-slip differential, rear anti-roll bar, adjustable suspension, black alloy wheels, four-point harnesses, carbon-fibre dashboard, carbon-fibre wing and sill protectors, and an aluminium gear knob.

A third 355 S option has now been de-listed, but Caterham says customers can effectively request the mid-range variant by checking a few boxes in the options list for about the same investment as the S pack.

At the top of the pack, the Seven 485 offers the most potent performance available for Australia with a dry-sump version of the 2.0-litre Duratec engine that has been tuned to produce 177kW, enabling zero to 100km/h acceleration in just 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 240km/h.

With the price realignment, the 485 S now costs $10,700 less at $103,700, while the 485 R range-topper is now $114,900 representing a $12,100 saving.

Caterham Seven 485 S owners get a six-speed manual gearbox, carbon-fibre front wings and dashboard, leather seats, full weather equipment, ventilated front brake discs with four-piston callipers, 15-inch wheels, and four-point harnesses.

With the standard weight-saving gear, the 485 weighs in at just 675kg.

Clicking the R option steps the wheels down to a smaller but wider set of 13-inch Apollo wheels with Avon tyres, aerofoil front suspension wishbones, race suspension, a shift light and carbon leather pack.

A Seven CSR was previously offered for $13,300 but has now been deleted from the global line-up following production constraints.

Caterham has recently started sourcing Mazda gearboxes for its range following the limited availability of its previous Ford unit, but the Seven CSR is the only model that cannot accept the Japanese transmission, forcing its discontinuation.

Allowing for inflation, the most recent pricing restructure takes the cost of a Caterham back 20 years resulting in Australian range that has never been more affordable says the company.

2017 Caterham Seven pricing*

275	$64,000
275 S	$69,900
355	$76,600
355 R	$94,800
485 S	$103,700
485 R	$114,900

*Excludes on-road costs