Caterham 21
The Caterham 21 is a two-seat roadster designed and hand built by Caterham Cars in the 1990s. It was based on the mechanicals of the Caterham 7 and was intended to be a more practical version of that car with more conventional sports car styling.
| Caterham 21 | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Caterham Cars |
| Production | 1994–1999 |
| Designer | Iain Robertson |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Sports car |
| Body style | Roadster |
| Layout | Longitudinal front-engine, rear-wheel drive |
| Related | Caterham Seven |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | Rover K-Series 1.6L I4 Rover K-Series 1.8L I4 Vauxhall 2.0L I4 Motopower RST-V8 2.4L Supercharged V8 |
| Transmission | 5-speed manual (Ford Type 9) 6-speed manual (Caterham) |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 2,248 mm (88.5 in) |
| Length | 3,907 mm (153.8 in) |
| Width | 1,580 mm (62 in) |
| Curb weight | 665 kg (1,466 lb) |
| Chronology | |
| Successor | Caterham C120 (Cancelled) |
The original car was announced at the 1994 British Motor Show to celebrate 21 years of Caterham Cars’ manufacture of the Lotus Seven. Styled by Iain Robertson and developed by a team under Jez Coates, the aim was to have a car that offered "the chance to experience Caterham motoring in a more practical format". The 21 was offered with a range of four-cylinder engines from 1.6 to 2.0 L, with 115–230 bhp (86–172 kW). Caterham originally intended to produce 200 cars per year, but in fact only 40 to 50 examples were actually made before the project was quietly shelved in 1999.