Caterham, the British sports car manufacturer, is set to reveal its most radical model in decades, known as ‘Project V’. The all-electric sports coupe will be unveiled on 12 July, before being presented to the public at the Goodwood Festival of Speed the following day. The car will be entirely unrelated to Caterham’s existing Seven model, but will continue the firm’s traditional values of “lightness, simplicity and a driver focused experience”. The new model will serve as the spearhead for Caterham’s transition into the era of electrification.
Leading the design programme is Anthony Jannarelly, Caterham’s new design chief. Jannarelly is best known for the W Motors Lykan Hypersport and his own Jannarelly Design-1, a retro-styled, rear-driven sports car with a Nissan V6 and an ultra-light, Le Mans-inspired body. Working in partnership with Italdesign in Turin, Jannarelly is using this project as an opportunity to “please the existing Caterham fans while also trying to reach another type of audience” for the brand. The Frenchman is committed to retaining Caterham’s principles of lightness and simplicity in the new design, even though it will be an EV.
Jannarelly has almost total freedom with this car, because the function-over-form Seven “has no styling” as such. “The next car we’re going to make is the first car where we can really apply what could be the ‘Caterham styling’, which was not a fact of the Seven, which came from the Lotus [7],” he explained. Beyond confirming that it won’t have a long bonnet and won’t be “bulky”, Jannarelly stopped short of giving strong clues as to the shape and size of the new model, although he did point to the slimness and simplicity of an EV architecture as facilitators for improved packaging and compactness.
Caterham CEO Bob Laishley has previously stated that the new model will have a steel spaceframe, but a different one to the Seven. It will have a six-panel enveloping body in aluminium or carbonfibre: two sills, two doors plus clamshell openings front and rear. It will be prettier and more modern than a Seven and may have a roof. The car will be designed as a pure EV from the start, with rear drive only, and it will be registered under SVA rules. Caterham has not yet suggested an on-sale date for the new car, but VT Holdings CEO Kazuho Takahashi’s eagerness to see it reach production suggests it could come as soon as 2026.
Jannarelly is excited about the opportunity to create a new Caterham model that can embody the brand’s principles, irrespective of its positioning and the nature of its powertrain. “The principle is always lightness,” he told Autocar. “What everybody loves about the Seven is that it’s a simple car that just works, and even if we’re making an EV, we will try to apply the same philosophy. It’s very simple. There will be no fancy features. The main thing is your enjoyment in driving this car. We’re trying to make it as light as possible. So the performance which we will [get] out of it will be just great. And the driving pleasure is a consequence of this lightness. The key words are always simplicity, lightness and driving joy.”
Caterham’s enthusiast appeal has also had a strong influence on the new car’s conception, said Jannarelly: “What do you get when you get a Caterham? You get something different than from other cars. If you buy a Caterham, you’re someone a bit more daring; you’re not a mainstream person. And that’s something I’d like to put into the future model.” Jannarelly is confident that the new car will please existing Caterham fans, while also attracting a new audience to the brand.
It’s not yet clear if Caterham will reveal a concept car or a pre-production prototype this year, but Laishley hinted at a plan to build the EV in a new factory – recently opened in Dartford – at greater volumes than the Seven and for it to have a higher base price. The new model will be a statement of intent for Caterham, as it marks its 50th anniversary. The company has come a long way since its origins as a Lotus Seven kit car manufacturer, and it is now looking to embrace the future of motoring with its first all-electric sports car.