Various other manufacturers offer a sports car in a similar basic configuration, but Caterham owns various legal rights to the Lotus Seven design and name.

[2] Colin Chapman had been a Royal Air Force pilot, studied structural engineering, and went on to become one of the great innovators in motorsports design and founded Lotus Engineering Ltd. His vision of light, powerful cars and performance suspensions guided much of his development work with the basic design philosophy of, "Simplify, then add lightness".

As part of this plan, it sold the rights to the Seven to its only remaining agents, Caterham Cars in England and Steel Brothers Limited in New Zealand.

The modern-day Road sports and Superlights (in "narrow-bodied chassis" form) are the direct descendants of this car and therefore of the original Lotus 7.

De Dion rear suspension was introduced in the mid-1980s and both geometries were on offer until 2002 when the live-axle option was phased out (though later reintroduced for the 160/165 and 170/Super Seven 600 versions).

Late 90s and early 2000s versions (such as the Superlight) employed adjustable double-wishbone suspension with front anti-roll bar and a de-Dion rear axle, located by an A-frame and Watt's linkage.

In 1993 Caterham created the JPE special edition (named for Formula 1 driver Jonathan Palmer) by using a two-litre Vauxhall Touring Car engine, putting out around 250 bhp (186 kW) and reducing weight to around 530 kg (1,168 lb) by such measures as removing the windscreen in favour of an aeroscreen.

Around 1997 the cross flow range was replaced by 8v and 16v Vauxhall units which, in various guises lived on until the end of the VX-powered Caterham Classic, in 2002.

Weight was saved by removing the spare wheel (and carrier), carpets, heater, and often the windscreen (replaced with an aeroscreen), hood, and doors.

Lightweight "Tillet" GRP seats were usually fitted along with carbon-fibre front wings and nosecone (note however that items such as heaters and windscreens could still be specified by the Superlight customer if they so wanted).

Three years later Caterham took the same concept to a new level and created the iconic Superlight R500, still based on the Rover 1.8-litre K-series but now tuned (by Minister Racing Engines) to around 230 bhp (172 kW) at 8,600 rpm in a car weighing just 460 kg (1,014 lb).

This culminated in 2004 with perhaps the most extreme production Caterham of all; the R500 EVO was bored out by Minister to 1,998 cc and delivered 250 bhp (186 kW).

It did, however, succeed in setting a series of performance car benchmarks several of which last to this day; the 0–100 mph-0 record was set at 10.73 seconds (in second place was a Ferrari Enzo costing ten times as much) and, until the end of 2006 it remained the fastest production car timed by EVO magazine around the Bedford Autodrome West Circuit, ahead of a Porsche Carrera GT.

In 2000 the Honda CBR1100 engine was installed into a 430 kg (948 lb) superlight chassis to create the Caterham Blackbird, delivering 170 bhp (127 kW) at 10,750 rpm (although just 92 lb⋅ft (125 N⋅m) of maximum torque).

There has also been at least one installation of the RST-V8, created by Moto Power; a 2-litre, 40 valve 340 bhp (254 kW) V8 made from a pair of motorcycle engines joined at the crank.

This used a Suzuki 660 cc three-cylinder turbo K6A engine, producing 80 hp (60 kW), with a live rear axle and S3-style body work only.

Amongst the marque's more famous races was the victory in the Nelson Ledges 24-hour race in Ohio when, against a field including works teams from Honda and Mazda, a four-man team from Caterham (including both Jez Coates and Robert Nearn) won by seven laps (after 990 laps) in a modified Vauxhall HPC.

For £17,995 (2009 price), entrants get a modified Roadsport kit (although a factory-built option is available for extra cost) with a sealed 120 bhp (89 kW) engine and 5-speed gearbox.

The RAC lifted the ban in 1980, but initially only allowed Caterhams to be raced under rather severe restrictions, requiring a full windshield be fitted and limiting the engine to the 84 hp (63 kW) Crossflow unit.

In 2002 an R400 won its class (and came 11th overall out of 200 starters) at the Nürburgring 24-hour race by 10 laps, ahead of the competition that included Porsche and BMW racecars, leading, once again, to a ban on entry in subsequent years.

Until mid-2013 the factory had offered options around the Rover K-series engine, including the entry-level "Classic" with a 1.4-litre, capable of 0–60 in 6.5 seconds and a top speed of 110 mph (180 km/h).

As of 2017, the company maintains two separate ranges for mainland Europe (Euro 6 compliant) and the United Kingdom, reflecting the different legislative systems.

[20] The car received a large amount of publicity for a low-powered entry-level model, with an appearance on Top Gear,[21] and Suzuki displaying it at the 2014 Frankfurt Motor Show.

The list of standard equipment reflects the Superlight's bias to track work: Wide-track front suspension, 6-speed sequential manual gearbox, carbon-fibre dashboard and front wings, GRP aeroscreen, and seats, racing harness, removable steering wheel.

Quoted weight for the Superlight is about 50 kg (110 lb) less than the Roadsport, due in part to the lack of a spare wheel and carrier.

The Super 7 is powered by a 1.6 litre Ford Sigma petrol engine which makes use of twin throttle bodies to aid airflow.

Caterham has designed the Super Seven to have long, flared wheel arches, dials provided by Smiths, and a wire mesh grille.

The Superlight swaps the windscreen, carpet, heater, and weather gear on the standard car for a limited-slip differential and a quicker steering rack.

There is a 25-kilo weight reduction over the standard CSR260, this model variant also adds distinctive Superlight styling to the exterior, including a wind deflector, a carbon-fibre dashboard and wings, a black powder-coated cockpit, and a quick-release MOMO steering wheel.

Caterham has a number of models, such as the Roadsport, Supersport and Superlight, that are occasionally re-introduced with chassis upgrades or changes in the engine options.