Legendary Caterhams go under the hammer

Never ones to follow tradition, British sportscar manufacturer, Caterham, are to auction a selection of their most celebrated used Sevens (20-27th February).

In order to make room for a flurry of part exchanges arriving in March, the company has chosen to take the somewhat unusual step of putting some of its more exotic pre-owned models under the hammer.

Just twelve unique examples will be sold off during the weeklong auction. Highlights include the Superlight R500 that famously smashed the 0-100mph-0 world record in a time of 11.44 seconds (2002) and a special edition Autosport 50th Anniversary 133bhp Roadsport – one of only 9 built.

However, pride of place for motorsport enthusiasts will surely go to the all-conquering Nürburgring Superlight R400 racecar from 2002.

The ultra-reliable lightweight sportscar left a litany of Italian, Japanese and German supercar muscle in its wake to not only win its class around the fearsome Nordschleife, but finish 11th overall from a list of 200 starters. So demonstrably quicker than its rivals, Caterham were subsequently banned from defending the title - being deemed ‘too fast to race’ by organisers.

Lining up alongside these performance legends is a wide selection of road and track Caterhams, plus one very special vehicle powered by gravity alone - the soapbox derby car the firm entered into the famous 2003 Red Bull Soap Box Challenge!

In traditional auctioneering fashion, the company will host a ‘preview day’ on Saturday February 18th at its Caterham showroom for interested parties to take a closer look at the assembled ‘lots’. Bidding, either by phone or email, starts in earnest on Monday February 20th running for seven days.