Caterham Expands into Motorcycles with Three New Concept Bikes

10 years, 11 months ago - 14 November 2013, Autoblog

If there is any car on the road you might consider essentially a four-wheeled motorcycle, surely it's the Caterham Seven. So it hardly seems much of a stretch that the British automaker that forged its reputation building Lotus continuation cars would branch into motorcycles. And that's precisely what it has announced today.

Revealed at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan are three new prototypes that herald the launch of the new Caterham Bikes division. Baddest of the trio is the Brutus 750, an off-road motorbike joined by a pair of electric bicycles: the Classic E-Bike with retro styling and the Carbon E-Bike inspired by the company's F1 team. The news, incidentally, follows the July announcement that Lotus was getting into motorcycles as well.

Caterham revealed little in the way of details behind the concepts, focusing instead on the new division's place within the expanding Caterham group. What was once a business built strictly around the Seven has since expanded into F1 and GP2 racing, engineering consultancy and composites, with the SP/300.R launched with Lola, the new AeroSeven concept launched at the Singapore Grand Prix, and the new Alpine sportscar under development with Renault. Which all points to the inescapable conclusion that, since being taken over by Malaysian businessman and AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes, Caterham is showing no signs of slowing down.