We speak exclusively to Caterham’s new design chief about the first model of its electrification era.
Caterham will showcase its most radical model in decades next month and has revealed it has been codenamed ‘Project V’.
The concept, which is likely to take the form of a stunning electric two-seat sports car, will be entirely unrelated to the existing Caterham Seven. As first reported by Automotive Daily Network partner Autocar last year, the totally new model will serve as the spearhead for its transition into the era of electrification.
While it was “just an idea in people’s heads” in September, plans have fast progressed for the Kent-based car maker, which now has with the backing of Japanese firm VT Holdings.
The new design will be showcased in July as Caterham marks its 50th anniversary.
“This is a bold new design. This is driver focussed, lightweight and fun to drive,” Caterham said, previewing the car with a low-lit image indicating its exterior lines. “This is the essence of a sports car with an electric powertrain. This is a statement of intent. This is Project V.”
Leading the design programme is new design chief Anthony Jannarelly, best known for the W Motors Lykan Hypersport and his own Jannarelly Design-1 (pictured below) – 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, the Frenchman 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.
Creating this “bridge”, as he put it, is a “big responsibility”, but he is “not nervous, because it’s exciting”.
“I would say at the end it’s an exciting moment. My main hope is people will understand the message coming from Caterham,” he said.
This message is that Caterham’s principles can be carried into and successfully embodied by a completely new product, irrespective of its positioning and the nature of its powertrain.
“The principle is always lightness,” Jannarelly 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.”
The brand’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 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.
Jannarelly’s commitment to lightness and simplicity tallies with Caterham CEO Bob Laishley’s passion for maintaining the brand’s hallmarks.
“This will definitely not be a Seven,” Laishley previously said about the EV. “But it will have all the characteristics today’s Caterham customers know well: lightness, simplicity, agility and performance.”
He continued: “Like the Seven, it will have a steel spaceframe – but a different one – because they’re easy to modify in production if you need to. 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 – those will be big points of distinction – and maybe it will have a roof. We’re designing it as a pure EV from the start, with rear drive only, and it will be registered under SVA rules.”
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.
Caterham hasn’t 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.