LEGO 21307, Инструкция по сборке, Страница: 5 / 192

5
The Perfect Racing Machine
Created by visionary Formula One designer
Colin Chapman, the Lotus Seven was a road-
going sports car based on racing car principles,
and supplied to the customer as a build-it-
yourself kit. A Lotus dealer in the Surrey town
of Caterham saw a great potential for the tiny
sports car, and in 1973 Caterham Cars bought
the rights from Lotus and started to build the
third generation ‘Series 3’ version, which
remains in production today.
Put side by side, an original Lotus Seven Series
3 from 1968 would look very similar to the cars
being built nearly fifty years later. But under
the skin Caterham has continued to refine and
develop the car, ensuring that its overall racing
performance is always highly competitive.
The most powerful Caterham car to date, the
Seven 620R, was revealed in 2013. With a
310HP supercharged Ford engine developed by
Caterham, coupled with a six-speed sequential
racing gearbox, the 1,261 lbs (572 kg) car
accelerates from 0-63 mph (0-100 kph) in just
2.8 seconds and has a top speed of 155 mph
(250 kph). It also utilizes the latest in material
engineering, with lightweight carbon-fiber used
for the fenders, interior panels, dashboard and
seats, while the wheels and tires have been
developed especially for the car.
It is estimated that there are as many as 1,000
Sevens competing on any given weekend, with
championships all over the world from Colombia
to Taiwan. The Caterham factory in Dartford,
Kent, UK continues to build 500 cars each year,
with well over half of the cars being exported
around the world. Although all export cars are
now fully pre-built like any other regular road
car, customers in the UK still have the option
to build their car from a kit, just like the original,
and more than 100 do so each year.