Caterham Nürburgring Edition not for Aus

THE Caterham Seven Nürburgring Edition unveiled at this year’s 24-hour endurance race is unlikely to reach Australian shores any time soon as strict government regulations continue to create hurdles for bringing low volume models Down Under.

The British sports car manufacturer made two major announcements centred around this year's Nürburgring 24 Hours.

On 15 May, just prior to the event, Caterham launched the Seven Nürburgring Edition, celebrating the infamous German race track’s 100th birthday, with prices starting from £48,995 ($A94,365).

Limited to a run of just 100 examples, the Seven Nürburgring Edition was made available globally in market-dependent 420R or 340R specification.

Mated to a five-speed transmission, the Seven Nürburgring Edition’s 2.0-litre Ford Duratec four-cylinder engine produces nearly 157kW, good for 0-60mph (96.56km/h) run of 3.8 seconds.

Crucially, the Seven Nürburgring Edition has a power to weight ratio just shy of 280kW per tonne.

It comes equipped with bespoke Bilstein suspension as well as further exterior additions including a 620-style nose cone with carbon aero whiskers, Nürburgring branding, a red track day roll bar, and a Nürburgring mesh grille.

Along with “custom paint colours”, three exterior paint colour options are listed for the Nürburgring Edition – Verkehrsrot (Traffic Red), Achatgrau (Agate Grey) and Basaltgrau (Basalt Grey).

In the cockpit you will find carbon interior panels, leather seats with Nürburgring embroidery, red stitching (found on both the seats and the transmission tunnel), four-point harnesses, and sequential shift lights.

Each example is also complete with a numbered build plaque.

Over the Nürburgring 24 Hour weekend, Caterham signed a new partnership with Würth UK that was later announced in June.

The new partnership will see Würth’s products and workshop solutions integrated into Caterham’s manufacturing operations and motorsport activities.

On the manufacturing side, Caterham will now make use of workshop organisation and vending solutions, chemical and lubricants, workshop consumables, PPE, fasteners and fixings, and workshop consumables from Würth.

As for Caterham’s motorsport activities, Würth’s products will also be used in the technical support garages at the brand’s UK racing events.

However, both the Seven Nürburgring Edition and Caterham’s new Würth partnership will have little relevance for the Australian market.

Increasingly strict Australian Design Rules (ADRs) continue to create hurdles for low volume car manufacturers down under.

As a result, and while Caterham provides a “consultancy service to enthusiasts who wish to order a bespoke specialist car” and has over 100 names on its “expressions of interest” list in Australia, it hasn’t “taken an order” for a car locally since 2021 according to a brand spokesperson.

VFACTS data shows that Caterham’s last Australian delivery took place in 2022.

The year prior, as GoAuto reported in November of that year, Caterham sold just one car in Australia in 2020.

It’s a similar story for Morgan, another low volume British marque with which Caterham shares an Australian importer.

Despite having “over 300” names on its “expressions of interest” list, it too faces the same regulatory hurdles.

As a result, both manufacturers “do not really have a business in Australia anymore”, according to the same spokesperson save for “a small warehouse for parts”, and “providing parts and service technical advice to our authorised service dealers and customers”.