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Mike McCarthy25 May 2014
REVIEW

Clubmans, a history

Best bang for your buck? It’s hard to go past a Clubman, for sure.

Actually, the revelation of 'best bang for your buck' is nothing new. It's been replaying ever since Clubbies' ancestral forebears sprayed gravel in motoring's infancy.

Indeed, Clubman DNA began being woven by road-going immortals including Stutz Bearcat, Mercer Raceabout, A.L.F.A. 40/60 Corsa, Bugatti Type 37 and others of their ilk. Regardless of specific differences, the oldies had some inalienable things in common; like two seats, detachable mudguards, stand-alone headlights, skimpy bodywork, a bare minimum of creature comforts (if that), and less weight than their sedan or tourer peers; plus an innate emphasis on boisterous performance.

Though the Clubman road/race concept has deep roots, it didn't become an entity until the 1950s when motor racing blossomed with more cars, classes and competitors than ever, especially in the UK.

Blighty was blessed with what were (and are) the most talent-laden entry level racing classes; not just for drivers, but equally for designers and constructors. For that, credit must in large part go to the Brits' many motorsports groups, perhaps most notably the 750 Motor Club. It was founded in 1939 to promote sporting events for the then ubiquitous pre-war Austin Seven, together with its many and varied special derivations.

The Austin 7's popularity in post-war UK club racing was shared with, then overshadowed by the equally conservative, equally affordable and similarly tuneable 1172cc side-valve Ford 10.

Performance-wise, the 56 per cent capacity advantage tipped the road-n-race sports car playing field in Ford's favour. Well, at least until the similar size, similar weight (though pricier) SOHC Coventry Climax and larger (also heavier) MG and Ford OHV engines began crowding the pointy end of races.

By the late '50s, enthusiast type sports cars thrived in the UK thanks to the supportive local culture. By good luck or an exceptional stroke of rationality, the government imposed much less sales tax on you-assemble kits than the much heftier slug meted to turn-key vehicles.

The tax concession helped popularise kit cars, which materially helped that ragtag niche to gain respectability and outgrow its fringe-dweller status. By association, the tax break also helped stimulate the entry-level racing classes.

Inevitably, although road-registerable Clubbies would remain highly competitive in motorsport, even when segregated from other production sports cars, more specialised hardcore racing versions would evolve along appropriately different lines.

A CERTAIN CHAPMAN
Meanwhile, innovation and inventiveness propelled a tsunami of 'enthusiast' sports car design and engineering advancements through the '50s and '60s. Motoring and motor racing brimmed with very smart young blokes. Nothing escaped their car-centric passions and scholarly maths, as they reviewed and renewed every nook or cranny related to performance, ride, handling and aerodynamics; and all else besides.

Prominent among the new-order brainiacs was Mr. A C B Chapman, Colin for short. While Chapman arguably may or may not have been the brightest of the brilliant bunch (depending on your viewpoint), he was unquestionably the most controversial and, sadly, ultimately not the most honest.

To Chapman's everlasting credit though, his was the genius that created the definitive elemental sports car, the Lotus Mark VII. Behold, the game changer had arrived.

It wasn’t an all-new overnight wonder. Predecessors included the Mk VI and other less commercial but variously significant Marks on the Lotus totem. Indeed, the Six was a breakthrough that put Lotus on the map and cemented Chapman's car-maker credentials. During the Six's five-year stint from 1952, production totalled about 110 examples, all sold as kits.

But, in 1957, the Mk VII forever changed the sports car world. Hit the spot? Mate, it went viral. Compared to the VI, it offered appreciably better specification throughout and presented even more purposeful appearance. More slab-sided, it had a less rounded nose cone and bonnet too. Even the guards were starkly flat where the Six's were shapely.

No matter, the Lotus Seven was universally recognised for sports car minimisation at its best. It became the darling of road-going and racing enthusiasts alike and was entrenched as the genre's lifetime benchmark.

An updated Seven, the Series 2, launched in 1960, followed by the further improved Series 3 in 1968.

Sales slowed in the late '60s, which perhaps swayed Chapman's characteristically keen sense of judgement.

Lotus erred with 1970's radically 'modernised' all-new Seven S4, for its appearance and construction were so unrelated to earlier Sevens as to bring its paternity into question.

Rather than the familiar round-edge styling with aluminium body panels and bonnet, the S4 flaunted stylised square-edged design and fibreglass panels throughout. Critics likened it to a beach buggy. Ouch.

After a slow start, however, the S4 proved a much better car than visual first impressions perhaps suggested.

LOTUS POSITION
By 1972 the Seven series had racked up over 25,000 sales, but Chapman's attention was elsewhere. For the persuasive sakes of image and profit, he wanted Lotus repositioned further upmarket. He decided the Seven didn't fit that ambition, particularly since the UK's imminent switch to the Value Added Tax scheme (aka GST) spelt the end of ye olde Sales Tax and the kit car concession.

Former main Lotus dealer Caterham duly acquired UK manufacturing rights for the Seven, without the Lotus name. Down Under rights for the S4 model (including the Lotus name) went to New Zealand's Steel Brothers, and, unbeknown to most, a separate deal would be concocted in South Africa.

Caterham built fewer than 40 S4s before reverting to the S3 and reaping strong sales growth. Steel Bros meantime continued building their legally-Lotus S4 until 1979, at which point they'd exhausted the allotment of 100 or so Lotus-supplied kits.

Things were afoot in South Africa too, though the implications weren't apparent at the time.

Meanwhile, Caterham strengthened its grip on the S3 Seven by introducing evolutionary improvements and new model variants from time to time. It also snarled aggressively at companies whose Seven-alike copies risked infringing its property rights.


SINCEREST FLATTERY

Imitators were always nuisances, of course, and there were lots of them the world over. No car has been so widely copied by so many admirers or poachers.

Countless individuals and aspiring small companies drew inspiration from the Seven's success, seeming simplicity of design/construction, and attainable affordability. Some interpreted the Lotus/Caterham design in their own ways, others just copied the original almost verbatim.

Not amused by wholesale pirating of its design, Caterham in the late '80s finally spat the dummy, accusing rising young UK company Westfield with producing a deceptively close copy of the Seven S3. After some heavy sparring, the case was settled out of court, and saw the Westfield car's appearance changed beyond confusion.

Though, the case certainly got much attention, it didn't stem the tide of impersonators. A decade on, Caterham was in court again, albeit in South Africa, where local company Birkin was accused of unauthorised use of the Seven brand and design.

Birkin retaliated by declaring an early agreement with SA's Lotus agent Status Cars, and the blessing of the family of the then late Colin Chapman. The Seven name, Birkin argued, had long been used for other makes and models, such as Austin Seven.

Another point of conflict cited Birkin successfully entering markets outside South Africa, most specifically Japan, which Caterham deemed was its patch.

There were some (British) cries of a hometown decision when the court found in Birkin's favour. But the precedents stood, and left Caterham's self-promoted exclusivity in tatters, albeit without lasting harm to the brand’s reputation and popularity.

By the mid-noughties Caterham was in good shape with a competitive model range and sales in 30 countries. After founder Graham Nearn retired, his son Simon headed the company until bought out is 2005 by a group consisting of ex-Lotus executives and interested others.

Another phase began in 2011 when wealthy Lotus team principal Tony Fernandes gained control of Caterham and set about broadening the company's actvities. After a messy kerfuffle over names, Fernandes relinquished the Lotus and Team Lotus monikers in F1 to the Group Lotus group, and got serious with Caterham F1.

Caterham's expanding interests now include motorcycles, among other things. A sports car joint venture with (Renault based) Alpine was announced but most recently has been undone.

BOLT-UP FROM THE BLUE
Meantime, the Clubman/Seven world was about to experience a left-field new development no-one saw coming. The catalyst for this epic upheaval was a how-to book that became a gospel for legion upon legion of wannabe Clubby builders.

Provocatively titled, Build Your Own Sports Car For As Little As £250, the book was derived from author Ron Champion's experiences racing a self-built Clubman in 750 Motor Club events. Along the way, Champion adapted the so-called ‘Locost’ to be a very cheap, very simple Seven-ish sportster that could built by school students.

Besides dangling the irresistible carrot of step-by-step instructions before the whetted desires of literally thousands of wishful amateur constructors, Champion's book sealed the seduction with detailed plans and 'tech' drawings.

Build Your Own couldn't have been a bigger hit if were The Kama Sutra For Clubman Builders. It sold by the container loads and is still in demand. Ironically, in true Seven tradition, Build Your Own inspired several popular rival books along very similar lines.

And 57 years on, Clubbies still keep coming. Be they Caterhams, any of the large number of 'inspired' production models, book-build Locosts or one-off specials, the appeal is undiminished.

These days, shortage of Seven-suitable rear-drive donor cars and components frequently kindles predictions of the traditional Clubbies' demise at the hands of a like-minded variant design with an ex-front-drive powertrain resettled behind the cockpit. They wish.

Despite some promising attempts, mid-engine Clubman concepts haven't yet gained serious traction. In spite of hurdles, the classic design still rules.

It ain't perfect, but at heart the Seven-ish Clubby embodies the mother of all sports cars: very light; amply powerful; and definitely thrilling enough to be all about the driving.

That's why and how its career continues defying gravity.

Long may it continue...

Read the full Road Test drive of the Caterham Seven CSR 175

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Written byMike McCarthy
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