Team Caterham?

Team Lotus Enterprises, The parent company of the Team Lotus F1 racing team, has purchased Caterham Cars.  It's yet another interesting twist in the Lotus versus Lotus row that has been going on for some months now.

Originally when Tony Fernandes built Lotus Racing, and then later renamed the team to the iconic Team Lotus name the goal was to build the equity in the name and then purchase Lotus Cars from its parent company, Proton.  That plan didn't go quite as expected.  After Lotus Racing started, Group Lotus got a new CEO who decided he wanted to take the company into F1 and broke the contract with Tony Fernandes, taking the whole thing to high court in the UK.

Now, with the "buy Lotus" idea effectively scuttled, he has instead purchased Caterham with the intent of building that partnership.  I for one love this idea and think it is probably superior to the original plan.  While Group Lotus is looking to go upscale, raising the prices of their cars to meet those of  Porsche and Ferrari, Tony wanted to bring F1 and sportscars to everyone.  Caterham fits nicely with that plan.  Manufacturers of cars based on the original design of the Lotus 7 sportscar (Caterham purchased the rights to the design in 1973), Caterham cars are a serious driver's car, reasonably priced and completely bonkers.

I've been supporting Team Lotus (nee Lotus Racing) since they came to the sport in 2010 and now I will continue to support Tony Fernandes' F1 efforts under the name Caterham.  It's a great team, a great effort and worth the loyalty.