End of an Era as Caterham Superlight R500 Ceases Production

It was a sad day indeed for any Caterham fan: on Monday 7th July, the 174th and final R500 rolled off the production line in Dartford, destined for Caterham’s distributor in Peru, South America.

The R500 is one of Caterham’s most popular models and over the years it has attracted many buyers from across the globe, including many celebrity customers.

Caterham Superlight R500s accolades

Following its launch in 2008, the R500 received a collection of five-star reviews, was awarded Car of the Year and made an appearance on Top Gear TV’s test track where it set a time of 1:17:9; this is nearly half a second quicker than the Bugatti Veyron.

The 2.0 litre engine of the Caterham Superlight R500 produces 263bhp and reaches 60mph in a blisteringly quick 2.88 seconds.

The legendary sports car was also replicated in digital form for several racing computer games, allowing the younger car enthusiasts to get behind the wheel of the Superlight R500.

Marks & Spencer produced a remote control toy version of the car and even model maker, Matchbox, created a model of the iconic Supercar.

CEO of Caterham Group

Graham Macdonald, Caterham Group’s CEO, had this to say;

“If Caterham wasn’t already firmly on the map as one of the world’s best-known British sports car makers, the R500 certainly helped us cement that position.

It was a landmark model for us in many respects; its performance on the road and track was matched by the impact it had on our brand.

It brought new technologies to the Seven range and was the first production Caterham to adopt a sequential gearbox.

To some extent, it represent the start of a new era in which Caterham stepped into the 21st Century, but is perfectly encapsulated Colin Chapman’s original ethos and harnessed out determination to provide accessible fun like no other.”

Nearly 50% of R500s made their way overseas, with the largest export markets for the sports car were Japan and Italy, closely followed by France and then Germany.

If you would like chat about the Caterham Superlight R500, tweet me @SamwaysCarTalk– anyone who follows me and read my blogs knows that I love my Classics and Supercars; the Caterham Superlight R500 is certainly no exception.

Like I said previously, it was a sad day indeed when it ceased production.