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BEST-SELLING CATERHAM MODEL IS BACK……brand new Superlight R300 to return in 2009.

Caterham’s famous ‘Superlight’ family is now complete with the manufacturer releasing details of a new generation of its Superlight R300.

Following in the rear tyre tracks of the motorsport derived R400 and R500, the latest Seven punches from 0-to-60mph in 4.5 seconds courtesy of a new 2-litre Ford Duratec HE engine, tuned by Caterham Powertrain (CPT), to deliver a responsive 175bhp.

Originally launched in 2002 and fitted with a Rover K-series engine, the previous R300 was Caterham’s best-selling Seven thanks to an addictive character fuelled by its perfect blend of performance and driving pleasure. The new Ford-powered model builds on this platform with increased engine performance and chassis developments, all whilst retaining the R300’s winning personality.

The latest 515kg interpretation of Colin Chapman’s famous ‘lightweight minimalist’ philosophy beautifully balances power and chassis to perfection, delivering an impressive 339bhp-per-tonne.

Among many developments, the new R300 benefits from styling cues and technical evolutions first seen on its ‘big brother’ – the explosive Superlight R500 – with the addition of a similar flush button dash design and keyless ignition system, fitted as standard.

It comes with a wide range of optional extras, hardened enthusiasts will also be able to add Stack datalogging instrumentation, a dry sump oil system and, for trackday regulars, a limited slip differential.

Translated through Caterham’s proven 6-speed gearbox, the 2-litre powerplant’s 175bhp and 139lb/ft of torque is able to spin the R300’s bespoke Avon CR500-shod Superlight aluminium wheels to a top speed of 140mph.

With more power, more torque and more immediacy, the Superlight R300 will start at £24,995 in component form and £27,995 factory built with delivery starting in spring 2009.

Further expanding the range to offer customers a wider range of choice is the addition of another new Seven – the Roadsport 175.

Despite being fitted with the hugely capable Series Three chassis and utilising the same 175bhp, 2-litre engine fitted to the R300, the new Roadsport is aimed at drivers largely focused on B-Road blasts and touring.

The Roadsport trades its more track focussed features, such as lashings of carbonfibre and track-biased suspension and brakes, to come fitted with weather equipment and a heater as standard. Other differences to the R300 include a 5-speed gearbox with longer ratios and 14in alloy wheels.

The new Roadsport 175 model bolsters the popular Roadsport range alongside the 1600cc Ford Sigma driven 125 and 150 – numerically reflective of their respective power output.

Prices for the Roadsport 175 start at £21,995 in component form and £24,995 for factory built.

Both the R300 and Roadsport 175 are available in a SV ‘wide chassis’ version, costing an additional £1750.

For more information visit www.caterham.co.uk or call 01883 333 700 ENDS.

New version of Caterham's best-selling Superlight R300 due imminently...

To mark the relaunch……………of the Star Motor Company Ltd (the new trading name of Tifosi) whose traceable history goes back to 1868 with car manufacture and supply starting in 1897 under licence originally from Benz, Tifosi are launching an all-new model at the forthcoming Great Western Kit & Car Builder show at Westpoint, Exeter.

New name for Tifosi - STAR MOTOR COMPANY - and a new model, too...

The cars outward appearance will have a nostalgic air (though with a much more performance and thoroughbred style orientated take on things than their existing Rana ‘Frog Eye’ replica) and the the new car, the RANA RS (retro sport), will be on display on the all-new Tifosi/Star stand at the show on the November 16/17 at Wespoint, Exeter.

It will be being displayed alongside the existing models in its roadgoing form but there is also a lightweight trackday/motorsport version being built, complete with aerodynamic undertray. This will be exhibited on the The Handbuilt British Sports Car Pavillion sponsored by tkc mag at Pistonheads Show, NEC, January 8-11 2009.

More from www.tifosi-devon.co.uk or 01769 581 454 ENDS.

We haven't got a bodywork shot yet (Kev wouldn't let us have one!) but a look 'under the skin' reveals a sexy looking beastie.

Exciting news from Great British Sportscars this week……they’ve announced a special promotion on their Zero model, commencing on November 1 and running until December 31.

The ‘Zero Special’ comprising the Zero base kit plus a set of Gaz shocks and springs and aluminium fuel tank, costs just £2468 inc VAT, representing a healthy saving over list prices.

Alternatively, buy the Zero Plus kit during the same period, £3818 inc VAT and get a FREE pair of seats worth over £200.

Now that’s what I call CRACKING winter warmer, crunchy credit beating special offers. Nice one, GBS.

What are you waiting for? More from www.greatbritishsportscars.co.uk or www.zerokits.com or 01623 860 990 ENDS.

Cracking ZERO offers from Great British Sportscars...

New from Europa Specialist Spares………….is a sexy new addition to the excellent AeroCatch range that is sure to appeal to enthusiasts, already impressed with the sheer usability of this excellent kitcar fastener solution.

The new addition is a carbon-look version and the kit includes: 2 x AeroCatch, 2 x strikes red anodised aluminum, 2 x rubber bump-stops, 1 x fastener pack.

Several options are available in the carbon-look AeroCatch:

120-3000 Plus Flush - £54.79

120-3100 Plus Flush Locking £68.82

125-3000 Flush £54.79

125-3100 Flush Locking £68.82

All prices inc VAT.

Available now along with thousands of other great accessories from Europa Specialist Spares on 01283 815 609 or via www.europaspares.com ENDS.

Sexy new carbon-look AeroCatch from Europa Spares.

Westfield Sportscars unveiled its winning entry…..to the Electric Westfield design competition this week, which was launched at the Autosport Show in January this year.

The winning design by an up-and-coming new designer, Elliot Hawkins, from the Royal College of Arts. It takes Westfield in a dramatic and bold new design direction.

Elliot launched the design, with Westfield, at the Cenex Low Carbon Vehicle Event held at Millbrook this week.

Commenting on the design, Julian Turner, MD of Westfield said: “there was a great deal of interest in this competition from both the UK and abroad, and the standard of the entries has been superb. Elliot took on-board the complete design brief, and impressed the judges not only with the stunning visual aspect of the design, but also the thought, which had gone into manufacturing the body from lightweight, recyclable materials. It’s great to see the talent coming out of the UK and we are working closely with Elliot to realise the vehicle in-line with his vision.”

In second place was another entry from the RCA by student Ralph Tayler-Webb, while third place went to Jonathan Browne who is currently studying at Coventry University.

The vehicle will now be made in full scale, with a view to displaying the final design at a major event in early 2009. The electric vehicle competition is part of a wider project to develop the world’s first one make electric race series. Working with Westfield, Potenza Technology are developing the vehicle with a view to launching a race series in 2010. Julian Turner has been pleasantly surprised by the level of interest shown in the project: “It’s a hot potato at the minute, and we have had expressions of interest from parties all around the world.”

The final vehicle is targeting a total weight of 600kg. With a 60kW motor, performance is anticipated to be sub-5 seconds 0-60, with a 110mph top speed. The electric-Westie has been designed to carry as many standard Westfield components as possible, thus accelerating the development process. The vehicle will be powered by 180kg of state of the art Lithium Ion Phosphate batteries, over half of which will be located under the floor to improve overall centre of gravity.

More from www.westfield-sportscars.co.uk or 01384 400 077 ENDS.

We haven't got an image of the 'design an electric Westfield' because it doesn't exist as yet, so here's a photo of their superb S2000 model instead. Superb photo by Antony Fraser for tkc mag.

EVOLUTION’S latest multi-purpose wonder…….the Rage4 Advan-Saw is here!

Power tools today. Yawn. It certainly is a stale subject - re-hash after re-hash of the same old product with a new thingymabob that serves no real purpose and saves no real time. Right? Wrong!

Evolution Power Tools refuse to rest on their laurels, striving to push the barrier or better still, cut straight through the barrier of boring convention.

And Evolution’s latest innovation is no exception. Easier to use than a hacksaw and far more portable than a cut off saw, the RAGE4 185mm Multipurpose Advan-Saw offers an advanced performance through an incredible range of materials.

Utilising Evolution’s amazing RAGE® technology the versatile RAGE4 will produce a fast and clean cut through steel, aluminium, wood and plastics, using just one blade. When cutting steel the RAGE4 cuts cold (no coolant required), leaving an instantly workable finish.

This is the perfect tool to quickly slice through threaded bar and trim oversized bolts.

Small and usually awkward applications are a cinch, the ideal companion for fabricating custom parts. An essential piece of equipment and a real time-saver in the lengthy process of automotive restoration.

The RAGE4 comes at an incredible price of just £99.98 inc VAT.

More information from www.evolutionpowertools.com or 0870 609 2297 ENDS.

New RAGE4 from Evolution Power Tools.

A few weeks ago……………we featured a picture and some technical specification for the radical ‘silver machine’ unveiled on the Vindicator Cars stand at the recent Stafford Show.

However, a bit of digging reveals that the story starts, quite a few years ago with a retired solicitor from Nottingham named Peter Gallop. He speculated as to what a car inspired by the styling of a jet fighter might look like. These thoughts were later translated into pencil sketches and, more recently, scale drawings on graph paper. A friend of Peter’s also produced some 3D water colour ‘artist’s impressions’ for him.

The concept occurred to Peter when he was reading a book in the late sixties on the history of Martin Baker ejector seats. Some of the pictures showed a series of McDonnell Douglas F4 Phantom IIs of the United States Navy being test-fired down a long length of rail track.

The aircraft on test did not have much of a fuselage and had no tail or wings, but were merely cockpits being blasted at high speed to test the ejection sequencing.

Peter was struck by the thought that sticking four wheels on such a structure could be the basis of a very interesting car project.

F4 was commissioned and created from scratch by Vindicator Cars...

The other source of early influence for the final design that you see is a little known high speed class record vehicle made by General Motors in 2002, referred to in their splurge as ‘The Lakester’.

Further details of this project are to be included in a fuller report due to be posted on the Vindi website soon, to include a link to the relevant pages on the GM site.

When Peter retired from legal practice, one of the things he was thinking of doing was assembling a kitcar. Not wishing to build a Cobra or Lotus Seven replica, he started to revisit thoughts of a Phantom-inspired concept car. In 2006, sitting in the Mazda RX8 that he owned at the time, he began to visualise the length of interior that would be relevant to produce enough space to sit two seats in line.

In 2007, he visited the Stoneleigh show to follow up his quest. He chatted to various manufacturers without going into detail about his ideas, as he wanted to discuss the project with John at Vindicator Cars. Peter says he had been aware of Vindicator for a few years and had been impressed by what he describes as “an approachable attitude, combined with a ‘can-do’ mentality”.

Peter visited the Vindicator stand a number of times in 2007, and was very impressed by the enthusiasm and the level of visitors and care taken with each enquiry. John thanked him for such a compliment and finished with: “… so how can we help you?”

Peter quoted to him one of the Vindicator tag-lines “we don’t say ‘this is what we make, do you want one?’ we say ‘what is it you would like us to make?’”

As John announced at the Stafford Show during the F4 unveiling, this can often result in variations on existing themes (a 5-litre V8 Chevy in a Sprint Family 4 seater is a recent example), but on occasions it involves a totally new theme!

The scale drawings appeared out of a Tesco bag and the rest, as they say, is history.

Peter explained that reading about and seeing photographs of cockpits being fired down a test track had fed the vision of a totally new design for a vehicle and John basically said: “If you can imagine it, I’m sure it can be made a reality.”

Peter concluded their discussions by asking “where do we go from here?” to which John suggested he pop over to the factory the following week and bring his cheque book!

True to his word, Peter visited the Vindicator factory the following week to flesh out (shouldn’t that be ‘fibreglass out’) the ideas with John and asked for Volvo S40 rear lights to be incorporated into the design. He also produced a Plasticine scale model to give more detail.

After a period of research, the chassis design began to evolve on the Vindi workshop floor. Although Peter’s background was in the legal profession rather than in practical skills, Vindi boss John invited Peter to come over to follow the progress of turning his dream into reality. Peter started to travel from Harby, Leicestershire to Cradley, West Midlands, once or twice a week to assist where possible. He says it was fascinating watching the project develop, especially when, earlier this year, the chassis became drivable.

Attention then turned to what it would look like and Peter was happy to be included in that teamwork too. However, he now has memories/nightmares of sore fingertips and never wants to see sandpaper or another tin of filler for the rest of his life!

Although there is still a lot to finish, the unveiling of the first bodyshell at the Stafford show was a special moment for Peter, not least because family members came over from Canada, while friends travelled from other parts of the UK to share his excitement.

Peter has asked me to record his thanks to all who have helped to move the project forward, particularly to John Butler of Vindicator Cars, for having the vision to run with what is such a radical idea, the rest of the Vindi Crew, particularly Keith Bentley and also John Reynolds, Clive Cockram and Peter Holmes.

The F4 is next due to be displayed at the Exeter Show (November 15/16) on the Vindicator Cars stand (M27 & 28). Prior to that, the canopies are being treated to a little ‘Hinginuity’ as John calls it, with glazing, SVA compatability, the interior and accessibility, also being progressed before the show.

I’m sure John will be happy to hear from anyone who wants to know more before then. His number is 07703 289 833 while the website is at www.vindicator.co.uk ENDS.

...and displays stunning looks from all angles.

Splash out and invigorate your car interior………..with one of the new, oval-shaped air fresheners in the popular Type S range from Winplus.

The clip-on, compact air fresheners last for up to 40-days and are available in a choice of four fragrances – Ocean, Wild Cherry, Apple and Vanilla.

You can even try before you buy as the air freshener packaging features a clever ‘test’ pod that can be pressed to release a sample of the fragrance.

Available from all good car accessory stores (and some crap ones, too, no doubt!)  including A1 Motor Stores and Halfords, the Type S oval air fresheners typically retail at £2.99 each. Full stockist details can be obtained from distributor Winplus Europe on 01440 713 888 or email info@winplus-europe.com.

Other Type S products include mobile phone holders, car mats, steering wheel and seat covers as well as auxiliary power centres and storage organisers ENDS.

Range of Air Fresheners from Winplus just part of their S-Type range.