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Caterham is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. There's no better way to join in than taking one of these cars for a drive

- Wilhelm Lutjeharms

If there is a country at the pinnacle of producing a variety of focused sports cars, it's the United Kingdom. This is one of its specialities and has been for decades. The Brits have a professional and specialised automotive industry, which is reflected in the number of Formula One teams based in England.

Caterham is part of this industry. It builds cars for the true driving enthusiast and the regular track-day user or avid racer. Its history dates back to 1957 and is worth a read. If you think Caterhams look nearly identical to the original Lotus 7, you'd be completely right. Over the years, however, Caterham Cars have refined and developed these vehicles into modern versions of the Lotus 7 concept and, in the process, delivered a truly intoxicating driving experience.

This example is a 2007 Caterham CSR 200. It is rumoured this is one of just two in South Africa. The development of the CSR has an interesting back story as, during the development process of the CSR models (there was also a more powerful CSR 260), Caterham Cars was in the process of transitioning between owners. The result is there are interesting elements specific to the CSR. For instance, note the small winglets at the front, as well as the flat-top front wings and aerodynamically optimised suspension parts. When you climb in, the differences compared with other Caterhams become even more obvious. The tubular dashboard frame is a structural part of the chassis and is visible everywhere; it is completely different to the usual flat dashboard.