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Tally ho! There’s a new retro-tastic special edition Caterham

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Tally ho! There’s a new retro-tastic special edition Caterham | Top Gear

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The Seven HWM Edition celebrates the 75th anniversary of the HWM Alta single-seat racer

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Tally ho! There’s a new retro-tastic special edition Caterham

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The Seven HWM Edition celebrates the 75th anniversary of the HWM Alta single-seat racer

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The Seven HWM Edition celebrates the 75th anniversary of the HWM Alta single-seat racer

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Tally ho! There’s a new retro-tastic special edition Caterham

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Tally ho! There’s a new retro-tastic special edition Caterham

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Tally ho! There’s a new retro-tastic special edition Caterham

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The Seven HWM Edition celebrates the 75th anniversary of the HWM Alta single-seat racer

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Lots of carmakers these days are fans of the retro special edition, but there isn’t really anyone that can do it as well as Caterham. When you’re starting with a Seven that hasn’t changed all that much since it had a Lotus badge on the nose in the 1950s, it’s fairly easy to go full throwback.

And that’s exactly what it’s done here. This is the Seven HWM Edition, built to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the 1951 HWM Alta single seater race car.

Now, a quick bit of background. HWM is Hersham and Walton Motors, now an Aston Martin and Caterham dealership in Surrey, but also briefly a manufacturer of race cars back in the 1940s and 50s. The 1951 car secured seven wins, seven second places and ten third-placed finishes in international events, with a driver lineup that included a young Stirling Moss.

HWM still owns one of the five 1951 single seaters, and we’re told its rather lovely HWM Green paint was scanned and replicated on the special Seven. There’s also a bespoke grille up front, side panel louvres inspired by the race car, and a chrome fuel filler cap mounted in the middle round the back. Neat little 13in alloys, too.

Just 19 examples of the HWM Edition will be available in the UK, and all will be based on the Seven 420. It certainly ain’t cheap with a starting price of £57,900, but it does mean you get the 2.0-litre Duratec four-pot engine with 210bhp. So while it may look superbly retro, it’ll beat plenty of modern machinery in a sprint with a 0-62mph time of just 3.8 seconds.

And would you look at that interior? Behind the two screen options is a hand-turned aluminium dashboard with Smiths chrome dials and a solid metal master cut-off switch. There’s also a wooden Moto-Lita steering wheel, and both the gear knob and handbrake are finished in chrome. Oh, and it looks like a choice between lightweight carbon seats and leather/tartan chairs. We’d go for the latter, although even those composite buckets would be more comfortable than the original Alta. Drivers of that car sat with one leg on either side of the gearbox, while the gear selector was mounted up on the steering column.

“We are immensely proud to celebrate HWM’s remarkable history as a works team and Grand Prix car constructor. This project has given us a unique opportunity to tell the story of how a small outfit from Walton-on-Thames took on the greatest teams in European Grand Prix racing during one of motor racing’s most inspiring eras,” said HWM boss Guy Jenner.

“Our sincere thanks go to Caterham for being such an enthusiastic and committed partner. Each of the 19 hand-built cars showcases exquisite detailing, with an outstanding sense of quality and craftsmanship.”

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Lots of carmakers these days are fans of the retro special edition, but there isn’t really anyone that can do it as well as Caterham. When you’re starting with a Seven that hasn’t changed all that much since it had a Lotus badge on the nose in the 1950s, it’s fairly easy to go full throwback.

And that’s exactly what it’s done here. This is the Seven HWM Edition, built to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the 1951 HWM Alta single seater race car.

Now, a quick bit of background. HWM is Hersham and Walton Motors, now an Aston Martin and Caterham dealership in Surrey, but also briefly a manufacturer of race cars back in the 1940s and 50s. The 1951 car secured seven wins, seven second places and ten third-placed finishes in international events, with a driver lineup that included a young Stirling Moss.

HWM still owns one of the five 1951 single seaters, and we’re told its rather lovely HWM Green paint was scanned and replicated on the special Seven. There’s also a bespoke grille up front, side panel louvres inspired by the race car, and a chrome fuel filler cap mounted in the middle round the back. Neat little 13in alloys, too.

Just 19 examples of the HWM Edition will be available in the UK, and all will be based on the Seven 420. It certainly ain’t cheap with a starting price of £57,900, but it does mean you get the 2.0-litre Duratec four-pot engine with 210bhp. So while it may look superbly retro, it’ll beat plenty of modern machinery in a sprint with a 0-62mph time of just 3.8 seconds.

And would you look at that interior? Behind the two screen options is a hand-turned aluminium dashboard with Smiths chrome dials and a solid metal master cut-off switch. There’s also a wooden Moto-Lita steering wheel, and both the gear knob and handbrake are finished in chrome. Oh, and it looks like a choice between lightweight carbon seats and leather/tartan chairs. We’d go for the latter, although even those composite buckets would be more comfortable than the original Alta. Drivers of that car sat with one leg on either side of the gearbox, while the gear selector was mounted up on the steering column.

“We are immensely proud to celebrate HWM’s remarkable history as a works team and Grand Prix car constructor. This project has given us a unique opportunity to tell the story of how a small outfit from Walton-on-Thames took on the greatest teams in European Grand Prix racing during one of motor racing’s most inspiring eras,” said HWM boss Guy Jenner.

“Our sincere thanks go to Caterham for being such an enthusiastic and committed partner. Each of the 19 hand-built cars showcases exquisite detailing, with an outstanding sense of quality and craftsmanship.”

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The Seven HWM Edition celebrates the 75th anniversary of the HWM Alta single-seat racer