In a circular twist of fate, Caterham Cars is now back under the ownership of Lotus, though it's Team Lotus Enterprise that now holds the rights to the iconic sports car rather than the Hethel-based road car maker.

To celebrate the acquisition of the company, Caterham has launched a limited Team Lotus Special Edition model. Only 25 of the limited edition will be made and each comes finished in Lotus' traditional green and yellow colour scheme. They are based on the 263bhp Caterham Superlight R500, so rapid performance is a given.

Also included in the (yet to be confirmed) price of the special edition is an invitation to tour the Formula One team's factory in Norfolk. A history book of the Seven, signed by Lotus chief designer Mike Gascoyne, is also part of the limited edition pack.

Caterham Cars will continue to be headed by Ansar Ali, who has overseen the launch of Caterham's first completely new car since the 21, the SP/300R. Ali said: "This is yet another exciting chapter in the Caterham story. Until now, the resources Caterham has had at its disposal have, naturally, limited the exposure of the Caterham experience and the legendary Seven has had to rely almost entirely on its remarkable reputation and legacy.

"We will remain entirely true to the philosophy that we, as custodians of one man's motoring concept, have protected for nearly 40 years."

Team Lotus Enterprise boss Tony Fernandes added: "Caterham has a unique place at the heart of the motoring world. As well as being proudly and staunchly British, it has an enviable and uniquely unblemished reputation within the industry for performance, handling and engineering excellence.

"Caterham Cars has remained wholly faithful to Colin Chapman's philosophy of 'less is more', and the DNA of the original Seven can still be traced to the newest additions to Caterham's product offering.

"It is already a successful business with sales across Europe, Japan, Australia and the Middle East, and under the guidance of the existing management team, we now have all the ingredients and the launch pad to further evolve that spirit and take Caterham to new exciting horizons with innovative products and greater global brand exposure."

Alisdair Suttie - 29 Apr 2011