Does Caterham factory offer tours?

[pleask]

I'm heading off to visit the UK for a few weeks, does anyone know if the Caterham factory offer tours? Do you happen to have a web page, or email address for them if so?

I have sent a few emails to the dealers, and what I thought was the factory, no one wants to respond to me.
Thanks, Pat

[breezy7]

You might try asking at http://www.usa7s.net/vb/forum.php . This link is several years old but it shows it is possible: http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.p...t=factory+tour

[Clark]

I'll send an inquiry to some of my UK friends. Someone should know. The factory does stage tours for the L7 Club.

[Clark]

I sent inquiries to two of the Lowflying editors and our friend Roger Swift. So far today no one has replied, but then they are probably all asleep! We should get some replies in a couple of days.

[Clark]

Roger suggests looking into a tour at Arch Motors. Bruce Robinson and his company have always been accommodating to Lotus/Caterham enthusiasts. Several years ago, Pierre DeMartines confirmed this notion.

I'll post any new information about Caterham tours if any comes in. The Caterham factory is primarily an assembly plant and not much fabrication goes on there. All of the car's components are sourced out.

[Clark]

Tony Pashley, a good friend and editor of "Lowflying" replied with the following about Caterham tours:

I asked around about Caterham Cars and possible visits.
So far as I can determine they DO NOT have tours as a regular offering, but would probably try to accommodate especially if your friends played up the 'visiting from the other side of the world'
angle!

New bare chassis are now made at the Westbury plant in Wiltshire - where they do more of less the stuff that Arch used to do (though, I believe now mostly elecrto-welded rather than the more 'aertisan' and beautiful bronze-Sif welding/brazing or whatever it was called). Arch do still make a variety of sub-assemblies for Caterham - and, of course, repair and re-make - particularly ones they built in the first place.)

Cars are assembled at their 'old' works at Crayford (near Dartford) just as before.

The fancy new place in Crawley (in Sussex) is showroom, servicing, parts.

It's been suggested that the best place to start might be with Simon Lambert ("Chief Motorsport and Technical Officer") - [email protected] he's been a good friend to the Club; and the company in general has been very helpful in supporting Club activities of late, notwithstanding the ever-present Caterham/Lotus identity conflict.

I hope that gets the travellers a bit closer to a visit.

Also Bruce Robinson at Arch Motors has always been very welcoming, time and commitments permitting (he's a very quiet, unassuming and polite man, not at all a showman) though you can never be certain what or how much will be going on there at any one time.
Their location, in Huntingdon, is historically interesting to geeks like me. On almost adjacent blocks during an earlier heyday of the British motorsport industry were Arch, Specialized Mouldings and Lola, the first two no doubt providing a good deal of what rolled out the other end with 'Lola'
written on it.

I hope this helps!