GRAHAM NEARN, who has passed away at the age of 76, will be forever associated with one of the most iconic and long standing of British sports cars, the Lotus 7, or as he would prefer, the Caterham Seven.  It had started life in 1957 as a very basic two-seater.  In the 1960s Graham’s Caterham Cars Ltd was a Lotus dealer that more or less specialised in the Seven.  By the beginning of the next decade Lotus had introduced the series 3 Seven but a change in the tax laws meant that the car did not fit into its future plans.  Graham offered to take over the model and Colin Lotus boss Colin Chapman agreed providing all reference to the then Stock Market quoted company was removed.  The resultant Caterham Seven is still in production, gradually developed over the years.  It is thought that around the world there have over 150 production clones of the Seven, easily the shape of the century as far as basic sports cars are concerned.

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