Caterham has announced it is to expand its operations by launching its own bike division.
The succinctly-named Caterham Bikes was launched today at the International Motorcycle Exhibition in Milan.
When you think about it, it's hard to imagine why it's taken Caterham so long to make the rather obvious step from four wheels to two. For the past forty years the company has been finding novel ways of making its Seven -- a car which was designed around Colin Chapman's mantra of "Simplify, then add lightness" -- even lighter and even faster, so it makes sense that Caterham is ditching those vestigial third and fourth wheels in the pursuit of Chapman's goal.
Three prototypes have been revealed. The Brutus 750 (above) is described by Caterham as the "SUV of motorcycles." The company also claims that the bike is the world's first ever two-wheel SUV as well as the first motorbike with an automatic transmission.
Also on show are the Classic E-Bike (above), an electric bike with retro styling and a range of up to 50 miles, and the Carbon E-Bike (below), an electric bike inspired by F1 technology.
Okay, so we're a little bit is disappointed that there isn't a Hayabusa-slaying sport bike in the line-up; however, you have to admit that the bikes -- the Brutus in particular -- do look pretty stonking.
Caterham boss Tony Fernandes said: "Our vision for Caterham Group has taken another step forward with the launch of Caterham Bikes.
"Expanding our interests into the two-wheeled market is another natural progression for us and is a good opportunity to showcase the breadth of knowledge, experience and creativity we have at our disposal across the Group, now in the two-wheeled world in addition to all of our other automotive, technology and innovation interests."
The three new bikes will be launched throughout 2014.
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