Looking for info on two Cadbury Purple Caterhams (a.k.a. Purple Reign & Royal Purple)

[Dreamer]

I am looking for any and all info on my “new to me” 1993 Caterham Super Seven HPC Evo. The original owner was a member here. There are 40 issues of the club magazine coming with the car. The seller has two pieces of paper from Mr. Phipps. One is an order confirmation notice from the US dealer with hand written notes. The other is the Caterham build sheet.

The first document makes a curious statement; “I know that your car will attract the same envy and admiration that the factory show car did at the London show.” Hand written with an arrow pointing to this text is the words “Purple Car/Grey Int.

On the second document under the section titled “Non-Standard Paint Colour is printed the words “Cadbury’s Purple”. In the section “Additional Notes” the last of eight options is ‘S’ Type in Grey as per Cadbury show car”. This is in a different hand & pen than the other 7 items and seems to have a signature over top of it.

So, my car is thought to be a copy of a London show car. My questions are:

What year/which show? Had to be prior to April 1993, the date of the first document.

Is there any documentation and better yet, photos/videos of this show car on the Caterham stand or anywhere? 

I have found a BBC video on YouTube of the 1991 Earls Court Motofair in London. However the Caterham they show is a Blue HPC that has a plate with the word Auberge on it. That is of course in reference to Chris Rea’s song, video and album of the same name where his personal Blue Seven was showcased.

After days of searching this site, (there are over 1040 pages referencing HPC) I’m going blind. 😉

[Jonathan Kay]

Welcome. First thoughts:

• How to contact Martin Phipps, Caterham archivist:
https://f327017.invisionservice.com/profile/5695-martinphipps/

• You might be able to finds something about which Motor Show from the MotorSport archives:
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/issues/

• Do you have access to a copy of Rees' The Magnificent 7?

• I have some scanned copies of the Assembly Guide and Owner's Handbook for some Sevens before the K series. Please let me know if you'd like copies.

• Cadbury Purple (Pantone 2685C) is the leading case in English law on whether you can trademark a colour. But it only applies to "chocolate, broader chocolate range and cakes". Not Sevens. : - )
https://www.osborneclarke.com/insights/uk-high-court-provides-clarity-registration-colour-trade-marks

Jonathan

[Dreamer]

I've been in contact with Martin Phipps. As can be expected, things are in flux due to the relocation. If he can find anymore info/documents/photos it may not be until sometime in April. Thanks for the links.

 

Edited February 15 by Dreamer

[Dreamer]

Well... my car finally showed up. It was delivered to the shop that is doing the safety inspection. The seller had packed all the extra bits in the boot and passenger foot well. Included was about 30+ issues of Low Flying. They start August 1993 and go through to I think December 1996. What I found very interesting is that the back cover of the 93's through to the March 1994 issues have the same ad showing a Series 1 and what appears to be a Series 3 HPC. My wife tells me that the HPC shown is painted in the same Cadbury's purple colour as my car. So, who knows what about the car in this ad?

Edited March 27 by Dreamer

[Golf Juliet Tango]

I'm delighted for you that the car has been delivered. A few gifts in the form of the Club magazines is a nice gesture.

[Dreamer]

The best gift was in that little white Lotus box. Early on in the auction the seller said that there was no Caterham badging or logos. The owner had switched everything he could over to Lotus. Later he said they found the Caterham nose badge but did not elaborate on which it was. It might have been plain or the 16 Valve model as this was a knocked down kit. To my great surprise I discovered it was the proper, original HPC nose badge and I don’t think it’s ever been on the car. In one of the assembly binders the wife found a detailed list of notes that the buyer sent to the dealer re: Special Instruction for Assembly. He very clearly states that the Caterham badge was not to be mounted. Instead they were to mount the Lotus badge he had sent them.

Also, that heavy duty camera mount that was in the auction photos came with the car. It wasn’t listed and I thought it belonged to the photographer who took the shots and videos for the auction site. I’ll write up a bit more later.

[Wrightpayne]

The brochure I have circa 1997 (when I ordered mine) has a cadburys purple seven in the pictures - I’ll dig it out and post a pic.

Those original metal / enamel Lotus & Caterham badges are quite valuable and sought after.

[Dreamer]

Oh, I know how rare this little jewel is. I've tried tracking down both an HPC and a 16 Valve one and there are just none to be found, at any price. Closest I found is 4 plastic (vinyl) 40mm HPC stickers for wheel center caps. at 100 Euros plus approx. 14 Euros for postage to Canada. That's like $169 CDN.

[Wrightpayne]

So I’ve dug out the brochure and the full picture I thought was a purple car was actually blue. It does have a cropped picture of the image you posted above.

I did find a smaller (2.5” x 1.5”) pic of a bluey purple HPC with grey interior and the distinctive shaped headrests.

Edited April 1 by Wrightpayne

[Dreamer]

The wife says its purple with grey interrior. So this may be the car (advert) that influenced the original owner. Now to search for a copy for my archives.