A few days ago, a rumor popped up that Caterham->ke1252 would continue to celebrate its 40th anniversary with the unveiling of a new and more affordable entry-level Seven. Today, the company released the first teaser image for the new model that is set to arrive in the autumn of this year. First deliveries should come before the end of 2013.

According to Caterham Cars CEO, Graham Macdonald, the new entry-level Seven->ke3209 will be "uncomplicated, easy to run and, most important of all, an intuitive and exciting drive." It will pay homage to the brand's engineering DNA of "adding lightness" and will be powered by a super-compact, flexible and EU6-compliant engine. Additionally, the new model will also be the most fuel-efficient Seven ever built.

Caterham promised to keep the car's price in the £17k range ($25k at the current exchange rates), so we are pretty sure the new model will quickly enjoy tons of success.

Click past the jump to read more about the current Caterham Seven.

Caterham Seven->ke3209

Caterham Seven is a sports car that hit the market in 1973. The model was essentially a super-lightweight sports car based on the Lotus Seven and was initially offered with a Lotus Twin Cam engine. Current models are powered by either a 1600 Ford Sigma or a 2.0-liter Caterham Powertrain (CPT) Duratec.

In base version, the engines deliver 125, 150 or 175 horsepower, whereas the Superlight R600’s 2.0-liter engine delivers a total of 275 horsepower and 200 pound-feet of torque. The R600 can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.88 seconds and can hit a top speed of 148 mph.