They also have a technology and innovation center, a composites arm, a few motorsports programs, and an F1 team that’s perpetually competing for last place. So what’s next for the overly ambitious back-markers? Motorcycles, of course.

Caterham Bikes is launching next year, and the first two-wheeler on offer is the Brutus 750, what the new division is calling the “SUV of motorcycles.” It’s basically a quad cut in half, with a 750cc engine sending grunt to a continuously variable transmission (read: automatic) and powering both 14-inch wheels with oversized, knobby tires. Caterham claims it’s “surprisingly nimble to ride,” but in the same breath says it’s the first motorcycle with an automatic transmission. That should raise the collective eyebrows of every scooter maker, along with Honda, which produced the first automatic motorcycle transmission… in the ’70s.