Lotus delves into its past to bring stillborn Type 66 Can-Am racer to life as V8-engined, £1m limited edition track car
Yours for a cool million pounds
Lotus has taken the wraps off a limited-edition track car with a difference, as the Type 66 is no restomod or continuation project. In fact, it is the result of dusting off the archives within Lotus to bring a stillborn Can-Am racing programme back to life.
The Type 66 was a project initiated by Colin Chapman, the founder of Lotus, ahead of the 1970 race season, tasking then Team Lotus draughtsman Geoff Ferris to investigate what a Can-Am (Canadian-American Challenge Cup) racer by Lotus would look like.
The carmaker said the project got as far as technical drawings and scale models but was mothballed as the team continued to focus on Formula One.
Clive Chapman, managing director of Classic Team Lotus and son of Colin Chapman, held the documents that led to the rejuvenation of the project.
“The car would have shared many innovative features with our most successful F1 chassis, the Lotus Type 72, which was developed during the same era,” he said.
“These include side-mounted radiators which helped reduce front drag, increase front downforce and channel airflow through and over the car. The rear of the car incorporates a distinctive tail section, resembling the Le Mans endurance cars of the period.
“These features would have boosted its downforce considerably, compared to rivals, aiding high-speed stability and ultimately its lap times. It would have been spectacular, as is the actual Type 66 we see today.”
Retro looks and livery, modern underpinnings
The 2023 unveiling of the completed vehicle took place today at The Quail as part of Monterey Car Week. The new Type 66 stays true to the original overall concept and shape thanks to digitisation of a series of scale drawings by the current design director at Lotus, Russell Carr, and his team.
The initial show car is finished in the evocative red, white and gold livery that adorned the Lotus F1 cars in the early seventies but we’re told that the retro look is paired with modern technology and dynamics.
For example, over 1,000 hours of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling went into the new car, resulting in more than 800kg of downforce at 150mph. There’s also a motor sport derived electric power steering system, a sequential racing gearbox with reverse gear, anti-lock braking and even an anti-stall system.
Faster than a GT3 racing car
Powering the Type 66 is a V8 pushrod engine mounted in the middle of the car behind the offset single-seat cockpit. The intake trumpets are highly stylised items, though they contribute to the performance of the engine. Lotus is targeting maximum outputs of 830bhp at 8,000rpm and 550lb ft of torque.
No acceleration or top speed figures have been confirmed but given that prodigious power output, and the fact that the Type 66 weighs less than 800kg, we should take seriously the claim it is likely to lap circuits quicker than a current GT3 race car, according to Lotus’s simulations.
Simon Lane, executive director of Lotus Advanced Performance, said: “The Type 66 perfectly blends the past and present. It takes drivers back in time, to the iconic design, sound and pure theatre of motorsport more than 50 years ago, with added 21st century performance and safety.
“This is a truly unique project and in our 75th anniversary year it’s the perfect gift from Lotus, to fans worldwide and to a handful of customers.”
Just 10 examples of the Type 66 will be produced — said to represent the number of races the original could have competed in during the 1970 season — and each will cost in excess of £1 million.
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