Automotive

Limited-run Type 66 is the 1970s Can-Am race car Lotus never made

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The Type 66 was unveiled at The Quail, A Motorsport Gathering as part of Monterey Car Week in California
Lotus
Performance specs have yet to be announced
Lotus
A new front wing channels air from the front of the vehicle, through and underneath its rear wings
Lotus
The Type 66 was unveiled at The Quail, A Motorsport Gathering as part of Monterey Car Week in California
Lotus
The Type 66 features a modernized driver compartment
Lotus
The Type 66 is powered by a mid-mounted V8 push-rod engine
Lotus
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Fifty-three years ago, Lotus founder Colin Chapman set out to discover how Lotus design principles could be applied to a Can-Am Series race car. The long-time-coming result is a V8 known as the Type 66 – and only 10 of them are being built.

Chapman assigned the design task to Team Lotus draughtsman Geoff Ferris, who was already focussing his efforts on Formula 1 cars. The Type 66 therefore never progressed beyond technical drawings and scale models. Now, in honor of Lotus' 75th anniversary, a limited run of actual, physical Type 66's are being made for deep-pocketed buyers – and no, they won't be street-legal.

Presented this week at the The Quail motorsport gathering in Monterey, California, the first of the cars sports the red, white and gold color scheme which adorned Lotus race cars in the early 1970s.

It's powered by a "period-representative" mid-mounted V8 push-rod engine, which produces over 830 bhp at 8,800 rpm. The car's chassis is also a nod to the past, featuring retro-70s aluminum sections, bonded joints, and aluminum honeycomb panels. That said, not everything about the Type 66 is old-school.

Performance specs have yet to be announced
Lotus

In order to meet modern safety standards – and to otherwise just improve the car – modern features include a carbon fiber main body; an inboard fuel cell; an EPASS motorsport power steering column; a sequential racing gearbox (with reverse); a race ABS braking system; an anti-stall multi-plate clutch; and a fixed rollover bar.

The 66 also sports a modern forged aluminum crank, rod and pistons, which generate over 746 Nm (550 lb ft) of torque at 7,400 rpm. There's also a new front wing that channels air from the front of the vehicle, through and underneath its rear wings. This setup generates more downforce than the vehicle’s total weight at full speed.

The Type 66 features a modernized driver compartment
Lotus

"We are incredibly proud to have completed such a unique project, and one that Colin Chapman was personally involved in," said Lotus design director, Russell Carr. "This is not a re-edition or a restomod, but a completely new breed of Lotus – a commitment that our past glories will continue to be reflected in our future."

If you'd like a Type 66 of your own, you'd better start saving now. Each car will sell for over £1 million (US$1,273,520).

Source: Lotus

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4 comments
pete-y
Aluminium crankshaft is scary. Is this a mistake or is it true??
Aermaco
If only the principles of CanAm in open ended creative engineering would resurface, new ideas would arrive.

It was CanAm that inspired Jim Hall to create the 2J the quickest track concept car yet today as seen in the McMurtry Spierling electric ground effects fan suction car.
Gannet
aluminium crank - crankcase perhaps?
Gregg Eshelman
Too few in number and too pricey for anyone to take one out for serious competition. If they'd build 100 of them and sell them in pairs to 50 racing teams, Lotus could have a new one design race series.