Lotus has brought a chapter of its past to the future by revealing Type 66, the stunning track-only car which will soon go into production. Making its debut at Monterey Car Week, its design has been inspired by the Lotus Type 72 F1 car from 1970, with its red, white and gold livery.

Costing in excess of £1 million, this piece of history doesn’t come cheap and is one of the most expensive projects that Lotus has ever undertaken. Production will be limited to just 10 vehicles, 10 being significant as the number of races the original was expected to compete in during the 1970 season.  The hope is that there will be a clamour for a car that offers both modern racing car performance and contemporary engineering beneath its historic exterior.

Launched in Lotus’ 75th anniversary year, it was the brainchild of Geoff Ferris who was responsible for the original sketches of the Type 66. Along with Clive Chapman – son of Lotus founder Colin – who supplied the original documents which went towards creating the modern day recreation.

He commented: “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. 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.”

The carbon fibre bodywork and modernised cockpit were developed with the use of 3D modelling software and more than 1000 hours of aero testing designed to improve efficiency and downforce. Whilst the original car used an H-pattern manual gearbox, a sequential gearbox is used here along with an electric power steering system and ABS. Powered by a pushrod V8, it produces more than 830bhp at 8800rpm and 550 lb ft of torque and thanks to modern day engineering it can beat the lap times of a modern GT3 race car.

Clive Chapman said it’s highly likely that Lotus F1 legend Emerson Fittipaldi would have driven the Type 66 if it had been built and the Brazilian was guest of honour when helping to unveil the car.

Words: Mike Booth
Pictures: Lotus