Lotus has unveiled the Type 66 at The Quail in Monterey, which will be produced as a track special in a limited run of 10, referencing a proposed Can-Am race car for the 1970 series.
While Lotus never competed in the bombastic Can-Am series in period, Colin Chapman did consider it, having Geoff Ferris design a Group 7 car for competition. That car will be brought to life more than five decades on as the Type 66, offered in an extremely limited run of ten to commemorate the number of races the car would have contested in 1970, each finished in red, white and gold referencing the team’s Formula 1 colours of the time and sold at a cost estimated at over a million pounds.
The Type 66 was brought into being using sketches and designs supplied by Colin’s son and current Classic Team Lotus boss Clive Chapman, which were then finessed with modern development tools. It will be equipped with what Lotus describes as a “period-representative pushrod V8” with forged aluminium crank, pistons and con rods and, in true Can-Am style, individual induction trumpets. This will be paired with a modern sequential gearbox and ABS.
The car is planned to reach and on some circuits exceed the performance of a modern GT3 race car.
Images thanks to Lotus, where you can also read a little more about the car.
