Motoring enthusiasts who aspire to hit the race track and have lots of money to drop may want to know that Lotus has a track-only car for your consideration. Revealed at The Quail, the Lotus Type 66 is described as the ‘lost Lotus’ track car from the marque’s archives, rediscovered and reimagined with today’s state-of-the-art racing technology.
The Lotus Type 66 track car also celebrates Lotus’ 75th anniversary this year and is a nod to the brand’s motorsport heritage. It is dressed in a heritage-inspired livery, featuring red, white, and gold colors, which Lotus raced in during the early 70s.
Under the hood, it is outfitted with a mid-mounted, period-representative V8 push-rod engine that produces over 830 bhp at 8,800 RPM. While ‘period-representative’, the engine benefits from bespoke modern-day components too, including an aluminum forged crank, rod, and pistons, which allows the motor to turn out over 746 Nm (550 lb-ft) of torque at 7,400 RPM.
The chassis is period-representative as well but with optimized aerodynamics from over 1,000 hours of Computational Fluid Dynamics. Lotus said the Type 66 is capable of an impressive 800 kg (1,764 lbs) of downforce at 150 mph (241 km/h).
Other notables include an iconic Cam-Am-inspired air intake ‘trumpets’, a chassis with extruded aluminum sections, bonded joints, and aluminum honeycomb panels, 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.
Only 10 examples of the Lotus Type 66 Track Car will be built. The number 10 is chosen to commemorate the number of races the Type 66 would have competed in during the 1970 season if it existed.
Images: Lotus Cars.
