'Re-discovered' Lotus Can-Am monster unveiled as £1m track car

We can only wonder what the car could have achieved on track because those draughtsman drawings – originally schemed by Lotus man Geoff Ferris – ultimately never made it to the race track. A lack of resources meant that the project was scrapped and the blueprints put away in a cupboard. They were forgotten about until 2016, when Colin’s son Clive revealed their existence to Motor Sport.

Now, over 50 years following its original conception, the Type 66 will finally take to the circuit.

With a carbon fibre body and redesigned floor, the car will now produce 800kg of downforce at 150mph, with a mid-mounted “period-representative” V8, tuned by Lotus. It’s fed by evocative air intake trumpets, which have a role in smoothing airflow to the engine.

“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,” commented Chapman’s son Clive, who now runs Classic Team Lotus, looking after its competition heritage fleet.

“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.”

In making the modern day version, project leader Russell Carr digitised the drawings in 3D, with certain details “delicately reinterpreted” to conform with current safety standards.

The carbon-fibre bodyshell wears the red white and gold colours of Gold Leaf Team Lotus cars of the era and underneath is a  chassis that would have been familiar to Colin Chapman, with extruded aluminium sections, bonded joints and aluminium honeycomb panels.

“The growing popularity of the Canadian-American series caught the attention of my father at a time when the American market was a potentially vital sector for Lotus road cars,” Clive told Motor Sport in 2016.

“Team Lotus was no longer competing at Indy and US dealers were keen to exploit what they perceived to be the high value of the ‘race on Sunday, buy on Monday’ appeal of the Lotus brand.

“Can-Am had developed into a glamorous, high-profile race category with good commercial potential. Furthermore the relatively light design restrictions were right up my father’s street.”