Lotus Type 66 Can-Am-inspired track car unveiled at Pebble Beach

Lotus has finally revealed the Type 66 – a Can-Am-inspired track car that has been in the news for more than a year.

According to the company, the Type 66 is a “lost Lotus” track car, rediscovered and reimagined from the company’s archives. Only 10 cars will be available, each with a price tag of over $1.27 million.

Back in the day, Lotus founder Colin Chapman and team draughtsman Geoff Ferris launched the Type 66 project to evaluate how Lotus design principles could be applied to the Can-Am Series. However, the project never went beyond the technical drawings and scale model phase.

53 years later, Lotus has decided to revisit the original designs and reimagine the Type 66 as a modern Can-Am racer. The production number commemorates the number of races the car would have competed in during the 1970 season.

In order to conform to modern safety standards, the original designs have been reinterpreted. The car features a modernised driver compartment, inboard fuel cell, sequential transmission and anti-stall system. It has a full carbon fibre bodyshell, featuring a front wing that’s designed to channel air from the front of the car, through and underneath the rear wings, generating more downforce. Lotus claims that more than 1,000 hours of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) work has gone into the programme, resulting in downforce in excess of 800kg at 150mph.

The Type 66 is powered by a V8 push-rod engine that produces 819 hp @ 8800 rpm and 550 lb-ft of torque @ 7400 rpm. According to the company, the Type 66 matches the performance and lap times of a modern GT3 race car.