Lotus is celebrating the achievements of one of the world’s greatest racing drivers with the release of the special edition Clark Type 25 Elise SC roadster. The car is named after Jim Clark, the man who won the F1 World Championship twice for Team Lotus in 1963 and in 1965 and has 25 GP race wins under his belt as well as an Indianapolis 500 title.

In tribute to Clark’s achievements, Lotus will produce just 25 examples of the special edition Elise SC and will donate a portion of the proceeds from each car sold to the Jim Clark memorial fund. The launch of the car also coincides with the 40th anniversary of Jim Clark’s death at Hockenheim in 1968.

The Clark Type 25 Elise SC draws several styling cues from the Type 25 F1 car that Clark raced to win the World Championship in 1963, and includes a removable hard top as standard and is finished in British Racing Green with a yellow stripe. The interior is also inspired by the Team Lotus F1 cars of the era, with black leather sports seats, trimmed with red leather and all finished off with a wooden gear knob.

Power comes from a 1.8L supercharged engine and uses intelligent cam switching technology, enabling the engine to switch to a high performance cam anywhere between 4,000 and 6,200rpm. Acceleration from 0-100km/h takes just 4.3 seconds and top speed is in excess of 238km/h.

The Clark Type 25 Elise SC is already on sale in the UK and is priced from £35,995 ($72,000).