British coachbuilder Radford was revived in 2021, and its first modern project is a retro sports car inspired by the Lotus Type 62 from 1969.
It's called the Lotus Type 62-2 coach-built by Radford, and normally output in the car tops out at 600 hp.
However, Radford has built a special one-off version designed specifically to tackle the 2023 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and it packs a stout 700 hp.
The one-off car has been built from the ground up, meaning it doesn't use a donor Lotus Evora chassis like the production car. Radford calls the one-off car the Type 62-2 Pikes Peak Edition, and has selected Tanner Foust to do the driving. He will run it in the Exhibition class.
2023 Radford Type 62-2 Pikes Peak Edition
The 700 hp comes from a supercharged 3.5-liter V-6, which is the same engine found in the production car, though only the block is shared between the two engine designs. Instead of the production car's conventional manual transmission, there's now a paddle-shifted sequential unit to transfer drive to the rear wheels. Performance estimates include a 0-60 mph time of 2.2 seconds and a top speed of 160 mph.
That top speed is likely limited by the drag created by the oversized aerodynamic elements fitted to the car, a necessity to ensure sufficient downforce in the thin air close to the finish line, which is located at 14,115 feet above sea level.
Other modifications include carbon-ceramic brake rotors from AP Racing, upgraded cooling (once again due to the lower air density), and around 70 lightweight parts formed using 3D printing. The weight savings have dropped the car's weight to about 2,000 pounds, which is around 440 pounds lighter than the production car.
This year's Pikes Peak race is scheduled for June 25.
