Radford reveals 500PS 62‑2 sportscar

It’s the Radford Type 62-2, first coachbuilt model from the reborn company most famous for its luxury Minis, favourite of the Beatles and icon of the Swinging Sixties. Radford’s 21^st century vision, under the stewardship of owners that now include Jenson Button and TV motoring pundit Ant Anstead, is to pay homage to classic machines of the past by creating limited runs of bespoke versions that stay with Radford’s past form by putting the spotlight on luxury, performance and craftsmanship.

First in the Radford frame is Lotus whose bonded aluminium extrusion chassis and supercharged Toyota V6 of the Evora underpin this first model. “Engineered using Lotus technologies” is how Radford expresses it. With power up to 600PS (447kW) and that pretty new carbon-composite body keeping weight down, there appears plenty of Lotus DNA in this new interpretation.

What you see here are computer renders of the finished car – or cars, since among the planned run of 62 examples will be two types: Classic (the green car) or Gold Leaf (the red car, replete with livery to rekindle your favourite ‘60s Lotus racing fantasies. The entry car has 430PS (321kW) and the Gold Leaf 500PS (373kW) while a mooted JPS version for later could get 600PS. All are said to sound better than ever thanks to a bespoke titanium exhaust system. 

Radford points out that each of the 62 cars it hopes to make will be different and these are just examples of what you could have. It is interesting that the renders show the cars bearing Lotus badges, supporting the idea that this is a joint project; there are no images of any real cars yet.

What the images show is how successfully Radford designer Mark Stubbs has interpreted Lotus Type 62 design. The new car is a “homage” not a copy, as it could only be given its borrowed underpinnings and differences that extend to structure (the racing original was a spaceframe), bigger wheels, longer overhangs and cockpit and engine in different positions.

But there are cues here – the happy face, elegant silhouette, gullwing doors, distinctive side air inlets and (on the Gold Leaf car) the signature double ducktail spoiler – that do recall Lotus’s prototype racer of 1969. Even with modern touches that include LED lighting and cameras for wing mirrors, it all adds up to a pert and lithe-looking machine barely 44 inches (1,133mm) tall. Completing the ‘70s Le Mans vibe is a flush wrap-around windscreen and a single central wiper blade.

Mark Stubbs says his design challenge was all about “creating a feeling of driving something timeless. Something that doesn’t look or feel like anything else on the road.”

The familiar supercharged 3.5-litre V6 that continues to serve Lotus so well is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox and electronic diff, but the Gold Leaf version additionally comes with the option of a seven-speed dual-clutch box along with its mechanical diff.

There are no performance figures thus far but with that light alloy chassis and the all-new body panels in carbon-fibre composite Radford says it has managed to keep (dry) weight down to under 1,000kg “in race spec”. Presumably with what the firm promises will be a “highly luxurious interior” the car will weight quite a bit more.

Making the Type 62-2 good drive is the job of Jenson Button who tells us the reimagined Lotus racer has been has engineered for an unadulterated mechanical feel, and as a result is “a driver’s car at heart.

“With such a low centre of gravity, the car’s body doesn’t roll. The chassis exhibits all the hallmarks of a beautifully set up race car for the road – gifting the driver supreme confidence – yet it is also smooth and compliant on the road. The experience is really about fun, simplicity and inspiring driver confidence behind the wheel – but with the luxury appointments you would expect from a world-class coachbuilder."

The ingredients Jenson has had to work with include a bespoke new rear subframe, coilover springs with four-way adjustable dampers front and rear (there is an optional hydraulic nose lift to deal with speed bumps in town), switchable, multi-mode Bosch ESP system and, in the braking department, AP Racing four-pot callipers with iron rotors. Then there’s that very low centre of gravity, lower than your regular Lotus Exige or Evora.

Radford says testing continues at its base in California before production commences in late 2021, with first deliveries due early 2022. One to watch, then.