Jenson Button Takes Radford Lotus Type 62-2 To The Track As It Nears Production

With the help of F1 champion Jenson Button, car designer Mark Stubbs, and TV personality Ant Anstead, UK coachbuilder Radford has made asurprise comeback. After a lengthy teaser campaign, the revived coachbuilder revealed theLotus Type 62-2, a modern take on the legendary Lotus Type 62 racer from the 1960s. Built in collaboration with Lotus Engineering, the Type 62-2 combines retro styling with modern chassis components and interior elements from aLotus Evora. Four months after it debuted, the Radford Lotus Type 62-2 is nearly ready for production as the company announces that the Type 62-2 has completed the final stages of pre-production testing at the Lotus test track in Hethel, UK.

Putting the car through its paces was Radford's chief test driver, Jenson Button, who gave the Type 62-2 his seal of approval. During track testing, the pre-production prototype finished in aniconic John Player Special liveryaccelerated from 0-62 mph in 2.9 seconds and 0-124 mph in 8.4 seconds, and hit an electronically limited top speed of 186 mph. Its blistering performance was possible thanks to a supercharged 3.5-liter V6 producing 600 horsepower that is mated to a six-speed manual transmission, while the use of carbon fiber panels and the aluminum chassis result in a dry weight of 2,200 pounds.

“最终驱动the type 62-2 for the first time was obviously a very special moment, the cockpit already feels like home!" exclaimed Button, who has been actively involved with the car's design, development, and engineering.

"The car felt great, well-balanced in high- and low-speed corners, and ran faultlessly all day which is the perfect base for the months of setup tweaking that will follow for me. We want to ensure that this car is a pure driver's car that pays both due respects to the DNA of Lotus but also delivers the luxury of a Radford."

Production of the Radford Lotus Type 62-2 is limited to 62 examples, with customer deliveries starting in Q2 2022. To learn how to push the car to the limit on track, all owners will be invited to a track-day session with tuition from the F1 maestro himself.