Lotus Type 23A, 1962 Type 23A | Conceptcarz.com - Pictures, Pricing, Information, Wallpaper, History

1962 Lotus Type 23A pictures and wallpaper

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Roadster
Chassis Num: 23/88

This Lotus 23A with chassis number 23/88 is a very early car built for the 24 Hours of LeMans and was once owned by Stirling Moss. It was originally sold to British Racing Partners (Stirling Moss Formula 1 money) owned by Stirling Moss, his father Alfred, and Ken Gregory, Stirling's business manager. Their sponsor was the finance house UDT-Laystall. Entered by UDT in LeMans for Les Leston and Tom Shelly as a semi-factory entry. The LeMans debacle is well documented as two Lotus 23s were basically forced not to compete by the French because they would have been too competitive and it cause quite a stir. Sold shortly after LeMans and driven by Bernard Consten and Jose Rosinski to a 1st at both the FIA Makes July 1962 Auvergne Trophy Event and the 1000 kms of Montihery, held October of 1962. At Auvergne, it placed 9th overall behind six Ferrari's and an Aston Martin DB4GT out of 45 cars entered. Competed successfully in many races by Consten and Rosinski and later by Vincent Palermo in France, when owned by ETS Royal-P'Elysees, importers of Lotus in France. It then went to Japan into Ito Mitsuo's Collection, returning to California in 1994. It was purchased by David Bingham and raced actively by him during the last 10 years, winning the USRRC Under Two-Liter Sports Racing Championship in 2001.

In 1962 Lotus introduced their next iteration of the compact, rear-engined sports cars, the Type 23. It was a derivative of the Lotus 19 which had been produced from 1960 through 1961, as well as the Lotus 20, 21, and 22 cars.

The Type 23 was raced extensively in national and international races winning many class victories and often times beating large-engined competition. It quickly became a popular favorite with many racers and one of Lotus's best selling race cars of all time.

During its production lifespan Louts offered the lightweight car with a variety of options that included the Coventry Climax 750 cc four-cylinder engine and even a 12-cylinder Rotorvic motor for competition at LeMans. In standard form the Type 23 came equipped with an 1100 cc engine. A popular option was to upgrade to the Type 23B specification which included the 1600cc Lotus/Ford twin-cam engine.

In 1962 a Type 23B driven by Jim Clark easily proved its potential by leading the Ferrari and Jaguar cars at Nurburgring 1000KM before mechanical difficulty led to a crash. The cars dominated many of the races they were entered; even in modern times they still provide podium time for their drivers in vintage and historic racing events.

The Type 23 was constructed of fiberglass and outfitted with a Hewland MK gearbox. The suspension was comprised of double wishbones and dual trailing arms. The steering was rack-and-pinion.

1962 Lotus Type 23A
Year	1962
Make	Lotus
Model	Type 23A
Body Style	Roadster
Engine Location	Rear
Drive Type	Rear Wheel
Body / Chassis	Fiberglass on steel backbone chassis
Production Years for Series	1962
Weight	900 lbs \| 408.2 kg
Combined MPG	0.00

Chassis / Engine Numbers Shown
Chassis Number	23/88

Engine
Engine Configuration	I
Cylinders	4
Aspiration/Induction	Normal
Displacement	1600.00 cc \| 97.6 cu in. \| 1.6 L.
Horsepower	165.00 HP (121.4 KW) @ 8000.00 RPM
Torque	125.00 Ft-Lbs (169.5 NM)
HP to Weight Ratio	5.5 LB / HP (Vehicles with similar ratio)
HP / Liter	103.1 BHP / Liter
Fuel Type	Gasoline - Petrol
Fuel Feed	Carburetor
	Vehicles with similar horsepower and weight

Standard Transmission
Gears	4
Transmission	Manual
	Hewland Mk V

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1962 Lotus Type 23A