1962 Lotus 23B Roadster

The Lotus 23 was the most successful sports racing car built by Lotus and Colin Chapman. Designed around elements of early Lotus formula cars, the 23 features a widened multi-tubular space frame and would eventually be fitted with the famous 1600cc Twin Cam Lotus Ford engine. It has a top speed of 140 mph. Only 131 examples were produced from 1962-1966.

Frank Monise Sr. purchased this 23B, serial number 23-S-53 new, from Lotus importer, Bob Challman, in January of 1963. Monise owned and raced the Lotus for the next 15 years, competing in nearly 200 races.

During that time period, Monise entered and drove the car in four United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) races:
- April 1964: Riverside
- May 1964: Laguna Seca
- May 1964: Kent Washington
- May 1965: Riverside

All of these races were in the Under 2 liter class. Monise's best USRRC result was at the May 1964 Laguna Seca event where he finished 7th overall and 2nd in class. Monise won regional races at: Cotati, Santa Barbara, Vacaville, san Luis Obispo, Del Mar, Willow Springs, Tucson, Pomona, Las Vegas, Candelstick Park, San Diego Stadium, Phoenix, Ontario, Orange County, Lake Tahoe and Daytona.

23-S-53 is noted several times in the 'History of the Lotus Twenty Three' book by Graham Capel and was the first production 1600cc Lotus 23 sold by Colin Chapman.

23-S-53 has changed hands several times over the past 45 years eventually going to current owners Michael Summers and Nancy Boemer of California. Summers personally watched Monise race the Lotus at Riverside in 1964 in the LA Times Grand Prix and has done extensive research on the history of the car. With assistance from the Monise family, Summers has been able to document over 185 individual races the car had competed in, as well as holding the original shipping invoice for the car.

Source - Michael Summers and Nancy Boemer