1961 Lotus 23

Colin Chapman is the heart and soul of Lotus, and racing is at the heart of Colin Chapman. In 1947, 19-year-old Chapman took a derelict Austin Seven and turned it into an immaculate special entry in time for the 1948 trials in England. This was the Lotus Mark I, which soon led to a Mark II and so on, until well-known drivers from around the world were lined up outside Colin's production facility. His first major success was the Mark 6 of which more than a hundred were sold, and they won hundreds of races.

In 1961, because of the tremendous success of the Lotus 22 cars the Formula Junior short mileage races, Lotus introduced the 23, a two-seater sports car. The car was designed to be able to accept a wide variety of engines ranging from a 997 cc Ford up to a 1.9-liter Climax. The car was the first to use the new Lotus-Ford twin-cam engine and left larger cars in the dust. It led the 1962 Nurburgring 1000K race for many laps when an exhaust problem put the car out of the race. The car's ability to leave the competition behind, however, helped it solidify its reputation. In the States, the 23 dominated the smaller displacement classes of sports car racing alongside the Lotus 19S. The 23B, and later 23C were introduced with stronger chassis to cope with the extra power extracted from the twin cam engine, and the 23's continued to be highly competitive in the U.S. and Europe through the mid 1960's.

This car is a street legal race car that has only seen the streets and highways of San Diego. It is part of the Collection of Xanthos Cars - North America, Inc.

by SDAM

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 made its inaugural racing debut at the Nordschleife in May of 1962. The Lotus was fitted with a 100 horsepower engine, but it was enough to propel the car to the front of the pack, ahead of the Porsches, Ferraris, and Aston Martins. At the wheel was the very capable Jim Clark who had brought the car to the front after the first lap, in the wet. Some of the other cars have as much as four times the horsepower. Sadly, on lap 12 Clark was forced to retire when a damaged exhaust manifold leaked exhaust fumes.

The Type 23 raced extensively in national and international races winning many class victories and oftentimes beating the 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. The Lotus 23B was given stronger chassis tubes and fitted with a more potent Ford-based 1.5 and 1.6-liter Lotus Twincam 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 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.

by Dan Vaughan