Lotus 23 History

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#339933" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Lotus 23  History</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=175 BGCOLOR="#336600" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>Lotus 23</B></div> <div> <B>1962-1966</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id101.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lotus 23 1962 1966"><U><B>23 Main Page</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id105.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The LeMansLotus 23 Debacle"><U><B>1962 LeMans</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id106.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lotus 23C"><U><B>Images:23C</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id115.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lotus 23B Rotorvic"><U><B>Images:23B</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id124.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Xanthos Type 23"><U><B>Images:Xanthos</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id131.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lotus 23 Historic Images"><U><B>Historic Images</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFF66" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>History of the Lotus 23 Sports Racer</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> The 900-lb Lotus 23 was designed as a small-displacement sports racer:  a closed-wheel car that could theoretically carry two people, but was purpose built for racing.  The Lotus 23 had a widened version of the space frame of the Lotus 22 Formula Jr and its suspension was taken directly from that of the Lotus 22.  The 23 was originally intended for engines of 750cc to 1300cc displacement. The 23B, with stronger chassis tubes, accepted larger engines, especially the new, secret weapon of Lotus - the Ford-based 1.5/1.6 litre Lotus Twincam destined for the Elan sports car.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="767" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP ROWSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 53 WIDTH="485"><div> The debut of the 23 was at the Nurburgring (14 miles and 176 turns per lap) in May, 1962.  With Jim Clark at the wheel, the little 100-bhp Lotus shot away from the field which contained Porsches, Aston Martins and Ferraris, some with four times the horsepower of the Lotus. To everyone's amazement, after the first lap Clark was 27 seconds ahead of Dan Gurney in a Prototype Porsche and his lead became greater on each lap.  By lap 12 (two hours), the Twincam's exhaust manifold had worked loose and due to the fumes in the cockpit Clark became drowsy, lost control of the car and went off course.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Jim Clark and the Lotus 23</div> <div> at the Nurburgring, 1962</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="26712a40.jpg" border=0 width="274" height="164" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> That performance put enough trepidation into some bureaus of the European racing establishment  that in the next race, the 24 Hours of LeMans, the 23 was banned as not being "in the spirit of the race!" For a detailed account, see the "LeMans-Lotus 23 Debacle" page. Knowledge of this battle of wills is required reading for the diehard Chapman fan!</div> <bR> <div> In spite of these early 'political' problems the Lotus 23 has proved to be a competitive, durable, and popular race car.  Some130+ were produced in three versions: the standard 23, 23B, 23C; the latter two having been made for larger engines.  Today these cars are a mainstay of vintage racing in Europe and the United States.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>The Museum Lotuses 23 and the Remanufacture</U></B></div> <bR> <div> The Utah Lotus Museum currently has two Lotus 23 cars. The first is 1963 chassis 23C-S-132. It was 1985 European Historic Champion and at the 1995 Monterrey Historics was driven at Laguna Seca by Pete Lovely. It is BRG and appears as number "25" in the Lotus 23 #132 images. The second car is the 1963 Rotorvic 23B. This car got its strange nickname because it was originally outfitted with 6 Ariel Arrows motocycle engines in tandem to form a V-12. The Rotorvic is mentioned in Anthony Pritchard's book "Lotus Sports Racers." Later it ran as a Rawlson with a conventional Holbay-prepared  engine and modified bodywork. The car was recently restored by Henry Tombs in England. The ex-Rotorvic 23 is avocado green with red seats and scuttle without a number on the bodywork.</div> <bR> <div> The most faithfully reproduced, street-legal Lotus 23 remanufacture is the Xanthos Type 23, which is also in the Museum. It is currently licensed (license plate: "Lotus-23") to cruise the boulevards and back roads of Utah. The chassis and suspension of the Xanthos are identical to the original race car in 23C form. The front clamshell is slightly modified to accomodate the necessities of the DMV. It comes in two models, an open car and a coupe. For a car with bodywork whose upper surface is a mere 26 inches off the ground, you must be wondering how anyone could fit into the coupe? It's quite simple, really (as the British are prone to say). The roof slides back like the cockpit of a WW-II fighter airplane! The Xanthos 23 weighs about 1100-lb and comes with either a Toyota engine, an original Lotus Twincam, or a supercharged Honda VTech. </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >If you think the Xanthos 23 is a wild car and you like it, check out [</FONT><A HREF="http://xanthos.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://xanthos.com/"><U><B>xanthos.com</B></U></A>]<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > and take a gander at the Xanthos Grand Prix - a street-legal remanufacture of the single-seater Lotus 22 Formula Jr.  What marvels are inspired by Mr. Chapman's designs!</FONT></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>