There have been recreations of the Ford GT40 and AC Cobra aplenty but in the past week or so there have been announcements of two very special recreations
The first comes from RML and is an exquisite modern take on the legendary 1960 Ferrari 250 SWB.
RML, who hold the design and build of the Saleen S7 on their extensive automotive engineering cv, will build up to 30 of their full carbon bodied ‘RML Short Wheelbase’ cars with a 485bhp Ferrari V12 and mated to a six-speed manual, open-gated transmission, the underpinnings from a ‘donor’ Ferrari 550 Maranello.
The cars blend the gorgeous ‘60s styling of the original 250 SWB with modern materials, ergonomics and equipment.
Set to join the 250 SWB on the potential wish list of suitably monied customers is the first product of the revived Radford company, the coach building marque revived recently by a consortium including Jenson Button and TV host Ant Anstead.
Their first product is set to be a recreation and re-imagination of an even rarer beast than the Ferrari – the 1969 Lotus 62 (original car below at Brands Hatch in 1969 – pic copyright racingsportscars.com) of which only two were produced in period, the car a development of the earlier Lotus 47, itself a race version of the Europa.
The original cars were effectively test beds for Lotus’s 904 twin overhead camshaft 2 litre engine, initially based on a Vauxhall block, later with a bespoke engine block (developed indeed in response to lessons learned in the competition career of the 62). Later developments of the engine would go on to power Lotus’s Elite, Eclat, Excel and Esprit road cars
The Radford Type 62 is being developed in conjunction with Lotus who are assisting with the development of the rear-wheel-drive chassis.
Beyond that there’s little more detail available other than a wish to cap production at 62 cars, and that the finished product will be honed for purity of the driving experience, something which the experimental Lotus 62 rather struggled for in period!
The look of the car though is well worth the reboot, the proportions of the sublime Europa coupled to the then cutting edge (if now rather basic) aero package.
