In The Glasshouse Kolosy building, where my museum is also located, there is a regular 🏍️ “Bikes & Coffee” 🏍️ biker meeting every Sunday from 16:00, where bikers can get a free iced coffee at Churchill Bar Gourmet and watch football matches. Motorcyclists can enter our intimate passage with their motorbikes.

Harold Radford is a British coachbuilder company founded in Kensington in 1948, which began by converting a number of Bentleys and Rolls-Royces, producing cars such as the 1951 Bentley Countryman. The company has also been involved in other endeavors, such as building the fiberglass body of the first Ford GT40 prototype, modifying the brakes of Aston Martin DB5s and customizing Minis to order. The company ceased to exist after the 1960s. Formula 1 champion Jenson Button, along with designer Mark Stubbs, Ant Anstead and lawyer Roger Behle, revived the Radford brand in 2021 and the Type 62-2 became the company’s first fully in-house designed sports car prototype. Radford also bought the rights to use the John Player Special livery used on many Lotus Formula 1 cars in the 1970s.

The Lotus-Radford Type 62-2 or simply the Radford Type 62-2 is a sports car produced by the British company Harold Radford in collaboration with Lotus Cars. It was made in honor of the original Lotus 62 and production is limited to 62 units. The car is available in three trim levels: “Classic”, “Gold Leaf” and “John Player Special”. Twelve of the 62 planned units will be the John Player Special, and another twelve will be in the Gold Leaf design. Based on the Lotus Exige, the Type 62-2 shares the chassis and engine, the former also has a new rear subframe, also in carbon fiber.

The three trim levels come with two different livery options: the Gold Leaf wears the same livery as the original Lotus 62, while the John Player Special livery pays homage to the eponymous Formula 1 livery used by the Lotus Formula 1 team worn in the 1970s. The Classic wears the most basic aerodynamic elements, the Gold Leaf, two small braided beaks at the rear of the car, and the John Player Special is the most advanced aerodynamic package, with larger front intakes and rear diffuser combined with larger side cooling vents. to help cool the engine. Radford, as a bodybuilding company, has given its customers the opportunity to install elements that are only limited by the imagination. In addition to the Gold Leaf trim, Radford also offers a “Quali Edition” package that offers more aggressive aerodynamic elements such as a larger front splitter and rear diffuser, carbon-ceramic brakes and carbon composite rims. The front lotus badge is also gold enamelled. The significant use of carbon composites in the body elements, in addition to light glued and riveted aluminum, the dry weight of the Type 62-2 is 980 kg! (Dry weight is the weight of the vehicle without various liquids, such as oil, fuel, window washer, cooling water.)

The interior of the Type 62-2 is largely analog. the dashboard is equipped with a stopwatch and an analog clock in collaboration with the British watchmaker Bremont, it is decorated with various rocker switches, and there are no buttons on the steering wheel.

Power is borrowed from the Toyota 2GR-FE from the Lotus Exige, which produces 436 hp in Classic trim and 507 hp in Gold Leaf trim via an ECU remap. The John Player Special and Gold Leaf get upgraded camshafts, pistons and connecting rods, with the former getting a larger supercharger. The increased supercharger gives the John Player Special 600 hp. The sprint from zero to 100 takes 2.9 seconds. Its top speed is ~300km/h.

The Classic is the only trim level available with a six-speed manual transmission, while the Gold Leaf and John Player Special trims both come with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and Limited-Slip differential. However, Radford still offers customizability, offering Classic trim owners the option to upgrade to a dual-clutch transmission and a more powerful Gold Leaf engine. Traction control and anti-lock braking systems are available with the dual-clutch transmission and can be turned off at the driver’s discretion.

Of course, all four shock absorbers can be adjusted separately, as well as the possibility of raising the nose to pass over elevated surfaces, such as lying policemen. The Classic version comes with 17″ front and 18″ rear wheels, while the Gold Leaf and John Player Special versions get 18″ front and 19″ rear wheels from Dymag. John Player Special also offers carbon fiber wheels such as the Gold Leaf Quali Edition with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. It also got AP calipers and 360mm carbon-ceramic brake discs. The Gold Leaf and Classic versions are equipped with 4-piston AP calipers and iron brake discs.

In 2023, Radford also built and prepared a fully race car version of the 700 horsepower Type 62-2 for the Pikes Peak Mountain Race, where it finished with racer Tanner Foust in a very respectable time of 9 minutes 37 seconds. For some context, the second-fastest time in the Exhibition class was 9min 54.901sec by Randy Pobst in a 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid, while third place went to former Pikes Peak winner Rhys Millen in 10min 12.024sec in a BMW M8 with Fastest time this year? Robin Shute’s time of 8min 40.080 on a Wolf TSC-FS in the Unlimited class.

All in all, there are two ways to approach what Radford has to say with this model. Did I mention earlier that the Type 62-2 still has detectable Lotus DNA? Well that means if you were prepared to buy a used Exige and spend say £20m on engine and chassis upgrades you would probably be in a similar place in terms of speed, …..But it wouldn’t look like that, it wouldn’t be the same it would be related to his backstory or Jenson’s name. These are all powerful attractions and will help get this small business off to a solid financial footing. Because Radford has plans beyond 62-2!!!

There’s something about that unfiltered, raw excitement that’s compelling. And how rare is a small, compact, lightweight two-seater super sports car that proudly places the driver front and center these days?