The Lotus 66 is the Lotus that answered a simple question — how much car can this badge carry? — with 830 bhp @ 8800 rpm from 7997 cc Chevrolet V8. It was built from 2024, in the decade the industry is turning electric. The shape is credited to Geoff Ferris.
How it came about
The Lotus 66 is a track day car produced by Lotus Cars. The car is based on three drawings for a Can-Am racing car drawn up by Geoff Ferris of Team Lotus in 1969 but which the company did not build.
The model number 66 was never allocated in period but chronologically fits in with the Lotus model numbers. Lotus produced the model after an article in Motor Sport magazine piqued interest, with the intent of it being a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the company. The planned production run is for 10 cars, each costing over £1m.
The hardware
The engine is 7997 cc Chevrolet V8; the output is 830 bhp @ 8800 rpm. On the scales it comes to 1764 lb. That is roughly 471 horsepower per tonne: hypercar territory, where the limiting factor is the tyre, not the engine. Drive goes through a 5-speed paddle-operated semi-automatic sequential. The wheelbase is 2438 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
In the Lotus line-up the Lotus 66 has a clear place: it replaced the Lotus 40; the factory was Hethel, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the BYD Auto Fangchengbao Bao 8, the Bugatti Bolide, the Cadillac Celestiq. Its Lotus stablemates include the Lotus 100T and the Lotus 101.