Lotus 47
The Lotus 47 was a racing car based on the Lotus Europa (internal Lotus 46 ).
Development history
A prototype of the Europa was modified by the independent racing car department "Lotus Components" so that a company-owned 1.6-liter four-cylinder Cosworth racing engine and a company's own racing chassis from the current Lotus 59 Formula 2 car fit. In addition, there was a Hewland FT 200 racing gearbox from Formula 2 with a modified gearshift mechanism and an adjustable pedal mechanism from racing. Incidentally, the two models are practically the same, which makes the Lotus 47 the last real racing car in motorsport history of which there is a street version.
The Lotus 47 turned out to be technically too complicated for customer teams. Although the Lotus 47 was significantly faster than the Lotus Elan 26R , it was inferior to the pure racing cars Chevron B6 and Porsche Carrera 6 and too problematic for the mechanics. Only the cars used by the factory and painted in the famous red-gold-white of the sponsor Gold Leaf were reasonably successful. Almost all Lotus 47s were later converted for road use.
