Lotus 47 Europa Race Car

Constructor:	Lotus
Class	Race Car
Years	1967 to 1971
Designer:	Colin Chapman
Engine:	Ford/Rover

The Lotus 47 was a race car based on the Lotus Europa (internally Lotus 46) from the 1960s.

History

The Lotus 47 was a Group 4 competition version of the Europa model with the twin-cam Ford engine. It won its class in the 1967 and 1968 BOAC '500' races at Brands
Hatch. In 1968 Lotus built an experimental Mk 47 with a longer wheelbase and powered by the Rover 3.5-litre V-8 engine for the G.K.N. group and this is known as the 47D.

A prototype of the Europe has been converted by the independent race car Division "Lotus Components" so that a proprietary 1.6-liter four-cylinder Cosworth racing engine and a proprietary race suspension from the current formula-2 , In addition there was a racing transmission Hewland FT 200 from the formula 2 with a changed switching mechanism and an adjustable pedal work from the racing’s addition, the two models are virtually identical, which makes the Lotus 47 to the last in the motorsport history real race car, of which there is a road GT version.

The Lotus 47 proved to be technically too complicated for customer teams. Although the Lotus 47 was significantly faster than the Lotus Elan 26R, it was inferior in speed to the pure race 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 and white of sponsor Gold Leaf were reasonably successful. Almost all Lotus 47 were later converted to road use.