Widescreen Gallery: The Lotus 47 sports racer

By Marcel Hundscheid / Speed-O-Graphica

The Lotus 47 from 1968 was a competition car homologated for racing in Group 4. The car was developed by Lotus Components Ltd. from the Lotus 46 Europa production car. Let’s take a closer look at it.

Originally the Europa was intended as a race car to replace the Lotus 7. As available Renault engines turned out uncompetitive, it was decided to develop a pure race car based on the production version of the Europa.

Excepting the very first 47, all subsequent cars were produced by Lotus Components Ltd. The 47 was equipped with larger wheel arches and had a thinner body than the Lotus 7. The 1,594 cc Lotus-Ford Twin Cam-based Cosworth Mk. 13C used in the Lotus 22/23 Formula Junior cars was completely different from the engine used in the standard Europa and produced 165 horsepower. The 47 used a Hewland GT 200 5-speed gearbox and had a weight of just 565 kilograms.

Between 1966 and 1970 around 55 to 68 Type 47s were produced, including the 47GT and 47F, the exact numbers are unknown. The latter had a detachable body as used on the S2 Europa, although the large wheel arches were retained just as the side vents of the 47GT.