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09.10.14 / 07.11.14
‘ B re a d v a n'
P r i v a t e C o l l e c t i o n r a c e p r e p a r e d b y Tw y m a n R a c i n g Engine: Coventry-Climax FWA (1098 cc) SOHC Inline 4 cylinder Tr a n s m i s s i o n : B M C A 3 0 , 4 - s p e e d
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This unique Lotus 11 GT Breadvan is part of automotive history of the United Kingdom. It was absent from the racing world for the last half-century: before its restoration, the last time anyone saw it at full throttle was on September 12, 1964 where it finished second in class at Goodwood.
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The Lotus Eleven was a racing car built in various versions by Lotus from 1956 until 1958. In total, about 270 Elevens of all versions were built, but only this one was successfully made as a “one-off Breadvan". The standard Lotus eleven was already pretty fast, but the benefits of the shooting brake body paid off for them as well..
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The ‘Breadvan’ concept of the Sixties was made famous by the Ferrari 250 ‘Drogo’ based on Ferrari 250 GT SWB,. After British racing driver Graham Capel saw how successful these Bizzarrini, Drogo, Neri and Bonacini's F e r r a r i 2 5 0 d e s i g n w a s , h e d e c i d e d t o t r y t h e i r t r i c k o n h i s L o t u s 1 1 . To e m u l a t e t h e i r s u c c e s s h e h a d t o t u r n the car in a sort of lightweight shooting brake . The idea was pretty simple: to create a “Kamm effect “. Instead of tapering away a cars’ roofline to leave the classic coupe shape, the coach-builder would let it run to t h e b a c k o f t h e c a r a t a s i m i l a r h e i g h t t o t h e w i n d s c r e e n a n d t h e n d r o p a l m o s t v e r t i c a l l y. T h e r e s u l t w a s a n a r e a o f g r e a t e r l o w p r e s s u r e a t t h e b a c k o f t h e c a r, w h i c h i m p r o v e d s t a b i l i t y a n d p e r f o r m a n c e a t s p e e d . The final shape of the car and the look was frequently considered to be less pleasing to the eye- similar to a van t h e y s a i d - b u t i n t h e c a s e o f t h i s L o t u s 1 1 G T t h e d e s i g n e r e f f o r t b r o u g h t t o a f a n t a s t i c a n d f u t u r i s t i c c a r, o n e o f the best-looking of all the Breadvans, giving great performance at high-speed venues. After its last race in 1964, the radical body panels of this Lotus 11 GT Breadvan got removed and the car was tur ned back to a s t o c k L o t u s 1 1 . I t s c u r r e n t o w n e r d e c i d e d t o r e s t o r e i t t o i t s f o r m e r g l o r y a n d Tw y m a n R a c i n g g o t t h e j o b t o retur n this piece of automotive history into its fastest form, and finished in its original Plumstead Racing livery of course.
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T h a n k s t o t h e m a n r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e p r o j e c t N e i l Tw y m a n , a f t e r b e i n g o f f t h e t r a c k s f o r h a l f a c e n t u r y, t h e Lotus 11 GT 'Breadvan' came back with a speed that could beat Ferrari V12s at Goodwood and with its f o u rc y l i n d e r C o v e n t r y C l i m a x e n g i n e i t f i n i s h e d s e c o n d i n c l a s s a g a i n i n t h e M o s s Tr o p h y . N o t o n l y w a s t h i s L o t u s breadvan faster than all the Ferraris, but it also crossed the finish line just half a second after the winner Aston Martin DB4GT following an hour of full on racing. And to those who keep on arguing about the low allure of the b r e a d v a n s , a s “ r a c e f i g h t e r ” w e a n s w e r … i t ’s a l l a b o u t l a p t i m e s a n d t h e a r t o f r a c i n g !
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Savina Confaloni jour nalist at Corriere della Sera