The Radford Type 62-2 enters 2023 Pikes Peak Hillclimb, Driven by Tanner Foust

The official list of competitors for the 2023 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb released early last week. The list features a number of return cars and drivers, along with several outstanding new features. Among the new cars slated to run is the Radford Type 62-2, driven by Tanner Foust.

Type 62-2 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2022

Radford is a coachbuilding brand with a history of outfitting cars from Mini’s to Bentleys with bespoke bodywork and elevated interiors. The Radford brand was revived recently by a foursome including Jensen Button and Ant Anstead, and in partnership with Lotus they are creating a limited run of sportscars based on the Lotus Exige chassis.

An Instagram post from Jan 20 shows Radford founders Ant Anstead and Jensen Button testing at Willow Springs with Tanner.

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The Type 62/2 (above) at Willow Springs appears to be the same car that ran the hillclimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (GFoS) last June 2022. As reported by Evo magazine, the car that ran at Goodwood is tuned to the highest spec advertised by Radford, which they call JPS (John Player Special) although the car at Willow Springs and GFoS is purple, and doesn’t tout the traditional black and gold JPS livery. JPS spec means the Toyota 2GR-FE 3.5 Liter Supercharged V6 is tuned to make 600HP, and Radford is claiming a dry weight of around 1000kg/2204lbs. That car also houses a 6-speed manual transmission in its stretched Lotus Exige S chassis. Lotus made some minor modifications to the 3.5 V6 engine before sticking it in their Emira, expanded on by Radford to include internals like new pistons and camshafts. The Type 62-2 specs Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires from Radford, and that’s the tire we see pictured on the car that ran the hillclimb at Goodwood.

The Radford Type 62/2 is registered for the exhibition class at Pikes Peak; from the 2021 PPIHC Rule Book:

“It is the intent of the PPIHC to encourage manufacturers and builders to enter prototype or pre-production vehicles in this [the exhibition] division.” Beyond the basics of safety like harness attachments and roll cage design, the Exhibition class is designed to be open in terms of spec; part of the beauty of the Pikes Peak Hillclimb is the diversity of the competition, from the homebuilt to the factory-backed.

The Radford running is notable because it’s a new car that is extremely rare, and from the spec sheet is focused more on driver engagement than lap times, as evidenced by the manual transmission and subtle aero effects that evoke the Lotus Type 62 racecar on which its design is based.