Radford, the modern coachbuilding company founded by Jenson Button and Ant Anstead, is headed to Pikes Peak with a wild version of its Type 62-2 sports car. The Radford "Pikes Peak Edition" takes the Lotus Exige-based 62-2 to a new extreme, with a new carbon-fiber monocoque and much wider bodywork hiding a totally reworked suspension. Oh, and aero. You need downforce at Pikes Peak, and it appears this Radford should have lots of it.
The great thing about Pikes Peak is that its barriers for entry are much, much lower than any other premiere racing event. That's why you get so many home-brew specials, and wild creations from major OEMs. The Radford fits somewhere in the middle, and it's undoubtedly a welcome addition to the Climb to the Clouds, set for June 25th this year.
Per Top Gear, the Radford Pikes Peak Special weighs just 1942 pounds and gets power from a 700-hp version of the supercharged Toyota 3.5-liter V-6 that's powered a number of Lotus cars for years now. The engine mates with a paddle-shift sequential transmission, and Top Gear says it'll run from 0-60 mph in 2.2 seconds. The cooling system is also revised to better deal with the huge altitude of Pikes Peak, and the brakes are carbon-ceramics supplied by AP Racing. Perhaps most interesting is where the driver sits—in the middle, unlike in the 62-2 road car.
Tanner Foust, a fixture at Pikes Peak, will drive the Radford. His last Pikes Peak appearance was in 2021, where he won his class driving a Porsche Cayman GT4. "We're going to be in an exhibition class which will have a lot of quick cars in it," he told Top Gear. "Rhys Millen will be driving in this class and he's won overall. There are some big manufacturer-supported cars too, and it's a kind of catch-all class that gets a lot of fast cars. We'll have our work cut out for us."
A car enthusiast since childhood, Chris Perkins is Road & Track's engineering nerd and Porsche apologist. He joined the staff in 2016 and no one has figured out a way to fire him since. He street-parks a Porsche Boxster in Brooklyn, New York, much to the horror of everyone who sees the car, not least the author himself. He also insists he's not a convertible person, despite owning three.
