Some of you may recall Ernesto Freitas, the Portuguese designer who created the modern-day Ferrari Dino that actually went into production. Well, Ernesto and his company LusoMotors have returned, this time with the mid-engined LM23 that follows in the footsteps of the classic Lotus 23b track racer of the mid-60’s. The LM23’s design is inspired from the Lotus 23b, and the overall result is pretty neat. But the LM23 isn’t about looks, it’s about track racing. The LM23 utilizes a space frame chassis made of steel tubing, with double skin aluminium alloy sheets, riveted and glued with inner foam reinforcements. The track racer’s outerskin is made out of fibreglass and carbon fibre components. -Continued
Behind the driver we find the engine bay. We talked to Ernesto and he told us that potential buyers can choose from a variety of car or motorcycle engines all of which deliver power to the rear wheels. Currently, Ernesto is trying out a 150Hp 1.0-liter unit from a Honda CBR1000 matted to a 6 speed sequential gearbox. The specific version (with the high-revving Honda engine) weighs a mere 400 kg or 881 pounds!
According to Ernesto, the possibilities are endless as he can even fit in a turbocharged Subaru boxer engine –that’s something we’d like to drive. Using a special built kit, the original 4WD setup is converted into a 2WD gearbox, delivering power to the rear wheels.
Prices for a complete kit car (without the engine) start from €15,000 (11,500 GBP or $23,600). Depending on the buyer’s needs, LusoMotors can modify the kit car going as far as designing a totally different bodywork.
Link: Lusomotors (email: inquiries@lusomotors.com)
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