The West Coast’s first Lotus 23 finally returned to the UK

When this 23 was new, it was bought and run by the prolific Arciero brothers who also had a Lotus 19. “This is chassis number 35 and I believe it was the second or third Lotus 23 sent to the West Coast,” said Minshull. “It’s the only 23 that was delivered with a Climax motor — out of a Lotus Elite, essentially.”

Dan Gurney had been racing the Arcieros’ Lotus 19 and it was he who persuaded them to add the 23 to the stable. Minshull explained: “Dan convinced the Arcieros to buy this car for his friend Skip Hudson to drive. The car went straight to California and they raced the Riverside LA Times Grand Prix in 1962, and then went to Laguna Seca the week after where it finished in front of Jack Brabham, who was in another Lotus 23.”

The following year, Parnelli Jones was hired to drive the car soon after his Indianapolis 500 win. While an engine issue prevented any great shakes, his team-mate Jim Clark won the race in the sister Lotus 19. “The fall pro series on the West Coast was very lucrative for the drivers,” Minshull explained. “There was a lot of prize money so often they would bring cars over for that purpose.”

Perhaps the 23’s most memorable outing came in 1964 in the hands of the Unser brothers. “Bobby drove the car four or five times in 1964 at the USRRC racing for the pro series. But most importantly, he won the Pikes Peak hillclimb sportscar class in his car,” said Minshull.

The Unser family was famous for their success on the Colorado mountain, and they were inspired to tackle it with the Lotus 23 in the wake of a victory by a Porsche Spyder in 1961. 

In those days, vast lengths of the hillclimb were formed of a dirt road. The shiny red 23 cut an unusual dash making its way up the hill on the locktops kicking up huge amounts of dirt. In some ways, this off-road excursion was a reprise of the very first Lotus models which were Austin Seven-based trials cars built to tackle difficult terrain. At Pikes Peak, Unser finished an impressive third overall behind two specialist dirt track sprint cars.

In the same year, the 23 was driven at Laguna Seca by Ken Miles. “In terms of the driver line-up, it’s really the who’s who of American professionals of the time,” Minshull added. Meanwhile, its sister 19 was also driven by Dan Gurney, Jim Clark, and Phil Hill.

During its racing career in period, the 23 was host to a range of different engines, and that history is in evidence as it still has the original chassis. “At one stage, they put a Coventry Climax FPF in, which was the Formula 1 motor of the time. They sleeved it so they could run it in under- and over-2.0-litre classes,” said Minshull.

“It’s similar to what a Lotus 19 had, but they only made very few of those because Climax had a hard time making enough motors for all the Formula 1 grid, as well as sportscars.”

One engine it didn’t have in the 1960s was a Lotus Twin-Cam, but that’s what it runs with now. “In vintage racing classes, the Twin Cam is the best motor to have. Most of the cars now, if they never came with a Twin-Cam in period, have been converted into having one.”

While this has been the 23’s first season racing at Goodwood, Minshull was here last year racing a Porsche 356 in the Fordwater Trophy. “I got to race against the Jim Clark Porsche 356 A coupé, which was in the parade this year. It was fun to have the Jim Clark connection, considering that this car was team-mates with Jim in period.”

When we spoke to Minshull, he had yet to have his 2025 Revival outing in the Madgwick Cup, where he went on to finish tenth, but recalled his experiences of the Lotus in the Gurney Cup at 82MM earlier in the year.

“I think I had a pretty good drive up from 26^th to tenth in tricky conditions. I was very happy with that. And it was almost like driving up Pikes Peak with how sideways you had to be to go quickly around here.” British weather threw a curveball at the 23 that it rarely encounters on America’s West Coast.

“We’ve had a really good time here,” Minshull praised. “I’ll hopefully come back for many more Revivals representing the West Coast. We’d love to see more Americans here. It’s been a big hit to have Jimmie Johnson and the rest.”

Photography by Joe Harding and Charlie Brenninkmeijer.