Striking cars with rich histories is the bread and butter of Goodwood’s motorsport events, but with such a distinctive shape, this Lotus 11 GT ‘Breadvan’ will be a unique sight at the 82nd Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport when it lines up on the grid for the Moss Trophy.

One of the most successful racing cars of the 1950s, only around 270 Lotus 11s were built in a two-year production spell from 1956-58. Designed by Colin Chapman and Frank Costin, the car excelled in smaller capacity classes, with many of its standout results achieved in its debut year. Among them, a class world record of 143mph set at Monza in ’56 by Stirling Moss, and the Lotus 11’s best ever result, a seventh-place finish overall at Le Mans with Reg Bicknell and Peter Jopp, with class victories at Le Mans and Sebring following in subsequent years.

Innovation never stops though, and as the ‘50s turned into the ‘60s a new star was born: the Ferrari 250 GT SWB ‘Breadvan’. A one-off machine built from a 250 GT SWB Competition that itself came second overall in the 1961 Tour de France, Giotto Bizzarrini and Piero Drogo worked against the wishes of Enzo Ferrari to build an aerodynamically advanced variant of the 250 that could compete against the new 250 GTOs at Le Mans. With a body lower and lighter than that of a GTO and a roof line extended all the way back before its sharp cut-off, the ‘Breadvan’ was dramatically ambitious.

It was competitive, too, running seventh overall at La Sarthe before retiring four hours in, but it did achieve class victories in the Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch and the Ollon-Villars Hillclimb, where it set a new course record for a GT car.

Text & Image: Goodwood