2007 Lucra Cars LC 470

Merging new and old seems the current rage. A few issues back, we highlighted CRC's retro rewind consisting of a modern Corvette chassis shod with a custom "1962 Vette" composite body. This month, things get even more interesting as Lucra Cars introduces its LC 470. Road-racing diehards will remember the legendary 1958 Lister/Chevy of which the LC 470 is a modern interpretation. With aluminum/composite bodywork designed in concert with Chuck Beck (of repro Porsche 356 Speedster and 550 Spyder fame), the car epitomizes 1950s vintage. And with a chassis designed in concert with Dick Guldstrand, the car screams race-ready.

If you've ever driven a real 427 Cobra, you know exactly what the LC 470 is like. Light and loose-yet magically tied down-the two cars drive nearly identically. However, at $65,000, the LC 470 is just a sliver of the cost of an original Cobra or Lister. But know that, if you want to go fast in the LC 470, it requires actual driving skill just as with racing cars of yore.

Unfortunately, when the LC 470 arrived at our test track it had so many issues it should've been on a newsstand. Company owner Luke Richards brought the original LC 470 test mule that serves double-duty as show-circuit queen. Consequently, the car had never been sorted at the track and it showed. In testing, it was brutally fast, but at speed it delivered a level of fear on par with trying to balance-steer a runaway grocery cart. Luckily, we had a light test day, so a few hours were spent fine-tuning the LC 470. This included adjustments to the coil-over shock settings, the addition of a front anti-roll bar, revised alignment specs, much lower tire-pressure settings, engine rev-limiter changes, and more, which translates into substantial performance improvements.

In acceleration testing, the 2036-pound LC 470 with its base 400-horsepower Chevy LS2 fuel-injected V-8 engine fishtails wildly as it runs to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds. Aggressively click off upshifts with the Tremec TKO 600 five-speed manual, and you'll blast past 1320 feet in 11.7 seconds-and that's with the base engine*. Lucra claims that, if you keep your foot planted to the floor, its LC 470 will run to 180 mph. Dynamite the brake pedal at 60 mph, and the LC 470's standard PBR 13-inch disc brakes (optional are Baer Racing 14- and 15-inch brakes) will roll up the tarmac in just 116 feet, via old-school threshold braking (there's no ABS).

The LC 470's tubular steel chassis is rigid and employs modern rack-and-pinion steering, C4 Corvette aluminum suspension, and 17-inch alloy wheels wrapped in BFG g-Force T/A KD tires. However, when pushed in corners the LC 470 flip-flops between under- and oversteer (due in part to its extreme light weight). Yet, with just the right mix of throttle and bravado, the LC 470 delivers a figure-eight time quicker than with a Ferrari F430 or Lamborghini Murcilago LP640. In short, if you like retro with reliability and love steering with the throttle, the hold-on-and-scream LC 470 is for you.

* Optionally available are a 425-horsepower GM ZZ4 V-8 with Weber side-draft carbs, a 471-horse GM "LS6" V-8, or a 505-horse Z06 "LS7" V-8. n