Donkervoort F22: a Lotus Seven from the FUTURE

The Driver's Seat with Henry Catchpole (2022)

Henry Catchpole drives the Donkervoort F22 in the latest episode of The Driver&apos;s Seat on the Hagerty YouTube channel. If you haven&apos;t heard of the F22, it&apos;s not a Dutch cousin of the Lockheed Martin/Boeing stealth fighter, it&apos;s mor...

Henry Catchpole drives the Donkervoort F22 in the latest episode of The Driver's Seat on the Hagerty YouTube channel. If you haven't heard of the F22, it's not a Dutch cousin of the Lockheed Martin/Boeing stealth fighter, it's more of a 21st century Lotus Seven (and the successor to the D8 GTO that Misha Charoudin recently took round the Nürburgring Nordschleife). The F22 has a 2.5-litre turbocharged straight-five engine from Audi, with tuning by ABT. Consequently, it has a soundtrack that is redolent of a Group B Quattro. Straight line performance isn't lacking either, with 493bhp and 472lb ft of torque propelling a mere 750kg (1653lb) for a 0-62mph time of just 2.5sec. According to Donkervoort, it's also capable of pulling 2.3G in the corners thanks to semi-slick Nankang tires and a chassis that is part old-school tubular and part proprietary Ex-Core carbon fiber. Ex-Core uses a manufacturing process that pushes carbon sheets against a mold from the inside using a foam. It has been used by Toyota Gazoo Racing in both its Le Mans Hypercar and its WRC Yaris Rally1 car. More than one F1 Team has made use of it as well. With a price tag of around £300,000 the F22 isn't cheap, but only 100 will ever exist, so it is exclusive. With a manual gearbox and no hybridization it also taps into plenty of people's desire for analogue cars. And if you're tall, then this might just be the sportscar for you as it's been deigned to accommodate someone of up to 6'10" in height - understandable when it comes from the nation that is often cited as the tallest in the world.

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Donkervoort F22: a Lotus Seven from the FUTURE

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