[Video] Jenson Button and Ant Anstead’s Californian Dream | Radford Motors | Goodwood Masters
What do you do when you retire from Formula 1 and need something to fill your time? Team up with TV presenter Ant Anstead and revive a classic automotive brand – Radford. That’s what Jenson Button did anyway.
Based in California, Button and Anstead relaunched Radford Motors, a coachbuilder, in 2021 with the Radford Type 62-2, a car that pays homage to the Lotus 62 sportscar that raced between 1969 and 1974. It was originally made possible thanks to a collaboration with Lotus, who allowed Radford to make use of its Lotus Exige chassis and 3.5-litre supercharged V6 engine.
But in the years since, Radford has slowly transformed its ethos. Having honed and developed its cars with the expertise of Jenson Button as test driver, it now builds its cars without the use of any Lotus parts at all.
The team went a step further with the conception of a Radford Pikes Peak concept, the Type 62-2 Track Edition, of which only 12 will be built, and was developed from scratch with no carryover at all from the original car.
According to Anstead, that car was built after a challenge was raised by a customer, and it was worthwhile, because experienced Pikes Peak racer Tanner Foust obliterated the hallowed ten-minute barrier in 2023 to win his class at the wheel of the Radford.
It’s not all about driving fast cars for Jenson, though. He is a co-owner of Radford Motors, and deeply involved in every aspect of the company’s daily workings. That’s quite the trump card for a fledgling brand to hold.