Radford, backed by Jenson Button, files for bankruptcy

Historic British coachbuilder Harold Radford is back as Radford in 2021, but the new U.S.-based company is already in financial trouble.

The company, whose founders are TV mechanic Ant Anstead and Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on October 10.

In a statement to People, which first reported the news on Wednesday, Dan Bednarski, chief financial officer of Finest Coachbuilding Group, the private company that owns Radford, said that the bankruptcy and the resulting restructuring of debt will allow the company to obtain new investment He said the bankruptcy and the resulting restructuring of debt will allow for a new ownership structure that will help the company gain new investment.

He also stated that the company will continue business as usual during the bankruptcy and will continue to manufacture and deliver various versions of the Radford coachbuilt “Lotus Type 62-2” sports car for its customers. The sports car is a modernized version of the 1960s Lotus Type 62 racing car, which debuted in 2021 with a Lotus Evora chassis as the donor.

In a separate statement to People, Anstead said that he and Button are both committed to the company.

According to People, fellow owners of Radford's parent company, Finest Coachbuilding Group, allegedly mismanaged company funds and filed a civil lawsuit earlier this year The company said it was in bankruptcy in response to the lawsuit. In a statement to Motor1, however, Bednarski said the judge found insufficient evidence for the allegations of mismanagement.