1965 Ford Lotus Cortina Mk. I

Despite this less than auspicious start, the Lotus Cortina was a sporting triumph both on road and track. Depending on who you listen to, somewhere between 2,894 (Ford’s number) and 3,306 (Lotus’ number) of the MKI cars were built between 1963 and 1966. Of these just 660 were thought to have been left hand drive models with the key markets for these being the United Sates (160) and Canada (60).

The exact background of this fine example remains an enigma necessitating the time honoured practice of interrogating the chassis number. Much of the Lotus Cortina’s chassis number sequence was generic with lots of “S” entries and the same “BA” Ermine White paint code and “A875” trim code referring to the usual black vinyl. The “2” prefix, however, identifies this as one of those rare factory left hand drive examples and a late MKI car and hence a Type IV “aeroflow” model with leaf springs. A rare car for certain.

Even a brief glance at our photographic package will further reveal that this example presents in full race-going configuration complete with an FIA passport confirming eligibility for the CT8 class. As such this fine historic race car represents an excellent opportunity for those wishing to put themselves behind the wheel of an archetypal historic touring car.
 

This superb example of the Lous Cortina comes to us in a crisp, clearly recently administered black and white livery. The Sherwood Green stripes that were sprayed on at Lotus of Cheshunt, through a fibreglass template, have been replaced here with gloss black. This contrasts dramatically with the bright white of the bulk of the remainder. The wider aeroflow grill, recognisable for extending beneath the indicators, is also finished in black. A very race-appropriate, geometric chequered fag design graces the roof panel and door roundels contain a “53” race number.

Other notable details include the C-pillar vents which represent the outlet part of Ford’s vaunted aeroflow “system” (basically a bigger grill and more internal vents to keep everyone a bit cooler), quick release pins for the bonnet and rubber closures for the boot lid. External electrical cutoff and fire extinguisher pulls are fitted as are the obligatory FIA specification front and rear towing eyes. Perspex front windows with central apertures and sliding closures are also noted.

Original Cortina MKI cues include the charming, so called, “Ban the Bomb” rear lamp clusters and the raised Cortina emblem acting as a terminus for the long, low bonnet bulge. A set of matt black, Minilite style, 13-inch racing alloys are fitted compete with a matching set of Dunlop Racing tyres.
 

True to this car’s singular calling, the interior is devoid of anything that does not aid the business of going faster than others on a racetrack. The single seat is a Sparco S-lite Carbon-tech item compete with TRS, six-point racing harnesses. Ahead of the driver is fitted a three spoke, flat bottomed OPM race steering wheel with Alcantara trimmed rim and yellow straight-ahead marker for when one, inevitably, gets a bit “crossed up.” The instrumentation consists of a pair of original Smiths white on black gauges with a Stack quartz tachometer set in front of them. The driver centric centre binnacle houses a trio of auxiliary gauges, a bank of toggle switches complete with the ever-present Dymo labels and a set of electrical circuit breakers.

Other race specific addenda include the chequer plate faced, alloy pedal set, a welded in full race rollover cage, a plumbed in fire suppression system and other useful aids like change up indicator light, internal cutoff handles and wide-angle rear view mirror. The boot is finished in painted metal and houses the battery tray, ATL fuel cell and filler neck and associated fuel pump and plumbing. A number of useful looking, boxed spare parts also find a home here.
 

Lifting the bonnet reveals the revered twin-cam Ford based Lotus engine in all its glory. The twin covers feature debossed Lotus emblems and a Craig Beck Racing plaque hints at the hours of professional fettling that has gone into this unit. The condition under here is excellent with lots of high-specification silicon and braided hoses and race-grade junctions and wiring noted. A large pair of carburettors share a free flow, foam air filter and the all important Ford data plate is present and correct.

The underside of the Cortina looks equally well tended with plenty of equally highly specified, competition appropriate componentry on display. These include the bottom of the welded alloy fuel cell and a stainless steel performance exhaust system. There are some areas of minor deformation under here which give us a “carchaeology” style look into this car’s past with earlier blue and red paint finishes noted. Monaco Red, of course, was the only other “factory” colour for the Lotus Cortina with a handful of 1965 works rally cars being thus supplied.
 

Almost the entirety of this racing Lotus Cortina’s paperwork file is made up of its FIA passport document dating from 2013. This gives some interesting background to the car and its specification and even contains some pictures of the car in its earlier light blue guise. The other interesting and important documents are the graphs and data table emanating from a dyno-run in 2013. This documents the Cortina as delivering a peak output of around 180 bhp and a peak torque reading of approximately 135 Ib-ft. It is thought that this test was to establish the results of the fitting of a new head at around this time.

The Lotus Cortina in MKI guise proved a revelation for sports orientated drivers of the early to mid-1960’s. Suddenly keen drivers had an alternative to the diminutive Sprites and Midgets and were able to finally buy a mainstream saloon that would satisfy heart, head and cater for workaday family duties at the same time. It was truly a niche-creating model and a successful exponent of the “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” halo effect for Ford. A watershed model.

This example remains true to its homologation special roots by presenting in pre-1966 historic touring car race specification. Complete with an FIA passport and all the associated fixtures and fittings to make for a thrilling and competitive race companion. What’s more it is confirmed as a much rarer factory left hand drive model in desirable aeroflow and leaf spring guise. A true purists’ delight.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £23,000 - £28,000.

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