Mk1 Cortinas have me going full-on Brit, more than most English cars do. Minis and Range Rovers remind me of Paris, where they used to be default transportation in the swankier quartiers. Jags, R-Rs and Astons make me think of Geneva, as I used to see many of those when living there. But a Dagenham Ford is as British as Queen Victoria (Blackadder reference for those in the know), and its Lotus version is even more Albion-tastic.
And with this one, we are definitely most amused. The famous Lotus-infused version, all dressed down to impress, painted in the peculiar but iconic red-and-gold Alan Mann livery and ready to hit the track at a moment’s notice. This is Essex on wheels.
“Regular” Lotus Cortinas (a.k.a. Lotus Type 28 or Cortina-Lotus, as the case may be), if you’ll pardon the near-oxymoron, initially featured light alloy body panels, a Lotus rear suspension consisting in keeping the live axle but locating it via trailing arms and dampened using coil-over struts, a 1.6 litre 4-cyl. with a Lotus twin cam head and twin Webers tuned up to 105hp, the same gearbox as the Elan and servo-assisted disc brakes for the front wheels. Oh, and leather seats, too.
That was the deal in 1963, but by 1965 the gearbox had changed, the body panels reverted to steel and, at the end of the year, the Cortina GT’s leaf spring suspension returned to keep costs down and improve reliability, as the Lotus suspension could stress the monocoque to breaking point.
Lotus, who actually manufactured the cars, painted them all the same way – the famous white with a green accent. Our Cortina sings from a different hymn sheet, because it’s a tribute car dressed in the Alan Mann Racing (AMR) team colours.
A trio of Lotus Cortinas looking remarkably similar to this one won several events in 1965-66, including the European Touring Car Championship. There were a number of Lotus Cortinas on the grid in those years, so the AMR team decided to paint theirs a different colour to help identify them from afar on the track and in newspapers when seen in black-and-white photos.
It’s a 100% functional tribute car, built to be ready to race. I’m sure the owner of this machine did his homework studiously and managed to source an exact replica of the steering wheel the likes of Jacky Ickx, Jim Clarke and Sir John Whitmore grasped when driving these to podium finishes sixty years ago.
The seats do look a bit more modern – a reasonable concession to safety and comfort. Which is more than can be said for the rear passengers. Look at that limo-like legroom though!
Just look at that British bulldog of a kisser. Sure, the designer (and, in the end, the manufacturer) was American, the famous Roy Brown Jr, perhaps better known as the father of the Edsel. Well, he sure redeemed himself with this one.
The three late-model Lotus-Cortinas Mk1 used by Alan Mann Racing are all accounted for, and this is not one of them. But it’s a convincing stand-in, adding a dab of dubious colour to classic car races in this most Anglophile of archipelagos. And a big slice of nostalgia for yours truly, whose brief but merry stint in the UK as a young adult was a high point, just like this Cortina was for British Fords.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1963 Ford Cortina Mk1 – Ford Takes On BMC, And Wins, by Roger Carr
Curbside Find: 1965 Ford Cortina GT – Nothing To Add, by T87
Looks *VERY* pretty, I’d rather have the white & green with leather seats & full interior .
In the early 1970’s I had a Customer who was French, he had a ’65 Cortina he was dotty about .
-Nate
A college friend in ’68/69 had one of the white and green ones, and what a blast it was to ride with him. He was into sports cars at a very early age, and had a project (weren’t they all?) Elan stored in his mother’s garage he’d bought in high school ca. 1967. Also gave me my 1.st ride on his m/c, a Honda 305, that forever hooked me. The Cortina was a real sleeper as no-one in MD at the time had any idea what a little rocket ship it was.
I’m on the opposite coast and also had a college friend with a green/white Mk1, in the early 70’s. It was certainly exotic, in the sense of unusual, but not really that expensive for a college kid. I rode in it quite a bit but he never let me drive it 😡 .
They were quite the weapon in their day when running well, the GT500 that won at Bathurst was Aussie developed not Lotus built but the idea worked Race winning Cortinas sold an awfull lot of 1200cc daily shitboxes.
Essex on wheels. Good one!
Presumably this is authentic to race spec such that as the filler cap in the tail panel is blocked off and the tank is in the boot (trunk) and one opens the boot to fill it? I do admire someone who produces a replica racer that apparently makes absolutely no concessions, and then drives it on the highway.
Love the colour scheme! I remember a few hot Mark 1 Cortinas in my younger days, but never saw a genuine Lotus one.