RE: PH Heroes: Lotus Cortina

RE: PH Heroes: Lotus Cortina

Thursday 8th January 2009

PH Heroes: Lotus Cortina

Before the GT40s, RSs and Cosworths there was only one fast Ford - the Lotus Cortina. Richard Heseltine finds out what makes it so special...



Think of the Lotus Cortina as one of the world’s first homologation specials, a car in which motorsport really did improve the breed. Here was the modish must-have of the mid-sixties, an all-rounder as at home radiating status in urban cityscapes as three-wheeling its way to glory trackside.

In volume terms, it never was a big numbers success – just 2894 were made from 1963-66 – but that is to miss the point of the exercise: the Lotus Cortina gave Ford an image overhaul. It made the Blue Oval hip.


Think back to a time before the GT40 vanquished Ferrari at Le Mans, before the pop-pop-pop cacophony of a BDA-powered Escort resonated around a forest stage. Ford meant honest, proletariat and maddeningly formulaic products aimed at everyman. Motor racing wasn’t in its lexicon.

Then along came the 1960s and the desire for a more aspirational profile. Ford was going racing, the suits in Detroit initiating the Total Performance programme. Thing is, in Blighty it had its work cut out. The Cortina GT proved a fleeting success but something more focussed was needed, the sort of machine that a perennially cash-strapped car manufacturer run by an engineering futurist could rustle up in a hurry: enter the ‘Type 28’.

The brainchild of Ford new boy Walter Hayes, original plans called for 1,000 Lotus Cortinas to be homologated as Group 2 Production Touring cars. Lotus boss Colin Chapman had long been keen to produce an in-house engine and, with a timely injection of funds behind him, ‘Chunky’ turned to Autocar’s technical editor Harry Mundy to conceive a twin-cam head for the five-bearing Ford ‘Kent’ bottom end.

The resultant 1498cc four-banger made its debut in the back of a Lotus 23 sports-racer for the June ’62 Nurburgring 1000km. Driver Jim Clark led by over two minutes at one point, before crashing out after being overcome by exhaust fumes. If nothing else, Lotus had served notice of intent.

After substantial revisions by Cosworth’s Keith Duckworth, capacity being upped to 1558cc, this soon-to-be-a-classic ‘twink’ was inserted into the Cortina hull, along with heavily reworked suspension and light alloy skins for the doors, bonnet and boot lid. Production of the Lotus Cortina – or Cortina-Lotus as Ford’s marketing spods referred to it – commenced in February ’63 with a list price of £910, but it would be September of that year before the model was eligible to race.


And, having been tested at assorted circuits, not forgetting the M1, its competition debut left an indelible impression. Debuting in the British Saloon Car Championship at Oulton Park on September 20 of that year, ‘Gentleman’ Jack Sears trailed home two lumbering Ford Galaxies to record a class win in his works entry. The die was cast.

A few teething problems aside, 1964 would prove a walkover for the factory-run cars. And it would be the incomparable Jim Clark – then with just the one F1 world championship to his name - who would end the year as winner of the BSCC drivers’ title. A year on, Sir John Whitmore went one better, being crowned European Saloon Car Champion for his efforts in his Alan Mann Racing-run entry.

1965 also witnessed the Group 2 car being homologated to run with leaf-spring rear suspension in place of the previous A-frame, with Clark and Sears pedalling the Team Lotus cars in the BSCC (the latter winning his class). For 1966, the final year as a front-line weapon, Team Lotus ran fuel-injected cars in the Group 5 category, winning the entrants’ award in the BSCC. Just to prove the car’s versatility, Bengt Soderstrom and Gunnar Palm claimed overall honours – by 13 minutes - on that year’s RAC Rally.


Away from the circuits and forest stages, road car production ticked over with the ally panels being discontinued as standard equipment in July 1964 (but remaining on the options list), a lightly facelifted model appearing the following October. For 1965, gear ratios from the Cortina 2000E were substituted. Production ended in September 1966, coinciding with the closure of Lotus’ Cheshunt factory. Of course that wasn’t altogether the end of the story.

For 1967, the altogether boxier Mk2 version arrived but it was assembled by Ford using parts supplied by Lotus, hence there was no Lotus type number. Somehow, it just didn’t press the same buttons, Ford even denoting it as a mere Twin-Cam Cortina. It’s the MK1 edition that nowadays garners reverence.

And just standing next to one today I can say this is deservedly so. Climb inside and the first thing that strikes you is that this is a car from an age before chunky pillars rendered interiors claustrophobic. As I sit inside this immaculate example it is an instant reminder of how airy cabins once were. It’s comfortable, too, the driving position not being dictated by offset pedals or comedy perches. And the extensive use of PVC is groovy, too. All the gauges are easy to read, minor controls less than a reach away while the downswept bonnet ahead is an appealing view. It all feels incredibly straightforward, the perfect antidote to today’s over-complicated driving experiences.


When idling, the Cortina is far from quiet. A lesson in informed simplicity, the twin-cam head is made of alloy, chain-driven camshafts operating the valves through inverted piston-type tappets. This highly tunable unit (105bhp as standard) will spin happily though the rev range – red line is 6500rpm - but has more low end torque than your typical peaky Latin twin-cams of the day: it’s hard not to smile as the twin Weber 40s pop and gurgle. And the gearchange is sweet, being relatively easy to guide between planes (although reverse is a bugger…).

Driven enthusiastically over challenging back roads, there’s much to love although, as is to be expected, ride comfort isn’t brilliant: you do feel the bumps, but there’s little kickback through the steering. Set it up for a corner and the Cortina will squat a little at the rear before balancing itself out on the exit. And the servo-assisted brakes are reassuringly progressive.


Of course this is all very old-tech, and any entry-level hot hatch will run rings around a Lotus Cortina in just about any given circumstance. Thing is, steering one of these tin top trailblazers makes you laugh, rewards your efforts. You don’t leave it feeling indifferent. The Cortina is alive in your hands and you very much feel part of the experience. But it doesn’t end there. It’s tractable, undramatic when you want it to be and flexible enough to use in real world conditions – all this in contrast to its racing pedigree. But then we were already sold just on the Jim Clark connection.

Author
Discussion

Morningside

Original Poster:

24,110 posts

228 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
quotequote all
Back in 1987 I was offered one for £1000...And I said no banghead

mclaren-rule

53 posts

197 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
quotequote all
such a gorgeous car i wish i could drive one smile

aeropilot

34,299 posts

226 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
quotequote all
Still in my top 3 of favourite cars I've ever driven...cloud9

Happy memories from over a quarter of a century ago....redface

Mafioso

2,349 posts

213 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
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Utter class!

warmfuzzies

3,961 posts

252 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
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We had a MkII, first car my old dear ever drove at over a ton, all the way down to Nice......great cars and I wish it hadn't have been sold in 72.....such fond memories of a childhood.

Kevin

gmk666

1,673 posts

224 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
quotequote all
There's always been one in my fantasy garage.
My car as a young art student was a 1966 Purbeck Grey Mk 1 Cortina. It might have said 1200 deluxe on the boot, but in my head I was Jim Clark.
Checking out the prices every now and again, it seems around £20k for a decent-looking road going one...

h4muf

2,070 posts

206 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
quotequote all
My dad had an ex-works one in `71!

Wonder how much that would be worth now????

A Scotsman

1,000 posts

198 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
quotequote all
My dad had a Cortina GT followed by a Willment Sprint and then a Lotus Cortina all three of which he actually let me drive. The Lotus was a great car and quicker than its meagre 105bhp might suggest.

happy snapper

294 posts

235 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
quotequote all
gmk666 said:
There's always been one in my fantasy garage.
My car as a young art student was a 1966 Purbeck Grey Mk 1 Cortina. It might have said 1200 deluxe on the boot, but in my head I was Jim Clark.
Checking out the prices every now and again, it seems around £20k for a decent-looking road going one...
I looked at one with FIA papers full history to race £42000 plus spares..... Back in the 70's when I rallied one the basic car cost me £350 and then the engine went to Cosworth and we sorted out the rest they built a super 1760 engine that went like S*it off of a shovel great to drive.....

richie1173

137 posts

183 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
quotequote all
[quote=gmk666]There's always been one in my fantasy garage.


+1.smile

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
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A guy i went to school had a 'Roger Clarke' LC..Didn't know at the time..thought it was some old banger..

But only later found out what a classic it was..Would have loved a drive in it..Classic rally car..

james28

448 posts

202 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
quotequote all
stunning stunning stunning smile

graeme36s

7,017 posts

216 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
quotequote all
The Lotus Cortina was a mile stone in history. Same as the MK1 Escort with the Lotus 1558cc lump. I'm 48 this year and I still remember the unique sound of a Lotus twin cam, unmistakeable. From memory the water pump was its biggest weak point. Interesting but true. Ford registered quite a few MK1 escorts as twin cams to obtain the homolagation numbers needed but they where fitted with the 1600 crossflow engines. A mate up until recently owned such a beast. Somehow things where much simpler back then. At 18 I ran a 3000gxl Capri 1974. Often at the lights another ford would pull up next to you, he'd see the 3000V6 badge and not even bother to try. Simple but happy days. You new who was friend or fo. (police)/ The one exception was being pulled by CID, 4 big guys in a triumph dolomite. Twin pipes and definately a Rover V8. Checked the car and I asked questions, told to f off and they went on their merry way.

michael hewitt

1 posts

182 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
quotequote all
My 2nd car in 1968 was mk1 a cortina 1500cc,lime green,bench seat,column gear change i sprayed the bonnet matt black,the back and between the chrome strips a spruce green, the bumpers had been already been modded so it sort of looked like a lotus cortina,from a distance.Well,i was young,thats my excuse.That apart it was a really good, reliable car smile

Gun

13,431 posts

217 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
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Uber cool!

PascalBuyens

2,868 posts

281 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
quotequote all
Don't tempt me to get back into a Lotus!!! LOL

hugh_

3,539 posts

240 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
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Absolutely stunning. POTW of this please

Big Rumbly

973 posts

283 months

Wednesday 7th January 2009
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"For 1965, gear ratios from the Cortina 2000E were substituted"

Dont know where this info came from, no such car as Cortina 2000E in 1965.
In 1966 there was a Corsair 2000E V4

FC3SCorey

103 posts

198 months

Thursday 8th January 2009
quotequote all
Such an classy little race car.

Since I'll never have the chance to drive one, Project Gotham Racing 4 sure makes it one of the more kick ass cars to use.

greggy50

6,161 posts

190 months

Thursday 8th January 2009
quotequote all
My dad had one of these in the late 70s/early 80s I believe around 78 - 83 (way before I was born) said that it was his favourite ever car he owned and was a fantastic handling thing and started his love of fords. He then replaced with a brand new metallic silver xr3i in late 1983 one of the first silver ones in the country (apparently) as he knew someone at ford at the time that meant he could get it fairly quick after ordering. Best part about it was that he was dating my mum at the time and was stolen first night be had the car when was only a few hours old. However fortunately the car was found a few streets away and obviously someone had a bit of fun and then dumped the car. But because of this car my dad and also my mum have loved fords ever since he had the cortina, xr3i, and sierra 3dr cosworth as well as numerous mondeo's after our arrival (from fast fords to family fords lol) as well as my mum only having ford fiestas as her car for the last 15odd years so it must have been quite a car to make such an impact lolsmile