Lotus Cortina (1965)

The Lotus Cortina was initially manufactured in 1963, after Colin Chapman expressed his desire to commence building his own engines for Lotus. He commissioned Harry Mundy to design a twin overhead camshaft cylinder head for the Ford Kent engine. Engineering expertise from Cosworth was adopted in order to fine-tune the engines and a 4-speed Ford gearbox was mated to the 1.5 litre 4 cylinder engine. In addition, the suspension was modified from the original Cortina, whereby the spring and damper rates were tweaked which resulted in a reduced ride height.

A lightweight specification was adopted in the form of aluminium skins on the doors, aluminium clutch housing and an aluminium differential case. All of the Lotus factory cars were painted in the iconic colour of White with a Green stripe. At the front end, front quarter bumpers were fitted and in late 1964 a facelift was launched which included a full width front grille and aeroflow outlets in the rear quarters.

This particular Mk1 example was completed in 1965 and was exported to New Zealand when it was just 2 years old, with the car first registered there on 4th May 1967. The car has remained in New Zealand until 2016 and as result of their salt free roads and kind climate the car remains in a wonderful mellowed yet largely original condition. In 2015 the car received a large service including the fitment of two replacement Weber carburettors and a number of minor items being attended to.

To date, this car has covered a believed genuine 81,000 miles and is mechanically in superb condition. There is a decent file with the car including photos that depict the car on a competitive rally in period. Now back in the UK, this rare and iconic car is offered for sale and is available to view at our showroom based just outside London.