1965 Ford Lotus Cortina Mk1

• A highly collectable and coveted high-performance classic sports saloon
• Owned and restored by a real Ford marque enthusiast
• A well-known and respected car on the show and club scene
• Its original shell and good history made this an excellent candidate for an exacting restoration
• Accompanied by a Letter of Authenticity from the Lotus Cortina registrar

The Lotus Cortina came into being because of Ford's decision to step up their motorsport involvement in the early 1960s. Their Head of UK Public Relations, Walter Hayes, spoke to Colin Chapman, asking him to come up with a competitive saloon, using the Cortina as a base, that could be produced in sufficient numbers to satisfy the mandatory Group 2 homologation requirements, and with which the Blue Oval could beat all comers. The solution was to take Ford's bullet-proof 1500 Kent engine, fit it with a twin-cam cylinder head, pop it into a stiffened Cortina shell, sort out the suspension and brakes and paint a green stripe down the side. The cars would be built by Lotus at its plant in Cheshunt and marketed through their dealer network as the Ford Cortina Lotus.

It was THE car for many enthusiasts who before had to settle for a Cortina GT or a Mini-Cooper and it also amazed a lot of sports car drivers who were used to the overweight offerings from Austin-Healey and Triumph. The Lotus Cortina earned an awesome competition reputation and is highly prized today.

The car presented here is a 1965 Ford Lotus Cortina Mk1 that has been well-known to the Lotus Cortina Club for a long time. It was bought by our Ford enthusiast vendor in 2012 and was already in excellent condition having benefited from an exacting restoration. He saw the car had further potential, having lots of original features, including its shell, and set about taking it to the next level in terms of condition. He has trailered it to numerous marque shows where it's always admired and often considered a best-of-breed example. The car drives and performs as well as it presents and would be a credit to any collector or enthusiast. These cars are now highly collectable and finding them like this one is getting harder so, if you've ever hankered after one, this is almost certainly the car to keep.