1968 Ford Cortina Lotus Mk2

This car was built in Oregon in 2002 from an immaculate, rust-free, undamaged bodyshell. It was first raced by the builder, a gentleman called Bob, on behalf of the man who commissioned the build, after which the owner took it out a few times. It was then stored for many years until Bob bought it a year ago. He has brought the car back to the UK and is offering it for sale.

We’re therefore in the happy position of showing you a car that’s being sold by the man who built it, and who knows it better than anyone. For the last few decades Bob had a successful business building race engines, first in California and then in Oregon, but moved back to Scotland in recent years.

He’s still heavily into cars, however, and has returned this one to on-the-button status after the owner removed the Cortina’s first Twin-Cam engine for use in another racing car. To replace it, Bob built an all-steel, FIA-legal Lotus Twin-Cam of 1598cc with twin 45 DCOE carbs, putting out an estimated 168bhp.

As the car was built for competition in the States, there are aspects of its equipment that will need to be swapped or upgraded for UK circuit racing, though we believe it could enter timed speed events as it is now. It must be noted that this car was purpose-built as a racer and therefore had no title in the USA and has no V5C here, meaning it is not road legal. It is, however, a professionally-built and extremely well-spec’d competition car with a perfect bodyshell, and an estimate that’s a fraction of the build cost.

The paint is an unusual choice for a Lotus Cortina - Blue Mink Metallic. The man who commissioned the build chose it, and while Bob is not a fan, he got a very good job out of the painter he used. It’s perhaps not concours level for a road car, but it’s A1 by race car standards.

More importantly, the panels onto which it’s applied are remarkably straight and show no signs of filler or corrosion. Was the shell originally from a Lotus Cortina? Bob isn’t certain and it’s hard to tell with a Mk 2, but the holes for the Lotus badges on the rear wings were already present so it’s possible.

The windows are polycarbonate, with a sliding panel in the driver’s side (it’s left-hand drive, remember) and also pull-out vents in the rear screen to encourage a bit of through-flow on hot days. The door mirrors are lightweight plastic items and there is a battery cut-off switch on the car’s right-rear hip. This may need to be rewired to include an alternator cut-out for UK circuit use.

The car is de-bumpered, of course, and the original fuel-filler in the rear panel has been welded up and skilfully blended into the surrounding bodywork (the only touch of filler on the car, Bob says) leaving the filler for the fuel cell in the boot.

The front screen is still glass, of course, and there is another, new laminated windscreen included with the sale. The car rides on 6x13 Compomotive Minilite-style wheels and some old Hoosier semi-slicks, which the new owner should replace before any serious track action.

Beginning at the back, there’s a small racing battery in the right side-well of the boot and a large long-distance fuel cell in the centre. Fuel is moved via a Facet-type electronic pump mounted to an inner wheel arch and there are also steel reinforcing plates for the axle-locating links and the Panhard rod. It’s remarkable to see factory spotwelds and seam sealer under the paint - the shell has survived amazingly well.

The cabin is not as ruthlessly stripped as some tin-top racers and all the better for it, with custom-made door cards, an intact full-width dash and period-looking sports steering wheel. The twin racing seats (currently fixed, not sliding) are FIA-approved, says Bob, but the harnesses will need replacing with in-date items.

There’s a small auxiliary switch panel on the extreme left of the dash to turn lights and fuel pump on and off. Above that, on the dash top, is a transponder unit that will only work as an ornament - US frequencies differ from those used here. Peer under the steering column and you’ll find Bob’s clever braking bias bar. It works with a pair of master cylinders he’s installed, one for the front brakes and one for the back, and so can be tweaked quite easily between outings until you hit perfection.

There is a Safety Devices half-cage installed; this will need to become a full cage for British and European circuits but Bob says the front half remains available from Safety Devices and the existing rear half already has brackets to accept it. There’s a fire extinguisher fixed to the cage behind the drivers seat - once again, depending on the type of competition, the next owner may need to replace it with one that’s plumbed to a nozzle in the engine bay.

The car bursts into life almost immediately with a loud, rapid crackle that could only be from a race engine. It revs like a motorbike - Bob says the flywheel is very light - and sounds extremely purposeful. Because it’s not road legal we couldn’t go for a drive, but it engages gears, steers and stops and Bob assures us it’s ready to go. There’s only one small silencer in the side-exit exhaust system…it sounds great but may not pass the noise regs at all venues.

The engine, as mentioned, is built with a forged crank and rods, forged aluminium pistons and large valves, plus full race cams. The eye-catching BRM cam cover is one of a short run that Bob had cast from the original pattern. There’s a strut brace and also a large alloy radiator and an oil cooler to cope with Californian heat. The first engine in the car ran a dry-sump system, and the system comes separately with the sale. The gearbox is a Ford Type 9 five-speed with Quaife internals.

The car’s suspension has been substantially altered to race standard. At the front we have stiffer springs and damping, a 1-in anti-roll bar on alloy mounts and adjustable track control arms. At the rear the axle location is controlled by a pair of rose-jointed links going back to mountings on the boot floor and by a Panhard rod, set up to lower the rear axle’s roll centre. There are custom-made leaf springs. The car runs a plated limited-slip differential and at the front, vented disc brakes.

The original invoice from 2002 detailing the build specification is in the file, along with a couple of other invoices paid by the original owner and communication between him and the FIA enquiring about technical points. There’s quite a bit of information and history on Lotus Cortina’s that the owner assembled, but it’s not part of this car’s history, as such.

There’s also the car’s logbook from the Society of Vintage Racing Enthusiasts (SOVREN) in America detailing the car’s chassis number, the inspector’s comments and a couple of ‘OK to race’ sign-offs from April and May 2002.

If you’ve ever done any racing it’s difficult not to be excited by this car. There are two reasons for that: first, the engine note and the approach to the build suggest a very quick and capable thing, and second, it’s going to cost someone less than half the price of a similarly competitive Lotus Cortina Mk 1.

We think this car will sell between £25,000 and £35,000. If the technical spec is not enough to convince you, consider the state of shell: ‘virgin’, as Bob says, meaning never welded, filled or crashed.

Yes, there will be a small amount to do before it’s track-legal for circuit racing over here, but with any ‘new’ racing car a driver will be keen to make changes to their own preference anyway. If the world is anywhere near normal next summer, this car could provide someone with a fabulous entry to historic tin-top racing at very reasonable cost.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the vendor in Scotland, about half an hour from both Edinburgh and Glasgow. To arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

This vehicle is not with us at The Market’s HQ, which means we have had to rely on the owner’s description of it, in conjunction with the photographs you see here, to compile the listing.

With this in mind, we would encourage potential bidders to contact the owner themselves and arrange to view the car in person, or to arrange a dedicated video call in which they can view the car virtually and ask questions.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Footman James for classic car insurance Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car and an array of regional providers for transporting it.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive.

Also, localised paint repairs are common with collectable and classic cars and if they have been professionally carried out then they may be impossible to detect, even if we see the car in person. So, unless we state otherwise, please assume that any vehicle could have had remedial bodywork at some point in its life.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.

Please note that this is sold as seen and that, as is normal for used goods bought at auction, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 does not apply. See our FAQs for more info, and feel free to inspect any vehicle as much as you wish.