1966 Ford Lotus Cortina

It’s thought this 1966 Lotus Cortina, one of the leaf-sprung ‘Airflow’ models, was converted from roadgoing specification to racing duties at least twenty years ago - there’s an extensive file of old race results in the car’s thick history folder. In more recent times, it’s been upgraded and maintained to be a full Appendix K Lotus Cortina.

The cosmetic and structural condition is hard to fault, too. Recent restorative panel work and new paint has left it looking very fresh, while we understand the engine has only 90 minutes of running since its last rebuild by a noted Twin-Cam expert. It has an FIA Historic Technical Passport that’s good until 2026 and it’s ready to race tomorrow. It is also road registered (i.e. it has a V5C).

The vendor deals in classic cars. He acquired the car in 2020 from a friend as part of a deal with an Elan Sprint DHC, and has not used it since - well, no-one’s done much racing since Covid struck, have they? The car has been kept in a covered trailer and just needs a new owner, a track and a starting flag.

The panel fit, paint finish and general condition is more in line with a show-field beauty than a rough and tough racing car, thanks to a re-paint in 2019. It’s almost too nice to contemplate swapping paint with Mk 2 Jags at 110mph, but then you remember what this car is for, and you get over it…

The high shine allows you to inspect the flanks and surface panels for ripples and dings and we couldn’t find anything to catch the eye, even on the alloy doors, bonnet and boot. Wheelarch lips and gutters are crisp, panel seams look as good as new, body swage lines are as well-defined as they should be.

The car wears nice (but not concours) 13-inch Minilite-type wheels with treaded Dunlop Racing GR65 tyres. It’s de-bumpered, of course, with both the grille and the grille surround painted black. A spare grille comes with the car. The bonnet pins hold the bonnet snugly in place and the obligatory external ignition kill-switch is on the corner of the scuttle in front of the driver. The boot is closed by rubber T-pulls.

It looks a very clean, sharp example with an excellent shell.

It’s extremely purposeful in here, with no speedometer filling the right-hand hole in the dash, which concentrates attention on the other Stack gauges. They light up green to start with, change to white when the car’s up to temperature and glow red if there’s a problem, making it much easier to notice and prevent potential mishaps in mid-race. The rev-counter is redlined at a tooth-jangling 8000rpm.

Steel rocker switches for wipers, lights and ignition are all clearly labelled and easy to reach. To the left, the smaller gauges in the console take care of volts, oil pressure, water temperature and fuel.

Below these are switches for a fog lamp and the fuel pump, plus the master battery switch. There is a plumbed-in extinguisher system, of course, which will activate automatically in case of an engine bay fire and can be released manually by the red button marked E on the dash.

The driver sits in a Cobra race bucket with a Willans six-point harness. The Custom Cages roll cage includes diagonal door bars and a triangulated rear section onto which the harnesses attach. The bias braking control is on a cable, positioned wherever the driver chooses.

In the boot you’ll find a fuel cell large enough for a long stint at the Spa Six-Hour, a Facet electric pump on one side and a tiny lightweight race battery on the other, with a plug ready to meet a booster pack for starting.

It starts promptly and obediently for a race engine, churning briefly on the starter before catching with a whiff of throttle and soon barking away on all four cylinders. It even idles pretty well, but revs with a quick-acting response that hints at the full 180bhp available at peak power. We haven’t been able to try the car on the track or on the road, but everything suggests it’s ready for action.

The engine bay is prepared to a beautifully clean standard, with the blue silicone hose pieces and the anodised pipe fittings adding a non-period look, but then you want the coolant and the fuel to stay where it’s supposed to be, don’t you? The gearbox uses steel selector forks and further back, the car was fitted with a pre-loaded differential in 2019 that’s apparently aided turn-in significantly. It’s also been corner-weighted with springing and damping adjusted accordingly, meaning the set-up is one more thing that’s already been done for you.

The underside of the shell isn’t as immaculate as the top side, but there’s nothing more than stone chips and the odd bit of flaky paint to deal with. Every moving part looks A1. The exhaust, a £3000 BTB item, currently exits at the rear as is required when racing at Goodwood, but a similar-quality side-exit pipe also comes with the car.

UPDATED:

Most of the detailed printed history comes from the last five years, which makes it all the more impressive just how many receipts have built up. The gentleman from who our vendor bought the car acquired it in 2016 and campaigned it, sparing no expense and improving it significantly over the years to its current high standard. As part of this the engine had a full rebuild from renowned Twin Cam expert Neil Brown for a sum total of £13.6k in 2016 along with a significant gearbox rebuild. Myriad other parts also have invoices from the same period. A further rebuild in 2018 by N Brown is invoiced for over £5k; unfortunately neither of the invoices are itemised, but one surmises that less work was required. It is understood that the engine has only run for around 90 minutes since.

We’d pick out the V5C, detailing the chassis number that matches the BA74 Lotus Cortina chassis code on the plate riveted to the inner wing, the car’s HTP booklet and the plastic wallet from Neil Brown Engineering, who built the Twin-Cam. There’s a receipt from last year when the car went back to Neil Brown to have the latest and best variant of Lucas distributor installed.

There’s heaps more, of course, and we’d recommend a look at the invoices from Cornering Force detailing the suspension set-up - this car has enjoyed a really thorough approach to every aspect of its preparation.

Race History: from the evidence we have in the file, the owner in 2016/7 completed a number of events with some good finishes (the HSCC time sheets are now included in the history), although we understand he may have been more of a 'gentleman racer' than a J Clark, S Soper or A Jordan. 

Older history finds a dyno test in 2004 showing 166bhp peak, a Langford Engines engine build in 2000 for around £5k and 169hp and several races in the HSCC in 2000 during which the driver of the time achieved a number of podium places. 

The harnesses are valid through 2022, the seat is valid through 2021 and the fire extinguisher looks like it was a 2012 system last serviced in 2016.

It sells itself, really. If you want to go racing in a genuine Lotus Cortina, prepared extremely well to FIA Appendix K, here it is. But there’s an additional factor that might apply this year: it’s going to be more difficult for UK-based racers to head overseas to the normal calendar of events, and yet there’s a good chance that quite a lot of historic competition will start up on our own shores in the next month or two.

That could lead to more demand here, which is good for British grid sizes and could well push up the demand for eligible cars. And there aren’t many that are more eligible than this.

We think it will sell between £58,000 and £75,000. Considering the events you’ll get to attend, and the cars you’ll see next to you in the paddock, that represents excellent value.

Viewing is always encouraged (within Govt. guidelines of course), and this particular car is located with us in Abingdon. 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’.