1966 Ford Cortina Lotus Mk I

Offered by Historics at Brooklands | July 8, 2017

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

This one’s a classic – and in a classic livery. The Ford Cortina was a large (for England) family car offered as a two or four-door sedan (or wagon). Built by Ford UK, the first generation was available between 1962 and 1966. The nameplate continued on European Ford vehicles through 1986.

This hot Lotus version of the Cortina came about after Colin Chapman had someone build a twin-cam version of the Kent engine that normally powered the Cortina. Ford must’ve liked it so much that they asked Chapman to fit the engine to some Cortinas so they could homologate it for racing. They were assembled and tuned by Lotus, but sold through Ford dealers in the U.K. It was a factory two-door hot rod that predated the muscle car era, with the first generation of the Lotus Cortina having been sold between 1963 and 1966.

That Lotus-tuned engine is a 1.6-liter twin-cam straight-four that puts out 105 horsepower. There are a bunch of lightweight, go-fast parts attached too, and just about all of the 1,000 examples constructed were painted white with the green stripes. This car was made roadworthy in 2014. It’s a great example of a sought after car that has gained credibility in collector circles on both sides of the Atlantic. It should bring between $45,000-$52,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $56,976.