Ford Cortina 2023

0 Previous Owners, This lot will be auctioned via Iconic Auctioneers, The Iconic Sale at the NEC Classic Motor Show 2025 on Saturday the 8th of November, NEC, Birmingham, B40 1NT. , Produced between 1963 and 1970, the Ford Lotus Cortina or, as most people knew it, the Lotus Cortina came about when Ford and Lotus decided to combine efforts to create an homologation special built to race in touring car events, Trans-Am, and stage rally. They wanted a small, high-powered sports-saloon that could compete on track.The story goes that Walter Hayes from Ford went to Colin Chapman after learning that Lotus put a Cosworth-tuned Ford 116E engine into an Elan. For the Cortina, Ford developed a new Twin-Cam engine with 1,577cc displacement. The result was the Ford Lotus Cortina, powered by a 110bhp 1.6-litre twin-cam inline-four, with a 4-speed gearbox, and suspension tuning from Lotus. With its light, stiff monocoque shell, MacPherson strut front suspension and highly tuneable oversquare engine it was an instant success.The Ford-Lotus Cortina was dominant in competition events, the peak being Jim Clark winning the British Saloon Car Championship in 1964. The production model was sold through Ford dealers as 'The Consul Cortina Sports Special'. Approximately 3,306 Mk1 cars were made over its production life. Out of the number, it's said that only c.660 of those were built as left-hand drive cars, with even fewer, at 160, originally sold in the US.The car presented here is a 1965 Ford Lotus Cortina Mk1, being an original left-hand drive US-market model; it is a real survivor, reflected in a most-special and well-documented history, compiled by our enthusiast-vendor; this preservation and backstory – not to mention a £37,000 restoration - make this particular Lotus Cortina quite exceptional. It is well worth reading on!The car was purchased by our vendor (a very experienced owner/restorer of numerous Lotus Cortinas) in April 2012 from New York State, having been in storage for 32 years. Quite remarkably, it was found to be completely original and had, seemingly, never been taken apart or had any restoration work, plus there was no evidence of any previous accident damage or repair and it was accompanied by all its original service, warranty and handbooks.The car was supplied-new to a (then) small dealership in Devon, Philadelphia; James (Jim) Carson and business partner Horace Pettit Jr. ran Carson-Pettit Automotive Imports which, at the time, was an English-built Ford franchise. They also undertook sales of new Morgans and Triumph Roadsters. Jim was an avid car collector and whilst he owned the Lotus Cortina, it was regularly maintained by his mechanic at the dealership, a Mr Ramsey. Jim only kept it a short while and sold it to a regular customer, William C. Park, who maintained a detailed service record in a hand-written notebook from the day he bought it (22nd April 1966) until he sold it, the last entry being the 23rd August 1972, when the mileage was 35,226. During his ownership the car was still maintained by the same mechanic, Mr Ramsey.When Mr Park decided to sell it, Mr Ramsey was the first in line, and he became the car’s third owner. Mr Ramsey used it for his family for the next eight years, his son William Ramsey growing up with the car, before it was eventually laid up in the 1980s. It was subsequently passed to William Ramsey who became the 4th owner, with a then-mileage of 52,589 (it was still 52,589 when our vendor bought it in 2012).The car arrived in the UK a couple of months later, and so began an 11 year restoration overseen by our vendor. Accompanying it is a 3" thick fully documented history file which includes a letter from the Lotus Cortina Register, who fully inspected the car in 2024 and confirmed that it is genuine and retains much originality. There is also a letter from William Ramsey, confirming the authenticity/originality and the mileage. Also present are invoices for the restoration costs of over £37,000 plus 550 hours of our vendor’s/specialists’ engineering time.RestorationIn our vendor’s words “The first job was to strip it completely; I had in the past restored another ten Mk1 Cortinas, including four other Lotus Cortinas, and it was obvious straight away that this car had never been taken apart and was exactly the same as when it left the Lotus factory.”“Whilst it was very dirty and had a lot of surface rust, all the nuts, bolts, fittings, seals, ball joints etc. came apart very easily without any need for force or heating.”“When the shell was stripped it was sent for acid-dipping; the welding work was done by a guy whose workshop was just 100 yards away from the Lotus factory where the car was built in Cheshunt. He is more of an artist than a welder, and he manufactured all the necessary small panels, which were identical/better than the original panels. Wherever possible panels were repaired and not just replaced, the work is so well done that it is almost