THE LOTUS CORTINA AT 60
20 January 2023
The Daily Telegraph noted that it was the fastest car yet marketed by Ford GB. Autocar warned that using it for domestic purposes was akin to “putting a spirited hunter into the shafts of a coal cart”. However, The Motor believed it was “a good compromise for a keen driver who has to remember that the family must sit somewhere”. It was, of course, the Lotus Cortina which made its bow at Monte Carlo sixty years ago today (23rd January).
The narrative commenced in 1962 when Lotus developed a twin-cam version of the Consul Classic’s 1,498cc engine. At the same time, Ford’s corporate headquarters in Dearborn asked their Head of Public Relations, Walter Hayes, to devise a ‘Total Performance’ programme to promote the marque in British motorsport over the next five years.
1962 was also the year of the Cortina’s debut, by which time Dagenham and Cheshunt had a strong relationship; “Ford and Lotus Get Together To Power the Terrific New Lotus Elan 1500”. The DHOC version of the Classic’s engine was enlarged to 1,558cc due to the FIA raising the capacity class limit to 1,600cc in 1962. The plant was fitted with a light-alloy cylinder head and dual twin-choke DCOE2 Weber carburettors. Lotus used an LHD Anglia 105E as a testbed for the new unit, which Jim Clark once drove from Hertfordshire to Duns in Berwickshire.
There was also a meeting held between Hayes and Lotus’s founder Colin Chapman. The latter had suggested Ford build the Elan for their dealership network, but Dagenham was more interested in applying this new unit to 1,000 Ford saloons for Group 2 homologation. The result was the ‘Type 28, a sporting version of the Cortina, which was scheduled for launch on the 20th September 1962. Dagenham would provide the bodyshells and have responsibility for sales and marketing, while Cheshunt would assemble the new model. Ford sent a grey De Luxe ‘development car’, registration OWC 157, to Cheshunt, which Jim Clark evaluated at Silverstone. Lotus’s Hugh Haskell also tested it on the roads of Surrey, at one point attracting the attention of a police Wolseley
The 28 further boasted all-synchromesh transmission controlled via a remote control lever and an aluminium alloy differential housing to reduce axle weight. As for the suspension, Chapman was not a fan of the Cortina’s rear leaf springs and, at one point, suggested IRS. But Ford turned down this plan and instead, the 28 employed rear vertical coil springs, two trailing arms with an A- bracket and wide-rim wheels. Chapman later informed the press, “We have made the best of a bad job”.
Additional modifications included servo-assisted front disc brakes, aluminium outer panels for doors and bonnet, a wooden steering wheel and a 140 mph speedometer. The owner further benefited from bucket seats and a centre armrest/storage box. The paint finish was any colour you wished, providing it was Ermine White, while Cheshunt applied the Sherwood Green flash. Meanwhile, Ford sourced the distinctive front half bumpers from the less-than-sporting Thames 307E Van.
By the 25th January 1963, the Lotus Cortina was starring at the Racing Car Show at Olympia, while advertisements promised 110 mph and 0 – 100 in 30 seconds -
Motor Sport referred to it as a “‘Q’ car par excellence” while Cheshunt’s modifications were “probably the greatest that have ever been made to a road-going production car”.
The press pack billed the new model as the ‘Consul Cortina Sports Special Developed By Lotus’, but the ‘ACBC’ branding almost inevitably captured the public imagination. The press release from Cheshunt promised “arrangements to establish a Team of these cars to compete in all suitable events in the 1963 racing programme, and to be driving by our present Team of contracted drivers, Jim Clark, Trevor Taylor and Peter Arundel”.
However, deliveries would not take place for several months, and it would not be until the 5th September that the RAC issued the Lotus Cortina’s homologation papers. The price of the Lotus Cortina was £1,100 2s 11d and by early 1964 the company’s publicity informed their sales outlets:
Here is your chance to gain the interest not of the A60 or Hillman Minx owner, but of the man who runs a Jaguar or Sunbeam Rapier and who never previously thought of owning a Ford.
Other rivals included the Austin-Healey 3000, the MGB, the Mini Cooper S, the Sunbeam Alpine and the Triumph TR4. Dealers were further reminded “the performance image of the Cortina Lotus will, we feel, reflect on the GT’s, and indeed the other models in the Ford range, with a consequent increase in your showroom traffic”.
This was a logical suggestion as, on seeing the brochure, many commercial travellers began wondering if they could apply a green side stripe to their 1200 De Luxe company car. Ford also helpfully advised dealerships that their prospect “will probably be the type who is a member of a Sailing Club (and there are hundreds of these) or a Gliding Club”.
Meanwhile, the Lotus Cortina made its international racing debut at Oulton Park in September 1963, finishing third and fourth behind the Galaxies driven by Graham Hill and Dan Gurney. The fame of the car with “the magic of racing Lotus, educated to the elegance and indulgent comfort of the Ford Cortina” was about to commence. Or, as Jim Clark put it – “I am convinced these are real Goliath slayers”.