Ford Cortina Lotus Estate Custom - individual fast transporter

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Ford Cortina Lotus Estate Custom - individual fast transporter

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Created on March 30, 2020

Text:

Daniel Koch

Photos:

Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

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AR Archiv

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McKlein Publishing

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - Never built by Lotus like this, but it would have been interesting to see how it would have performed on the market

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - Express delivery

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - The Lotus badge on the radiator grille indicates that something special is about to overtake

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - The paintwork is based on the two-door Lotus Cortina

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - The other estate cars from the sixties probably only see the Cortina like this - from behind

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - Tidy cockpit

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - At top speed, the speedometer needle shouldn't quite touch 140 mph (around 210 km/h) - or should it?

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - Folding rear seat for plenty of loading space

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - Retrofitted five-speed gearbox

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - Engine with Lotus specifications

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - The four-cylinder engine produces around 150 hp

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - Vehicle identification badge

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - The Cortina was positioned above the Anglia in the middle class at the time

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - Filigree chrome rear-view mirrors adorned most of the doors at the time

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - rims in Minilite design

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - The Estate left the factory in deluxe trim

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - Wood paneling to protect the loading area

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - Access to the load compartment

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Ford Cortina Lotus Mk 1 Estate Custom (1965) - Green stripe like the Lotus-Cortina

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1964) - on the Brands Hatch Circuit in England, in the background a Lotus Eleven

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1964) - on the Brands Hatch Circuit in England

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1963) - Transparency drawing

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1965) - model maintained with angular indicators in the radiator grille

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1963) - View into the sporty cockpit

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1963) - Interior of the right-hand drive Cortina with steering wheel and dashboard

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1963) - The green side stripes and the Lotus badge distinguish it from the normal Consul Cortina

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1963) - seen from the front at an angle

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1963) - view from diagonally behind

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1964) - the mounted police leave the sporty sedan behind

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1964) - Anyone who sees this front end in the rear-view mirror should seriously consider changing lanes

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1963) - Interior with driver and passenger seats

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1964) - three-spoke steering wheel and a sporty collection of instruments

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1963) - passengers are also welcome thanks to the rear seat

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1964) - DOHC four-cylinder from the Lotus Elan

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1963) - Spacious trunk

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1963) - The Lotus sign on the radiator grille signals the additional power

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1964) - the discreet Lotus badge makes it clear that the little Cortina means business

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1964) - J. Whitmore (GB) at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 1964, retirement due to gearbox damage

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1966) - Sir John Withmore ahead of Adamich in an Alfa GTA at the airfield race for the European Touring Car Cup in Aspern in 1966

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Ford Cortina Lotus (1964) - Sir John Withemore (GB) at (steering) work

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Gunnar Palm poses in front of his Ford Cortina Lotus with lots of girls during a PR shoot for the 1967 Acropolis Rally - excerpt from the book "Group 2 - the early years of rallying 1946-1972"

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Ford Cortina (1963) - Compared to the only slightly smaller Anglia, the Cortina offered plenty of space

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Ford Cortina (1962) - Transparency drawing

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Ford Cortina (1962) - at the presentation of the Consul-Cortina in Paris in 1962

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Ford Cortina (1963) - production model with band speedometer

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Ford Cortina (1962) - plenty of space in the trunk with spare wheel

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Ford Cortina (1964) - The Cortina Lotus was also based on the two-door model

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Ford Cortina (1963) - one horse versus many horses (under the hood)

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Ford Cortina (1963) - for the small family

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Ford Cortina (1962) - the new sedan seen from the front and rear

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Ford Cortina (1963) - right and left-hand drive

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Ford Cortina (1963) - on the road with German license plates

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Ford Cortina (1963) - it also arouses interest in the horse stables

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Ford Cortina (1962) - during test drives

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Ford Cortina (1962) - Presentation as a four-door model at the Earls Court London Motor Show

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Ford Cortina (1964) - as a four-door model

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Ford Cortina Estate (1963) - Small on the outside, big on the inside

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Ford Cortina Estate (1963) - With American-style plastic wood trim

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Ford Cortina Estate (1963) - The imitation wood foil was specially procured from the USA - the considerable load volume swallows many suitcases

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Ford Cortina Estate (1963) - The lady in the picture is certainly not looking at the artificial wood decoration of the Cortina

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Ford Cortina Estate (1963) - Covered with imitation wood foil

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Ford Cortina Estate (1963) - The sporty genes could also be seen in the estate car

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Lotus 72 (1972) - Emerson Fittipaldi in his world champion car

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Summary

In the sixties, anyone who wanted to turn an ordinary family sedan into a veritable racing car preferred to go to a specialist. One of these sports car manufacturers was Lotus with the ingenious lightweight designer Colin Chapman. And so it came about that the staid Ford Cortina became a terror for all established competitors in the touring car scene. Officially, there was no estate version, but the result was a one-off that shone with all the necessary ingredients. This report tells the story of the Ford Lotus Cortina, refers to the base models and portrays the individually created estate car.

This article contains the following chapters

Born from Chapman's idea
Successful start
Also in the production sports car
Assembly by the specialist
Optimization of the chassis too
Lighter is faster
Spirited sedan for family and business
Good chances
Civilian variants
Advanced design of the basic sedan
Practical estate
Not ex works
Express estate as a conversion
Unique

Estimated reading time: 9min

Preview (beginning of the article)

There are racing car legends with paintwork that every motorsport fan recognizes immediately. For example, the Gulf-Porsche 917 in light blue and orange, which will never be forgotten for its successes at Le Mans and other endurance races. The Lotus 72, which celebrated victories and championships during several seasons in Formula 1, is another such eye-catcher with its JPS livery in black and gold. The design of the Lotus Cortina, which was correctly called the Ford Lotus Cortina, also came from the same motorsport company, which was still based in Chestnut in 1962. Thanks to its white paintwork with green side stripes, it must have been a "fright in the rear-view mirror" for many a competitor, then as now. It was difficult to overtake and was faster than its more powerful rivals, especially in front of and on bends.

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