Coys Auction - The Spirit of Motor Cars
Ascot Racecourse,
Ascot,
Berkshire SL5 7JX

Saturday 4th October 2008
Motor Cars at 15:00

In the early 1960s Ford asked Lotus founder Colin Chapman to produce a sports/racing version of its new Cortina for homologation in the Group 2 category. Announced in January 1962, and assembled at Lotus, the Lotus Cortina sported bonnet, boot lid and doors made of alloy, as were clutch and differential housings and the gearbox tail-shaft. Front suspension was standard MacPherson strut, lowered and stiffened, but the rear was radical, the leaf springs replaced by an A-bracket, coil springs and trailing arms. Wide wheels and servo-assisted disc front/drum rear brakes, along with 105bhp from the twin-camshaft, 1,588cc four cylinder Ford engine and a close ratio box, completed the package. The Lotus Cortina''s first victory came in the 1964 Motor Six Hours at Brands Hatch, followed by Sir John Whitmore''s outr