Coys Auction - Grand Prix, Competition, Touring & Rally Cars and Collectors' Items
Autosport International - The Racing Car Show
National Exhibition Centre
Birmingham
B40 1NT UK
Saturday 16th January 2009
Collectors' Items at 12.30pm
Motor Cars at 3.00pm
Registration Number: 432 DOW Chassis Number: 274C065304
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,