UNIQUE LOTUS CORTINA FOR SALE

Unique Lotus Cortina for sale

Unique Lotus Cortina for sale

A Lotus Cortina specially designed by Colin Chapman, and featuring Elan independent rear suspension, is for sale for a cool £250,000. The car was built by Chapman to prove how good the Lotus Cortina could have been. Ford kept a tight rein on development costs and Lotus was forced to develop the cheaper A-frame solution for the rear suspension – which later was also deleted on cost grounds.

Jim Clark drove the car when it was new and was said to be so impressed with it that he kept it as his road car, at a time when he could be seen thrashing race examples around the tracks of the UK. Since then, it has passed through the hands of Tom Walkinshaw Racing, and when that company was liquidated in 2003, it was sold by auction for £40,230 – very strong money at the time.

The car has been very well restored and retains a number of original features, such as the modified Elan driveshafts and Jim Clark steering wheel. Roy Kent of The Old Racing Car Company Ltd told CCW: “The car is unique and one of the most important Lotus Cortinas that there is. It’s effectively a blueprint for the car Colin Chapman wanted to build.”

Interest in these cars continues to grow at an astonishing rate, with the very best now knocking on the door of £50,000 – though prices can be much higher with provenance, as shown here. Rick Nock of the Lotus Cortina Register advises: “Over the past six months we have seen price increases, though not at the rate of the previous 18 months. It is the good cars with provenance as always that attract the highest prices, but projects seem to be on the rise. As always, buyer beware. Cars need to be correct to attract top money.”

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