This lot will be auctioned via Iconic Auctioneers, The Iconic Sale at the NEC Classic Motor Show 2025 on Saturday the 8th of November, NEC, Birmingham, B40 1NT. Produced between 1963 and 1970, the Ford Lotus Cortina or, as most people knew it, the Lotus Cortina came about when Ford and Lotus decided to combine efforts to create an homologation special built to race in touring car events, Trans-Am, and stage rally. They wanted a small, high-powered sports-saloon that could compete on track. The story goes that Walter Hayes from Ford went to Colin Chapman after learning that Lotus put a Cosworth-tuned Ford 116E engine into an Elan. For the Cortina, Ford developed a new Twin-Cam engine with 1,577cc displacement. The result was the Ford Lotus Cortina, powered by a 110bhp 1.6-litre twin-cam inline-four, with a 4-speed gearbox, and suspension tuning from Lotus. With its light, stiff monocoque shell, MacPherson strut front suspension and highly tuneable oversquare engine it was an instant success. The Ford-Lotus Cortina was dominant in competition events, the peak being Jim Clark winning the British Saloon Car Championship in 1964. The production model was sold through Ford dealers as 'The Consul Cortina Sports Special'. Approximately 3,306 Mk1 cars were made over its production life. Out of the number, it's said that only c.660 of those were built as left-hand drive cars, with even fewer, at 160, originally sold in the US. The car presented here is a 1965 Ford Lotus Cortina Mk1, being an original left-hand drive US-market model; it is a real survivor, reflected in a most-special and well-documented history, compiled by our enthusiast-vendor; this preservation and backstory – not to mention a £37,000 restoration - make this particular Lotus Cortina quite exceptional. It is well worth reading on! The car was purchased by our vendor (a very experienced owner/restorer of numerous Lotus Cortinas) in April 2012 from New York State, having been in storage for 32 years. Quite remarkably, it was found to be completely original and had, seemingly, never been taken apart or had any restoration work, plus there was no evidence of any previous accident damage or repair and it was accompanied by all its original service, warranty and handbooks. The car was supplied-new to a (then) small dealership in Devon, Philadelphia; James (Jim) Carson and business partner Horace Pettit Jr. ran Carson-Pettit Automotive Imports which, at the time, was an English-built Ford franchise. They also undertook sales of new Morgans and Triumph Roadsters. Jim was an avid car collector and whilst he owned the Lotus Cortina, it was regularly maintained by his mechanic at the dealership, a Mr Ramsey. Jim only kept it a short while and sold it to a regular customer, William C. Park, who maintained a detailed service record in a hand-written notebook from the day he bought it (22nd April 1966) until he sold it, the last entry being the 23rd August 1972, when the mileage was 35,226. During his ownership the car was still maintained by the same mechanic, Mr Ramsey. When Mr Park decided to sell it, Mr Ramsey was the first in line, and he became the car’s third owner. Mr Ramsey used it for his family for the next eight years, his son William Ramsey growing up with the car, before it was eventually laid up in the 1980s. It was subsequently passed to William Ramsey who became the 4th owner, with a then-mileage of 52,589 (it was still 52,589 when our vendor bought it in 2012). The car arrived in the UK a couple of months later, and so began an 11 year restoration overseen by our vendor. Accompanying it is a 3" thick fully documented history file which includes a letter from the Lotus Cortina Register, who fully inspected the car in 2024 and confirmed that it is genuine and retains much originality. There is also a letter from William Ramsey, confirming the authenticity/originality and the mileage. Also present are invoices for the restoration costs of over £37,000 plus 550 hours of our vendor’s/specialists’ engineering time. Restoration In our vendor’s words “The first job was to strip it completely; I had in the past restored another ten Mk1 Cortinas, including four other Lotus Cortinas, and it was obvious straight away that this car had never been taken apart and was exactly the same as when it left the Lotus factory.” “Whilst it was very dirty and had a lot of surface rust, all the nuts, bolts, fittings, seals, ball joints etc. came apart very easily without any need for force or heating.” “When the shell was stripped it was sent for acid-dipping; the welding work was done by a guy whose workshop was just 100 yards away from the Lotus factory where the car was built in Cheshunt. He is more of an artist than a welder, and he manufactured all the necessary small panels, which were identical/better than the original panels. Wherever possible panels were repaired and not just replaced, the work is so well done that it is almost impossible to see it - for example, the top mounts on the inner wings were replaced with the spot-welds replicated to match exactly the original welds.” “When the work was completed, the shell was again stripped and then immediately primed. The body spent many hours being prepared for paint and a lot of time spent making sure that the white and green paint were exactly the correct shade. All the rubbers, seals, gaskets, bushes, etc. were replaced, along with the windscreen; all other glass is original.” “The exhaust and manifold are bespoke, made from stainless-steel to exactly match the originals. The tyres are again new and exactly-as-fitted in 1965, Michelin XAS’, which is confirmed by the original owner’s notebook. All the brake pipes were carefully made to match the originals using steel (most restored cars have copper brake pipes, which are much easier to work with, but the car should have steel pipes).” “All the chrome, including the gear stick was re-plated, rear light indicator lenses were changed from US-spec red to UK-spec orange and the petrol tank is brand new. All the running gear, steering components, engine mounts etc. were stripped and powder-coated. The rear axle, differential, and gearbox were found to be in good order but were professionally rebuilt, just in case.” “Wherever possible the original nuts and bolts, clips and fittings were re-plated and re-used. The steering box was rebuilt and all the original auxiliaries including the starter motor, dynamo, distributor, twin Weber carbs and brake servo, were professionally rebuilt and retained, as was the radiator. The front legs and shocks were rebuilt by GAZ and the rear shock absorbers are GAZ units, the front brake callipers and the prop-shaft were again professionally rebuilt. The wiring loom was repaired where necessary and retained.” “The engine was seized when I bought it, and after several weeks trying to remove the pistons with various fluids and gentle force, they proved reluctant; we had to replace them with new ones to the original specification (these were standard sized pistons and not oversized). “The engine was very closely inspected and cleaned, the piston cylinders just needed to be honed and not re-bored oversized; the crank rods were fine, and the crankshaft just needed to be polished, as did the two camshafts; a new timing chain and sprockets, water pump and all gasket seals and bearings were used. The head was skimmed. The head and the engine block have serial numbers on them, and they confirm that the engine is all matching-numbers. It was carefully run-in at low revs for 1,500 miles and the oil and filter changed every 1,000 miles. The engine does not now require any choke when starting from cold, simply press the accelerator twice and then turn the key.” “Regarding the interior, all the seat frames were repaired and powder-coated, and then fitted with new foam and seat covers, exactly matching the originals; the front door cards are also new. The carpets are new, and the carpet underlay was remade using the correct material to the correct shapes using the old ones as patterns.” “The centre console was stripped and powder-coated and then recovered, as was the dashboard. All the clocks and dials were cleaned and rebuilt, but we decided to leave the faces original and a little weathered. The roof-lining was replaced using the original spec material and over 10 hours spent making sure that it was a perfect fit and uncreased. The original steering wheel and gear knob were refurbished (the original steering wheels are quite flimsy so for everyday use, I use an alternative wheel).” Now ready to be enjoyed once again by a new custodian, this superbly presented Lotus Cortina will be a credit to any collector or enthusiast and with values of these iconic Sixties saloons, continuing to strengthen, year on year, this is an opportunity that must be worthy of your serious consideration. A note on US-specification differences There were several specification changes for the 160 cars that went to the US; the most obvious is the front bumper, which is the full width of the car and has over-riders. The UK-market seems to prefer quarter-bumpers, and many LHD cars have been changed when they return to the UK. However, this car has been restored to exactly how it was when it left the factory. Another difference was the rear number-plate light, which has two domes/bulbs as opposed to having one for UK-market cars. Other differences for US-market cars are hazard warning lights, a foot-operated floor switch for main beam, and that the gases from the engine breather pipe are fed back into the carburettor. A standard UK-spec engine gives 105bhp whilst the special SE version having uprated cams to give 115bhp; all US-spec engines had uprated cams to produce 115bhp.