A superb and rare photo of the preparation of the Lotus Ford Cortina (Mk 1
version) factory rally cars of Team
Lotus, while being prepped for the 1964
RAC Rally at the Lotus factory workshop. According the spec. sheet that
came with the negative, this image was made on September 2, 1964.
The Lotus Cortina
was a high-performance car, the result of collaboration between Ford and Lotus.
On the photograph the 1964 factory rally Lotus
Cortina Mk 1 cars are being prepared, using the stock model as a base. The
start of the Lotus Cortina story begins around 1961, when the best of Ford and
Lotus got together. Colin Chapman had been looking to build his own engines for
Lotus for quite some time (mainly because the Coventry Climax unit was so
expensive). Colin Chapman's chance came when he commissioned Harry Mundy (close
friend, designer of the Coventry Climax engine and technical editor for The
Autocar) to design a twin-cam version of the Ford Kent engine. Most of the
development of the engine was done on the 997 cc and 1,340 cc bottom end, but
in 1962 Ford released the 116E five bearing 1,499 cc engine and work centered
on this. It is worth noting at this point what an important part Keith
Duckworth, from Cosworth had to play in tuning of the engine. The engine's 1st
appearance was in 1962 at the Nürburgring in a Lotus 23 driven by the legend,
Jim Clark. Almost as soon as the engine was used in production cars (Lotus
Elan) it was recalled and replaced with a larger capacity unit (82.55
mm bore to give 1,558 cc). This was done to get
the car closer to the 1.6 litre capacity
class in motorsport. Whilst the engine was being developed Walter Hayes (Ford)
was on a major motorsport drive and asked Colin Chapman if he would fit the
engine to 1,000 Ford saloons for Group 2 homologation. Colin Chapman quickly
accepted, although it must have been very busy in the Cheshunt plant what
with the Elan about to be launched. The speed at which things started moving is
incredible by today's standards the Type 28 or Lotus-Cortina or Cortina-Lotus
(as Ford liked to call it) was born. Ford supplied the 2-door Cortina bodyshells
and took care of all the marketing and selling of the cars, whilst Lotus did
all the mechanical and cosmetic changes. The major changes involved installing
the 1,558 cc (105 bhp (78 kW/106 PS)) motor, together with the
same close ratio gearbox as the Elan. The rear suspension was drastically
altered and lightweight alloy panels were used for doors, bonnet and boot. Also
lightweight casing were fitted to gearbox and diff. All the Lotus factory cars
were white with a green stripe (although Ford built some for racing in red).
The cars also received front quarter bumpers and round Lotus badges were fitted
to rear wings and to the right side of the radiator panel (from the drivers
position). Interior mods were limited to a center console designed for the new
gear lever position, different seats and the later style dash featuring tachometer,
speedo, oil pressure, water temp and fuel level. Rather special though was the
good looking wood-rimmed steering wheel. The suspension changes to the car were
quite extensive; the car received shorter struts up front, forged track control
arms and 5.5J by 13 steel wheel rims. The rear was even more radical with
vertical coil spring/dampers replacing the leaf springs and two trailing arms
with a A- bracket (which connected to the diff housing and brackets near the
trailing arm pivots) sorting out axle location. To support this set up further
braces were put behind the rear seat and from the rear wheelarch down to
chassis in the boot.
The stiffening braces meant the spare wheel had to be moved
from the standard cortina's wheel well and was bolted to the left side of the
boot floor. The battery was also put in the boot behind the right wheelarch,
both of these changes made big improvements to overall weight distribution.
Another improvement the Lotus Cortina gained was the new braking system
(9.5 in (240 mm) front
discs) which was built by brake specialist Girling, this system also was fitted
to Cortina GT's but without a servo which was fitted in the Lotus Cortina
engine bay. Firstly the engine's were built by J. A Prestwich of Tottenham and
then Villiers of Wolverhampton this was done until 1966 when Lotus moved to
Hethel in Norwich where they had their own engine building facilities The Lotus
Cortina used a 8.0 in (200 mm)
diaphragm-spring clutch whereas Ford fitted coil-spring clutches to the rest of
the range. The rest of the gearbox was identical to the Lotus Elan. This led to
a few problems because the ultra-close gear ratios were perfect for the race
track or open road, but the clutch was given a hard time in traffic, so the
ratios were later changed. The early cars were very popular and earned some rave
reviews; one magazine described the car as a tin-top version of a Lotus 7. It
was THE car for many enthusiasts who before had to settle for a Cortina GT or a
Mini-Cooper and it also amazed a lot of the public who were used to overweight
'sports cars' like the Austin-Healey 3000. The launch was not perfect however,
the car was too specialist for some Ford dealerships who did not understand the
car; there are a few stories of incorrect parts being fitted at services. There
were a few teething problems reported by the first batch of owners, (most of
these problems show how quickly the car was developed) some of the engines were
down on power, the gear ratios were too close and the worst problem was the
diff housing coming away from the casing. This problem was mainly caused by the
high loads put on the axle because of the A bracket it was an integral part of
the rear suspension. This was made even worse by the fact any oil lost from the
axle worked its way on to the bushes of the A bracket. There were 4 main updates
made to the Mk1 Lotus during its production to solve some of these problems.
The first change was a swap to a two-piece prop shaft and the lighter alloy
transmission casing were changed for standard Ford items; this also included
swapping the ultra close ratio gears for Cortina GT gear ratios, the main
difference was 1st, 2nd and reverse were much higher ratios. It was also around
this time in 1964 that standard panels were used rather than the light alloy
ones. You could however specify all the alloy items and ultra-close ratios when
buying new, and many people went for these options. The 2nd main change came in
late 1964 when the entire Cortina range had a facelift which included a full
width front grille and aeroflow outlets in the rear quarters because the Lotus
Cortinas also gained Ford's new ventilation system which also included an
update to the interior. The third and probably most important change came mid
1965 when the Lotus rear suspension was changed for the leaf springs and radius
arms of the Cortina GT. This replaced all the stiffening tubing as well. The
last update also came in 1965 when the rear drums were swapped for self
adjusting items and also the famous 2000E gearbox ratios were used. These
lowered 1st and reverse about halfway between the Cortina GT ratios and the
ultra close ratio box. All these changes made the cars less specialized but far
more reliable and all the special parts were still available for competition as
well as to members of the public. The Lotus Cortina had by this time earned an
awesome competition reputation. It was also being made in left hand drive when
production finished around late 1966 and the Mk2 took over.
Rallying
These days the Lotus-Cortina is somewhat overshadowed by the
success of the Ford Escort in rallying, but it performed admirably in the mid
60s, which might be a bit surprising given its reputation for unreliability.
The first Lotus-Cortina to be rallied was a half-baked Lotus-Cortina, a GT with
the Lotus engine, in the 1963 Spa-Sofia-Liege rally in September, just to try
out the engine, and driven by Henry Taylor to 4th place. The first outing in a
rally by a Lotus-Cortina proper was in the 1963 RAC rally, campaigned again by Taylor, with
co-driver Brian Melia. It finished 6th somehow, in spite of its A-bracket rear
end needing constant attention. The A-bracket was persevered with by Vic Elford
and David Seigle-Morris for the 1964 Tour de France, a 10 day, 4,000-mile
(6,400 km) event, as it was run completely on sealed roads, unlike the rough
RAC rally. Their car came 4th outright in the Touring Car category, and first
in the Handicap category, in a mix of one-hour sprints, hillclimbs, and
mountain road rallying. Still, the general dodginess of the A-bracket
suspension meant that Ford decided to replace it with the more conventional GT
rear suspension. This became available in June 1965, and while the car still
seemed to be afflicted with bad luck, a few victories were racked up. Four of
the newly updated cars competed in the Alpine rally of July 1965, and Vic
Elford's car led outright, all the way. Well, until less than an hour from
finishing, when a piece of the distributor fell out and delayed the car 26
minutes. All four cars retired from that year's RAC rally, which was severely
snow-affected. The first works victory came in December 1965, when Roger Clark
and Graham Robson won the Welsh International. Ford's bean counters pulled a
few more tricks for 1966, managing to homologate the car for Group 1, which
requires 5000 cars to be built. In the Monte Carlo rally Roger
Clark finished 4th only to be disqualified, and then Elford finished 1st in San Remo (Rally of
the Flowers), only to be disqualified as well. Elford came 2nd in Tulip. Some
luck went the other way when Bengt Soderstrom was named victor of the Acropolis
rally, after the 1st-placed Mini Cooper S was disqualified. New cars were used
for the French Alpine, where Elford's engine blew up after leading, while Roger
Clark finished second. Clark was always
competitive, but suffered with unreliable cars, coming 3rd in the Canadian
Shell 4000, 2nd in Greece, and 4th in Poland. The
Lotus-Cortina finally proved itself with an outright win in the RAC rally. F1
World Champion Jim Clark crashed his (twice), but Soderstrom saw his through to
a 13 minute victory, with Gunnar Palm. Other victories in 1966 were in the Geneva rally by
Staepelaere, and by Canadian Paul MacLellan in the Shell 4000.
A final win before the advent of the Mk. II was
also pulled off by Soderstrom in the snowy Swedish rally of February 1967.
Racing
To homologate the car for Group 2, 1000 were required to be
built in 1963, and the car was duly homologated in September 1963.
In the same month, in the car's first outing, in
the Oulton Park Gold Cup, the car finished 3rd and 4th behind two Ford
Galaxies, but beat the 3.8 litre Jaguars
which had been dominant in saloon car racing for so long. Soon Ford were
running cars in Britain, Europe, and the USA, with Team Lotus running cars in
Britain for Ford, and Alan Mann Racing running cars in Europe, also on behalf
of Ford. Lotus-Cortinas turned out to be able to beat most anything except the 7
litre V8 Ford Galaxies, and later in the piece, Ford
Mustangs. In 1964 a
Lotus-Cortina leading around a bend with its inside front wheel in fresh air became
a familiar sight, as the cars were set up with soft rear suspension and a hard
front end. Jim Clark won the British Saloon Car Championship easily, in the USA
Jackie Stewart and Mike Beckwith won the Malboro 12-hour, and Alan Mann Racing
also performed well in the European Touring Car Championship, including a 1-2
victory in the 'Motor' Six Hour International Touring Car Race at Brands Hatch.
A Boreham-built car also won its class, came 4th outright, and won the handicap
section, in the 4000 mile 10-day Tour
de France. Other Lotus-Cortina achievements included the Austrian Saloon Car
Championship, the South African National Saloon Championship, the Swedish Ice
Championship, and the Wills Six-Hour in New Zealand. 1965 saw
the Lotus-Cortina winning everything in sight, the car being more competitive
due to the increased reliability of the new leaf spring rear end. Sir John Whitmore
dominated and won the European Touring Car Championship, Jack Sears won his
class in the British Saloon Car Championship (a Mustang won outright), Jackie
Ickx won the Belgian Saloon Car Championship, and a Lotus-Cortina won the New
Zealand Gold Star Saloon Car Championship. Other wins were the Nürburgring
Six-Hour race, the Swedish National Track Championship, and the Snetterton 500.
In 1966 Team Lotus registered new cars for the new series of
the British Saloon Car Championship, which ran up to Group 5, as regulations
had been changed. Fuel-injection and dry sumping were allowed, and with Lucas
injection and tuning by BRM, the engines could put out 180 bhp
(130 kW/180 PS) at 7750 rpm, increasing their ability to stay with
the Mustangs. The cars also had the McPherson struts replaced with coil-springs
and shockers and a revised wishbone geometry. 8 class wins were racked up, many
at the hands of Jim Clark. In the European Touring Car Championship, Sir John
Whitmore pulled off another 4 wins, but that wasn't enough to give him the
title, as Alfa Romeo had been doing their homework with the Giulia GTAs.
The Lotus
car firm was formed as Lotus
Engineering Ltd. by engineer Colin
Chapman, a graduate of University College, London, in 1952.
The first factory was in old stables behind the Railway Hotel in Hornsey. Team
Lotus, which was split off from Lotus Engineering in 1954, was active and
competitive in Formula One racing from 1958 to 1994. The Lotus Group of
Companies was formed in 1959. This was made up of Lotus Cars Limited and Lotus
Components Limited which focussed on road car and customer competition car
production respectively. Lotus Components Limited became Lotus Racing Limited
in 1971 but the newly renamed entity ceased operation in the same year. The
company moved to a purpose built factory at Cheshunt in 1959 and
since 1966 the company has occupied a modern factory and road test facility at
Hethel, near Wymondham. This site is the former RAF Hethel base and the test
track uses sections of the old runway. Lotus built tens of thousands of
successful racing and road cars and won the Formula One World Championship
seven times. The company also acts as an engineering consultancy, providing
engineering development—particularly of suspension—for other car manufacturers.
The company encouraged its customers to race its cars, and
itself entered Formula One as a team in 1958.
A Lotus Formula One car driven by Stirling Moss
won the marque's first Grand Prix in 1960 at Monaco in a Lotus
18 entered by privateer Rob Walker. Major success came in 1963 with the Lotus
25, which—with Jim Clark driving—won Lotus its first F1 World Constructors Championship.
Clark's untimely
death — he crashed a Formula Two Lotus 48
in April 1968 after his rear tyre failed in a turn
in Hockenheim — was a severe blow to the team and to Formula One. He was the
dominant driver in the dominant car and remains an inseparable part of Lotus'
early years. That year's championship was won by Clark's teammate,
Graham Hill. Lotus is credited with making the mid-engined layout popular for
Indycars, developing the first monocoque Formula 1 chassis, and the integration
of the engine and transaxle as chassis components. Lotus was also among the
pioneers in Formula 1 in adding wings
and shaping the undersurface of the car to create downforce, as well as the
first to move radiators to the sides in the car to aid in aerodynamic performance,
and inventing active suspension. Even after Chapman's death, until the late
1980s, Lotus continued to be a major player in Formula 1. Ayrton Senna drove
for the team from 1985 to 1987, winning twice in each year and achieving 17
pole positions. However, by the company's last Formula 1 race in 1994, the cars
were no longer competitive. Lotus won a total of 79 Grand Prix races. During
his lifetime Chapman saw Lotus beat Ferrari as the first team to achieve 50
Grand Prix victories, despite Ferrari having won their first nine years sooner.
Lotus won the Formula One world championship title for drivers and
manufacturers no less then 6 times. In 1963 (Jim Clark); 1965 (Jim Clark); 1968
(Graham Hill); 1970 (Jochen Rindt); 1972 (Emerson Fittipaldi); 1973 (manufacturers
title alone) and in 1978 (Mario Andretti).
This is a very nice and very rare photo that reflects a wonderful era of
Lotus ‘s, Ford ‘s and the RAC Rally ’s automotive history in a wonderful way.
This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a
nice large format of ca. 8" x 8" (ca. 20 x 20 cm). It
makes it perfectly suitable for framing.
Shipping costs will only be $ 7.00 regardless of how many photos you
buy. For 5 or more photos, shipping is free!
All our photos are modern photos that are traditionally made from what we believe are the original negatives and are copyright protected.
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No copyright expressed or implied. Sold as collectable item only. We are clearing out our archives that we have gathered from various sources.
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They make the perfect gift and are perfectly suited for framing. They will look gorgeous unframed and will be a true asset nicely framed with a border. They are a gorgeous and great asset in every home, workshop, workplace, restaurant, bar or club!
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