Separated by 40 years, and forty feet, the Lotus Cortina and Elise share tail lamp shape but not number. Together they make for a pretty compelling argument in favor of the two-car garage.
Last Call – Lights in the Distance Edition
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Early Lotus Cortinas tended to have rear suspensions that fell to pieces, particularly the differentials. The Mark II was actually a better car – just as fast and capable as the Mark I but more thoroughly developed and better built. It's also cheaper now because collectors think the early cars are "purer".
<img src="http://www.lotus-cortina.com/photos/babbingt/mk2-rf.jpg" width=500>-
Post 1965 Mk1 Lotus Cortinas, which were assembled by Ford rather than Lotus, ditched the Chapman strut rear suspensions. They're worth less than the early, "pure" cars, but more than the MkII's.
By the way, the car in your photo might not be a Lotus Cortina, as it doesn't have a split front bumper.-
Just about every single picture of a Lotus Cortina Mark II I could find via Google has the solid bumper.
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Hmmn……I thought the split bumper carried over on MkII's. Learn something new everyday. Thanks for the knowledge, Tonyola.
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I have a very difficult time understanding the draw of the Cortina. Can someone point me to an explanation?
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1. Never mind that it looks like a severely dehydrated Falcon. It has the Lotus name. That's like sparkling white lines on a mirror to a druggie. It works for Shelby too.
2. It's fairly fast by 1963 standards (which means a Kia Rio will polish it off now).
3. The idea of a hot family car was still something of a novel idea.
4. It does have some real racing/rallying credibility.
5. A Galaxie 500 XL with a 427 wasn't a practical proposition in England.-
Exception to 1.: Isuzu Impulse with Handling by Lotus.
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Lotus design work didn't much help the Sinclair C5, either, and it didn't even get the nifty "handling by" badge.
Admittedly that doesn't stop me from wanting a Sinclair C5. -
how about the Lotus-designed cylinder head of the Dodge Spirit R/T?
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I am an exception to that exception.
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We ought to come up with as many Lotus designed parts in non-Lotus cars as we can.
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The Lotus name doesn't work that well for Lotus cars. You can often pick up a Europa, an Elan +2, an Eclat, a 2nd generation Elite, or an M100 Elan for pocket lint once the seller has had a couple years to come to grips with the idea that everyone who wants one and has the resources to maintian it already has theirs. There is more money chasing nice Datsun roadsters and first generation Sciroccos.
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I've always wondered what would have happened if we had gotten the Cortina instead of the Pinto in the '70s. It was certainly a better car, and if Ford had gotten smart about their international product lines back then, maybe we wouldn't have gone so long with crappy American Escorts and Focuses.
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By the time the Pinto was released we were up to the MKIII Cortina, which everybody sees as a retrograde step after the earlier cars. It was bigger and more practical, but also markedly worse to drive. It's probably still better than a Pinto, but not worth losing sleep over, IMO.
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It would also have been more expensive than the Pinto. Pricewise, the Pinto was closer to Escort territory than Cortina.
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Yeah, of course I was assuming 1:1 £/$ exchange. Pinto is closer to Cortina MkII size.
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Here's a little blurb from the 22 Nov. 1963 review in Autocar, p. 1004:
"As a high-performance car, the Cortina Lotus is inconspicuous, and deceptive in its speed and acceleration. The neighbours would hardly be impressed, unless they were keenly informed, but the driver who knows his car can gain real satisfaction from driving it. (…) To reach 100m.p.h. from rest takes under three-quarters of a minute, so high speeds can often be used, and in this case they go hand in hand with a high standard of stability and braking power–the three criteria for a grand touring car."
Basically, the same reason why in the US the Taurus SHO was beloved in its day, or a Pontiac G8 more recently. Just a more classic example of the phenomenon. Also consider that in 63 a Lotus Cortina cost 1100 pounds sterling, while a Mini Cooper was 695, nearly the only other affordable sporting car, but not as useful for touring. The same year a Jensen CV-8 ran 3392 pounds and a Maserati 3500GTI Sebring 5116 pounds, paging through Trigger's retro road test archive. Even an Alfa 2600 ran 2271, or a Ford Falcon Sprint 2097, or a Mercedes 190C 1692. The 1100-pound range would put you in something like an Austin A110 Westminster, hardly shopped by the same people as the Lotus Cortina.-
Aha, another Autoshite reader.
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Especially back in the 1960s and 1970s. I remember reading tests about nasty things like Maxis and Allegros, where the magazine took great pains to avoid being really critical. Would Autocar ever admit that a car was bad?
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True, dat. Car magazine and even What Car? were usually closer to the money.
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Well, I wasn't quoting it as gospel, just a contemporary voice on why people liked the car at the time. Also, until somebody scans an entire run of a better journal, I'll use what the internet provides, which is autocar. The original asking prices are maybe more factually interesting here, showing what it would mean to cough up for these various cars when they were new.
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I didn't mean to savage Autocar, good grief no! I wondered if you were a reader of http://www.autoshite.com, they often have reprints of ye olde road-tests. It's a good site.
Autocar of yore makes a much better read than it does these days, it's gone a little tabloid-y. -
here's my resource on this one, an amazing project this guy has done with a scanner and endless patience:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/wit… -
Trigger is a member of Autoshite.com! He only lives a couple of dozen miles from me, I'll probably have a drink with him at some point.
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Ah, now it all makes sense. Thanks for the link, don't know how I missed Autoshite before!
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![http://www.lotus-cortina.com/photos/babbingt/mk2-rf.jpg"](http://www.lotus-cortina.com/photos/babbingt/mk2-rf.jpg"){kind=link}
Gotcha. The Atlantic separation keeps me from really digging it. On the other hand, I would LOVE to see a 63 Galaxie blasting its way through the woods.
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Ah, but the Galaxies (prepped by Holman-Moody) did show up in European Touring car races in the 60's…as seen here at Spa-Francorchamps in 1963
<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3538/3385585233_6a10899b64.jpg" width="500" height="310" alt="galaxies vs the world 63tdf" />
![http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3538/3385585233_6a10899b64.jpg"](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3538/3385585233_6a10899b64.jpg"){kind=link}
I dig it. I am a fan of these kinds of shots. Give me a '93 and an '04 Lightning at the same car show, and I will walk away completely pleased with said show.
I lust for a Cortina. A LoCort would be nice, but all the ones I can afford have blown engines that cost a mint to repair. So, most likely I'll get a MkII GT. Someday. Hopefully.
Crap, now I need to look at the Bay of E.
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While the first-generation Cortina always looked a bit doofy to me with its rounded lines and little fins, the second generation is pretty clean and handsome with just enough curves to avoid making it look like a brick.
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Everyone goes wild for the Lotus, but the MKII 1600E always looked fantastic.
<img src="http://www.classicandperformancecar.com/front_website/octane_interact/modelpicture.php?id=5260" width="400/">-
I was always intrigued by the MkII Cortina Savage/Cortina Perana…which had the Essex V6 shoehorned into the engine bay of a 1600E or GT.
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There are probably at least as many 1600E/GTs out there that have received a 2994cc transplant as there are surviving originals.
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