Beschreibung:

1,558cc DOHC Inline 4-Cylinder Engine 2 Weber Carburetors 105bhp 4-Speed Manual Transmission Independent Front Suspension, Rear Leaf Springs Front Disc, Rear Drum Brakes *Only 6,247 miles from new *Unmodified, unmolested, totally original example *Icon of the Swinging Sixties *Desirable late Mk1 example *Only one owner from new The Lotus Type 28 The immortal Lotus Cortina by Ford of Dagenham, in England, is one of the most charismatic, best loved and universally successful high-performance cars ever to represent the great globalized American company's famous blue-oval badge. The two-door Ford Cortina GT had already been proven in rallies and circuit racing when Ford executive Walter Hayes approached Colin Chapman to produce a world-beating racing saloon, following up a series of successful Ford-powered Lotus Formula Junior single-seaters. The plan called for Lotus to assemble 1000 cars to homologate the model for FIA Group 2 racing. Engineer Harry Mundy – who had previously helped design the Formula 1 World Championship-winning Coventry Climax engines – had been commissioned by Chapman to design a twin-overhead camshaft cylinder head to top the Ford 1500 Kent engine's "unburstable bottom end". Cosworth Engineering helped develop and fine-tune these engines, while the Ford 4-speed gearbox as specified for the Lotus Elan was adopted for the Cortina program. Colin Chapman significantly revised the Ford Cortina's suspension, changing the spring and damper rates, reducing the ride height, and utilizing coil springs at the rear. The body shell was lightened with aluminium skins in the doors, hood and trunk lid. Aluminium was also adopted for the clutch housing, remote gearshift extension and differential case. The standard full-width front bumper was replaced by quarter bumpers. Lotus badges were added externally while the interior featured bucket front seats, pistol-grip handbrake and a wood-rim alloy-spoked steering wheel. Production began in February 1963, with homologation being achieved in September 1963 despite production not yet having reached the FIA's 1,000-off minimum. Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Vic Elford, Jack Sears, Sir John Whitmore, and Jacky Ickx all raced Cortinas. Jim Clark – multiple F1 World Champion and Indy 500 winner, also won the 1964 British Saloon Car Championship in his works version. The production Lotus Cortina was itself updated, the 1965 homologation model returning to leaf springs in place of coil-springs at the rear. The engines were tuned by 1962 F1 World Champion constructor BRM. By the end of production late in 1966 it is believed that some 2894 Lotus Cortinas had been built, virtually all finished in Ermine White with Sherwood Green body band and flash. In 1967 a Lotus Cortina Mark II followed, assembled by Ford not Lotus, and therefore not allocated a Lotus type number. The Motorcar Offered Retrieved from the late Stan Hallinan's magical storage barn concurrently with this remarkably discerning enthusiast's stunning Lister-Chevrolet (Lot 163) and Shelby AC Cobra Roadster (Lot 161), this Lotus Cortina sports saloon is one of the most incredible 'time machine' cars that our experienced team have ever had the privilege to handle. Hallinan purchased his Cortina new from Grappone Ford, of Concord, New Hampshire, where incidentally he worked at the time. The date of his purchase was recorded as November 22nd, 1968. He drove it sparingly over the course of the next few summers, accumulating just over 6,000 miles before the Cortina was parked and carefully stored for the next 40+ years. Opening a door one finds an almost unmarked, amazingly well preserved while charmingly patinated interior which is being passed down to us from the era of the 1960s. The effect is as if the '70s-80s-90s-noughties have never happened. Or if they really have happened to the rest of us mere mortals, then this magnificent Lotus-Cortina played no part in them. It is – as with the other Stan Hallinan Collection ca