1966 | Ford Lotus Cortina MkI

1966 Ford Lotus Cortina
Registration Number: WAE74D
Chassis Number: BA74FT59363
Supplied new to the USA & coming to us after 40 years of continuous US single ownership. This car has been garage kept & its remarkable state of preservation was commented upon by none other then Colin Chapman himself when he saw it decades later.
The car has had a full recent repaint to replace the ageing original paint. Pleasingly the inside of the bonnet & boot were not painted & left original as a testament to the cars excellnet condition prior to the respray being carried out.
A letter from the previous onwer in the cars file relates the following:
This is an excellent example of the legendary Lotus Cortina in road trim which was purchased by Dick Hulberg of Delaware USA. He bought the car in July 1966 direct from Colin Chapman at the Lotus factory in Cheshunt. Dick sold it to Tom Carter of Millsboro Delaware in 1970.
I bought Lulu (Tom's nickname for the car) from Tom in 2013 as I was looking for a solid Mk1 to convert into an FIA race car to race around Europe's top circuits.
When I got the car back to the UK and realised just how well preserved the body/ chassis was and how the upholstery was nearly perfect and original I didn't have the heart to tear it apart.
Instead I found a decent shell to build into a race-car. (another story)
The first set of photos show the car as advertised and the second set Tom and his brother, Tom's son with Colin Chapman at the 1978 USGP. The bottom photos show the only blemish on the car. Tom felt that this bit of rot could be fixed from under the arch and not affect the paintwork. I was not so sure and had the body shop cut off the lower wing panel to show a little more work was involved.
All bad metal was cut out, rust proofed and small repair panels were fitted both sides. At this time upon further examination small micro blisters were spotted in the paintwork and attempts made to polish them out. Little grey spots started to appear all over the car so the Body shop was instructed to sand the paint work down to bare metal or original sound primer. It was then etch primer, primed and re-sprayed including door shuts boot and engine bay. I specifically asked them to leave the underside of the boot and bonnet in the original factory finish to show how well preserved the body work is.
Tom had fitted a big valve Elan engine sometime in the 70's with a dry sump (why?) and as I happened to have a period correct Lotus Cortina engine which G.A. Classic Engines had fully rebuilt for me 2 years earlier I fitted this. Along with new clutch and rebuilt brakes the car is now ready to
'run in
It is fully EU import duty paid, registered, taxed and MOT tested in the UK. Prior to me, just two owners and a genuine 125,000 miles.
I have bills for over £17000 for the restoration and have not scrimped on any area.
John Bladon
Suffice to say this example is in superb conditon & goes as well as it looks.