Lotus Cortina - A Brooklands Road Test Portfolio

New Series - Print on demand

We have had a long association with the Lotus Cortina and our first book on the marque was published over 25 years ago. When this sold out in the '90s we replaced it with an enlarged Gold Portfolio and this finally went out of print a few years ago. This new p.o.d. edition has been revised and edited to include recent historical comment and advice on acquiring a good used Lotus Cortina. We are delighted that over these many years we have enjoyed the support of the Lotus Cortina Register and details of their organization can be found within the book. It is our custom to write here a 'thumb-nail' portrait of the models we are covering - however, the excellent piece from Wikipedia that can be found on page 113, is so comprehensive that words from me would be superfluous.

In our first book in 1983 I wrote the following observation regarding Ford and Lotus. At the time the Lotus Cortina was at the height of its fame I was attending a well known business school. They taught me, through an absorbing game, how to recognise win-win, win-lose and lose-lose situations. It would seem that representatives from Dagenham and Cheshunt had been there before me as the emergence of the Lotus Type 28/Ford 125E (the 1963 Lotus Cortina) had all the characteristics of a classic win-win policy.

It established Ford of Britain on the track and, later, the international rally circuits, and started a succession of winning competition models such as the twin-cam Escorts, the RS 1600s, 1800s and 2000s, the sporting Capris and the GT40 which took top honors at Le Mans on four occasions.

Colin Chapman, during this period, took Lotus from modest facilities at Cheshunt to a new factory near Norwich and entered the seventies with an enviable track record and two successful production models, the Elan and the Europa.

This portfolio traces the progress of the Lotus Cortina Mk 1 & Mk 2 models during their production life between 1963 and 1970. Reported on are the works competition cars and the I.W.R. & Westune versions. Included are road and track tests, new model reports, performance & technical data plus articles on rallying & racing. Advice is offered on acquiring a good used Lotus Cortina.

This new print on demand edition has been revised and edited to include recent historical comment and advice on acquiring a good used Lotus Cortina. Also included are road and track tests, new model reports, performance & technical data plus articles on rallying and racing.