Would you pay $350,000 for a Ford Cortina?

Friday, 23 November 2018

We all accept that the original Ford Cortina is a true classic, but would you be willing to drop NZ$350,000 one?

If you immediately shouted 'YES!' when reading that, then good news! A 1966 example is heading to auction in the UK early next year that is expected to hit that rather substantial sum.

But, it should be noted that it is a rather special Cortina - it is, in fact, one of three 'Group 5' factory racing cars that were built by Lotus for the 1966 British Saloon Car Championship and was actually raced by the likes of Graham Hill, Jacky Ickx and the legendary Jim Clark.

Would you pay NZ$350,000 for a Ford Cortina? You probably would for this particular one.

Definitely starting to see the value in it now.

**READ MORE

Pretty much everything written on the side of this car falls into the 'utterly legendary' category.

* 53-year-old Ford Cortina in fabulous condition

* Lotus to launch two new sports cars in 2020

Many legendary racing backsides have sat in that surprisingly spindly seat.

* Five cars you probably didn't know Hyundai built**

The Cortina will be offered for sale by Silverstone Auctions in its debut appearance at the Autosport International at the NEC, Birmingham on the12th January 2019 and is expected to sell for between £180,000 (NZ$340,000) and £200,000 (NZ$378,000).

Officially known as E14 LS, the Cortina was built in March 1966, registered as PHK 614D and was assigned to Jim Clark for a race meeting at Oulton Park on the 2nd of April.

While that meeting was disrupted by poor weather and the car didn't get much running, the car's next outing was at Snetterton a week later was more successful, with Clark's teammate and fellow Formula 1 driver Peter Arundell taking it to a 2nd in class and 5th overall finish in the Archie Scott Brown Memorial Trophy.

Over the course of the next month two more 2nd-in-class results would be achieved at Goodwood and Silverstone with Arundell and Jacky Ickx driving. In May, the car was used as a spare car at Crystal Palace and in June the engine was converted to fuel injection by BRM. The first race with the new engine was the Grand Prix support race at Brands Hatch on 16th July where Sir John Whitmore won his class and finished 4th overall.

Arundell secured 3rd place in the 1966 British Saloon Car Championship in the car and, while the first race of 1967 was to be the last works event for the PHK 614D, it did finish its Team Lotus career on a high with Graham Hill delivering a 1st in class and 2nd overall result in the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch on 12th March.

After this the car was sold on and continued to race in the UK and eventually South Africa before it was returned home in 1997 and restored by Cedric Selzar, Jim Clark's former race mechanic.

Silverstone Auctions say the car is 'presented in race ready condition' and, importantly, retains its original shell and all the period race modifications to the suspension and the engine, as well as full details of its works competition history and a 'small number' of spares.

Given a Lotus Cortina is a very cool (and very rare) thing, this car, with its competition successes and association with two World Champions, is very much worth the expected selling price. Go on - you know you want it.