|
|
Print-friendly version
Ford Lotus Cortina Waterproof Half Cover
| You are viewing results 1 to 1 of 1 |
| You are viewing results 1 to 1 of 1 |
 The Ford Lotus Cortina was designed in the early 1960's and represents the results of a unique fusion of ideas and technologies from two very different automotive companies. The story begins in 1961 when Lotus and Ford first collaborated on what would eventually become the new Cortina. Initially Lotus were simply aiming to produce a highly modified racing version of the popular Ford Kent engine for use in their forthcoming Elan car. Upon seeing the performance of the new engine Ford requested that it be placed in a Cortina for testing purposes. The marriage worked well and Lotus agreed to continue supplying engineering expertise, Lotus parts and also to undertake any modifications to the stock vehicle as long as Ford would provide the body shells and market and sell the vehicle. The plan was so simple that it worked a charm and the new heavily modified Cortina sold very well. In order to breed the Lotus Ford Cortina for racing the suspension was lowered and stiffened to provide greater feedback to the driver and many body panels were replaced with lighter, alloy alternatives. Interior components were moved around to aid weight distribution and of course the new engine was fitted. The interior of the vehicle was somewhat bare with only essential and legally required instruments being included in the design, however the Ford Lotus Cortina offered amazing performance for the price at which it was sold.
Eventually the original Mk1 version of the Ford Lotus Cortina began to show its age and since all vehicles were hand modified at Lotus's own factory it was hard to keep up with demand. The new Cortina also had to help shake the stigma that Ford found was attached to them; many blamed them for any problems and praised Lotus for any successes the vehicle had in racing. In order to accomplish this Ford decided to move production of the new Lotus Cortina Mk2 to their own Dagenham plant where the Cortina was already built. This would cut down on development costs, decrease production time and also ensure commonality and reliability across the brand. Externally the new Lotus Ford Cortina Mk2 was very similar to the older model; only the grille, wheels and exterior trim badges were changed in any major way. One advantage of moving production of the Ford Lotus Cortina to a major manufacturing plant was that it was available in left hand drive from launch ensuring that many more markets could be reached and sold to. The new engine that powered the Mk2 was more powerful than what was available on the Mk1, and the interior of the car was almost a carbon copy of the Cortina GT making it much more comfortable and user friendly.
We accept the following payment methods via our secure payment system:
 |
|
