Freshly Restored 1966 Lotus Cortina Heads To June Auction With CCA

This freshly restored 1966 Lotus Cortina Mk1 Aeroflow is heading to the 18th of June auction with CCA. A full 12 months were spent to bring the car back to superb condition where nothing was left untouched.

The Lotus Cortina was launched in 1963, the press first saw the car in Monte Carlo on the 23rd of January that year and then again at the Olympia Racing Car Show. Jim Clark regularly demonstrated the Lotus Contina’s capabilities and when he won the 1964 British Saloon Car Championship it certainly helped get the car noticed.

This 1966 model has seen little use in the last five years and has got a history to suggest that it has been well maintained. Though having said that a new shell was used at the specialist restorer, while the original wings were retained. the car was painted in the correct Ermine White with Sherwood Green flashes.

As part of the restoration the Twin Cam engine was fully rebuilt to a fast road spec with a John Smurthwaite “Fast-Road” head and QED 420 cams.

The car has the early Lotus gearbox mated to it, with the tall 2.5 first gear which was only fitted to the early A-frame cars.

As it is also an Aeroflow, it is fitted with the outlets on the rear quarters to cope with the new Ford ventilation system as part of an update in 1964.

These are highly collectable, and this example has many original features like the centre console and Ford radio. The guide price of £40,000 to £50,000 may well be exceeded by quite a lot.

The auction will be held at the Warwickshire Event Centre on the 18th of June: CCA Auctions

Thanks to CCA for the images,

Simon

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