1965 Ford Cortina MKI (Lotus Cortina)

A huge but worthwhile project - this original Lotus Cortina was offered for sale on Bringatrailer.com in May 2017. The car needs a serious amount of work in every respect, but authentic items don't come up that often, and there were only 2,894 built in total. These were fantastic race cars in their day, with their twin cam engines taking them head to head with anything from Mustangs to the Cooper S.

At the time of sale, the following was mentioned:

This is a non-running project that has been in the same family for 42 years. Purchased by the seller’s father in 1975, the car was put into storage the following year after the seller collided with a signpost at the age of 19. It was removed from garage storage in December 2016 and is said to be one of 199 LHD MK 1 units exported to North America. Powered by a 1600cc Lotus twin cam inline-four mated to a 4-speed manual transmission, this example is being sold with a clean Wisconsin title in the seller’s name.

Corrosion is evident on interior components, with additional photos in the gallery detailing the rear seats, headliner, and door panels. The odometer indicates 19,669 miles.

If you have a MK1 Cortina Lotus, please sign up and add yours to the register so we can record the history of those that are left.