Lotus Experts Help needed.

Pete. · 06-10-07, 07:13 PM

Hi I found this Lotus Cortina for sale and would value any opinion on it's authenticity. Below is the description I got from the seller and some photos.

Peter

Thanx for your enquiry .

This car was imported from Zimbabwe in 1989 , and has had one Perth enthusiast Ford owner since .

The car has been inspected by the local Lotus guru , and he has confirmed it's authenticity , the factory reinforcing bars in the boot , continue on behind the rear pillar , a sure sign that it's genuine , also the white painted plate under the bonnet attests to the fact that this is a RHD built 65 Lotus .

This car has had the rear A-frame replaced as with most Lotus cars , as the bad design fault incorprated in them caused the diff housing to flex , and either break or produce interminable oil leaks .

The factory mountings for the A frame are still in place , also the hump in the boot for the diff clearance is present .

The car is in excellent condition , as it has not been a race car here in Perth .

We would welcome any inspection .

Regards

Pete. · 06-10-07, 07:19 PM

Some more pics.

Pete. · 06-10-07, 07:20 PM

Rear view.

Fran Hall RCR · 06-10-07, 07:23 PM

One of my favourites......

Pete. · 06-10-07, 07:24 PM

I forgot the bump.

Ross Nicol · 06-10-07, 08:29 PM

Pete
Gee I'm good to you and after all those things you've said about me too.
I'm in the Lotus club here in Victoria and the Queensland Lotus club share our magazine.The Queensland expert panel contact for Lotus Cortina is Gary Saunderson (07) 3281 7005 or email saunderson@bigpond.com
That should get you talking to the right people.
Ross

Pete. · 06-10-07, 09:30 PM

Thanks Ross, I appreciate it I can't guarantee I'll stop winding up Kiwi's though.

Has anyone else got any thoughts?

woodz428 · 06-10-07, 09:51 PM

I've only seen one in the flesh...many,many years ago and it was LHD of course. It appears to be genuine, but they are only pics. I would think that Lotus could authenticate the # if there is any question regarding real or not. Since I have worked on probably 20 various Lotii over the years, the fact I have only seen one of these makes be believe they were pretty limited.

Russ Noble · 06-10-07, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete

Thanks Ross, I appreciate it I can't guarantee I'll stop winding up Kiwi's though.

Has anyone else got any thoughts?

Yeah Pete, I think you should make a real effort to stop!

Cheers

Ross Nicol · 06-10-07, 11:27 PM

You see Pete, that's 2 of us onto 1 of you, now where's JacMac. Anyway with a GT40 and Ferrari in the garage you'll be disappointed with the 120hp that Cortina has, and did you know you have to pull the head off to fix the water pump? which shits itself regularly.You'll note my Europa has a nice 170hp Toyota motor in it, makes the 680kg car go like a rocket, just can't stop it with the original brakes.Anyway if you go further with this Lotus Cortina, when you go to look at it take a magnet with you, if it sticks to the door skins, bonnet or boot lid it's a fake as they are aluminium on a real Lotus Cortina MK1. You could go by build plate but as you know from GT40, you can buy a plate and rivets are easy to drill out.Hell Lindsay Fox (the Australian trucking legend) bought a plate for a Gull Wing Merc. The plate was from an American write off, and he built a new car around the plate. He is known to have more Gull Wing Mercs than the factory but his restoration practices have been questioned. However I'm not sure us Kiwis are going to care if you get stung. How much money are you sending per month to Nigeria? Seems QLD is highly represented with involvement in that scam, hard to believe anyone could get sucked in by that one.
Ross

Paul Butvila · 06-11-07, 12:12 AM

I've been around all kinds of Lotus cars for quite some time. This one looks like a nice one.

Jac Mac · 06-11-07, 01:55 AM

Along with the alloy panels, the -Bell Housing- Gearbox extension housing-& Diff Head casting should also be alloy. You should definitely buy it Pete, after you set the tappets a couple of times- have fitted a Head gasket or two- welded up the head to get rid of the corrosion-paid the speeding fines because you wont be able to resist the sound of those side suckers- and then realise those green stripes are just cop bait you might at last ' see the light ' and start picking on the Poms who built this lovely motorcar so that you could pay many times its original price for 42 years later!

Hope that helps with the purchase decision!!

Jac Mac

Pete. · 06-11-07, 05:43 AM

Thanks guys, you have made me laugh,and Ross and JacMac the magnet/alloy tips are good. Thanks. The problem is the thing is in Perth, a long way to fly to discover a clone.

Di reckons I have to many toys anyway. ............... Sheilas have no idea.

Ian Anderson · 06-11-07, 02:52 PM

Pete

You say from Zimbabwe?
The only one I knew out there was owned by Gary Ainscough (Ex Frmula Atlantic fame) But his was stripped down track car with a full race BDA inside it.

But there was a rumour that Rob Rushforth also had one but he raced other cars. Before moving into rallying.

There were enough good metal workers out there that could have done any number of mods to the chassis and body and make it look good and pass for something that it was not.

Now the one good thing about Zimbabwe is that it is 300 mile from the closest sea o rust hould not be a problem

If you have the wx Zimbabwe owners name I could ask through the old network

Cheers
Ian

Pete. · 06-11-07, 06:50 PM

Ian, you are psychic, I emailed the seller this morning asking the name of the owner in Zimbabwe and the Perth collector.
I he cant come up with one or the other I won't be buying.

Pete. · 06-12-07, 01:59 AM

Ian the owner in Zimbabwe was Bill Thomas who has passed away. I have decided not to go ahead with the car but it would be interesting to know if your old network has any knowledge of him.

Thanks everyone for your help on this, once again the knowledge on this Forum has proved itself invaluable.