1965 Lotus Cortina Mk1 Alan Mann Racing

1965 Lotus Cortina Mk1 Alan Mann Racing For Sale

Year

1965

Make

Ford-Lotus

Model

Mk1 Lotus Cortina

VIN

BA74EU59035

Mileage

TBD

Location

Europe

Price

€150,000.00
Accepting Offers

Description

This 1965 Lotus Cortina Mk1 Alan Mann Racing Chassis number BA74EU59035, registration number KPU 388C, originally raced under registration number KPU 391C. It left Ford’s Boreham plant in June 1965 as one of a batch of 11 pre-production cars for homologation with the new leaf-sprung rear suspension. It ran in the European Touring Car Championship. In 1967 it was sold to Frans Lubin of Frami Racing in Holland, then to Theo Schoonderbeek for the 1968 season. It is not known when BA74EU59035 returned to the UK, but it was found in 1978 in an Essex lockup garage in the possession of a Mr. Williams. It was then purchased by a Mr. Townsend from Essex and then to a Mr. Spencer in Norwich where it was discovered by the preceding owner.

This 1965 Lotus Cortina is presented by the current owner, restored and in first class condition with FIA Historical Technical Passport (HTP). Driven by Sir Jackie Stewart, Jacky Ickx, Frank Gardener, Peter Procter, Lucien Bianchi, Sir John Whitmore, Bose Ljungfeldt, Hubert Hahne, Paul Hawkins, Frans Lubin, and Richard Atwood, some of the most famous drivers of that era.

The Ford Cortina was launched in September 1962 and positioned as an affordable and economical family car. Ford recognized the impact of motorsport success on car marketing and aimed to capitalize on this. Despite its conventional appearance, the Ford Cortina, was a product of advanced design technology. Ford of Britain’s Chief Body Engineer Australian Don Ward who envisioned lightweight unibody construction as the future of motor cars set up a state-of-the-art structures lab at Ford of Britain. On his return to Ford from the aerospace industry designer Dennis Roberts was tasked with improving the design of the new Ford Cortina. He applied what he learnt in aircraft stress engineering to enhance the Cortina’s unibody design. The result was a strong, lightweight structure that contributed to its success in racing and rallying.

Lotus Cars, known for incorporating Ford components in their sports cars, had established a strong rapport with Ford in the UK. Colin Chapman previously engaged engineer Harry Mundy to develop a high-performance twin-cam version of the Ford Kent engine for use in the Lotus Elan. The existing camshaft remained in its original position but was solely used to drive the distributor and fuel pump. Two additional camshafts were integrated into a completely new cylinder head. Throughout the engine’s evolution, Ford incrementally increased the displacement of the Kent engine, culminating in a 1,557cc engine, deliberately kept just below the 1.6-liter threshold for Group 2 classification.

At this time, Walter Hayes of Ford proposed to Chapman to produce 1,000 Lotus variants of the Cortina, equipped with the newly Mundy developed 1,557cc Lotus twin-cam version of the Kent engine, to secure Group 2 homologation. Chapman agreed to undertake the project, despite having to expand production capacity at Lotus to meet this requirement.

Chapman’s development of the modest Ford Cortina into a competitive race and rally car, required the suspension to have a complete overhaul. Inspired by high-performance cars, Chapman introduced a more sophisticated system of coil-over shock absorbers, trailing arms, and an A-bracket connected to the differential, providing improved axle control. These changes required reinforcement behind the rear seat and wheel wells, leading to the relocation of the spare wheel and battery to the trunk for better weight distribution. The revisions to the front suspension were more modest, featuring forged track control arms and shorter struts. Braking was upgraded with servo-assisted 9.5″ Girling discs at the front and drums on the rear. Lightweight alloy body panels were added with the door skins, hood, and trunk. The interior was upgraded with a sportier dash, tachometer, wood-rimmed alloy steering wheel, and leather-trimmed seats rather than vinyl.

After the first 1,000 homologation units were built, the Lotus Cortina was launched in September 1963. Making an immediate impact at its debut racing event, the Oulton Park Gold Cup with two Lotus Cortina’s finishing 3rd and 4th, behind two 7-liter Ford Galaxies but ahead of Jaguar’s 3.8 saloons.

However, Chapman’s aggressive rear suspension design pushed the Cortina’s lightweight unibody to its limits. Stress on the shock mounts and alloy differential housings led to failures. Even with a switch to a two-piece driveshaft and conventional diff housing, issues persisted.
By mid-1965, prompted by feedback from racers and dealers, Ford simplified the design. The complex Lotus rear suspension was dropped in favor of the Cortina GT setup of leaf springs and radius rods, offering similar handling with improved durability. That same year, a more road-friendly gearbox from the Ford Corsair V4 was introduced.

In 1965, Alan Mann Racing received a batch of Lotus Cortina Mk1’s known as the “KPU” cars, named after their UK registration prefixes (license plates). Among them were chassis BA74EU59029 (KPU 392C), BA74EU59032 (KPU 390C), and BA74EU59035 (KPU 391C). These featured the improved leaf spring rear suspension and achieved considerable success in motorsport. Alan Mann Racing repainted their cars in Ferrari Rosso Red and gold to make them stand out. Previously, the cars were the standard Lotus white with a green stripe. The new colors made the Alan Mann cars easily recognizable on the track.

Sir John Whitmore won the European Touring Car Championship in KPU 392C, while Jacky Ickx and Jack Sears secured victories in Belgium and Britain, respectively. By 1966, regulations had been changed to permit dry sump engines and fuel injection with the result that the Lotus twin-cam engine was producing up to 180 bhp. The cars also had revised front wishbones and coil springs over shock-absorbers instead of MacPherson Struts. In these cars Jim Clarke scored eight class wins and Sir John Whitmore four.

In 1966, with its mechanical issues resolved and the growing reputation in motorsport with Lotus’s achievement at Indianapolis, the Mk1 Lotus Cortina was finally exported to the U.S.

Back in the 1960’s there was no real thought given to the historic value of the cars that were being raced. 1966 was to be the last year for these “KPU” cars and they were sold off including KPU 391C, to private racers. However, due to a registration mix-up, the original KPU 391C (chassis BA74EU59035) was exported under the license plate KPU 388C.

Years later, a seller in Norfolk, England offered a Lotus Cortina, that had been restored and was painted in the factory standard white with green side stripe, to a prospective buyer. The prospective buyer was given the car chassis number BA74EU59035 and he researched the Lotus Cortina’s authenticity. Eventually, he reached out to Alan Mann Racing and was able to speak with Henry Mann, son of Alan Mann, who confirmed its identity based on a unique AMR modification beneath the rear seat and historical race documentation, verifying that it was the original KPU 391C driven by Sir Jackie Stewart, Jacky Ickx, Frank Gardener, Peter Procter, Lucien Bianchi, Sir John Whitmore, Bose Ljungfeldt, Hubert Hahne, Paul Hawkins, Frans Lubin, and Richard Atwood, some of the most famous drivers of that era.

All the “KPU” cars were originally registered at DVLA Chelmsford, Essex (UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Essex field office), the prospective buyer was able to obtain a photocopy of these records for these cars. This showed that although Alan Mann Racing and Ford Racing had believed that chassis number BA74EU59035 was KPU 391C, its DVLA registration had actually been KPU 388C. Despite having incorrect registration papers (KPU 388C), the chassis number and original features including front suspension arms stamped “Lotus SE” (Special Equipment) along with “KPU 391C” in the same font and size stamping, indicating their originality and the cars heritage. The DVLA later verified the chassis’ identity through inspection and historical registration records from the DVLA Chelmsford, Essex field office, concluding that the registration misassignment likely occurred decades prior.

With original documentation and expert validation from Alan Mann Racing and the DVLA, Chassis number BA74EU59035 with the registration (license plate) KPU 388C was in fact raced by Alan Mann Racing with the registration (license plate) KPU 391C due to an historic clerical error. This car was recognized as the historic KPU 391C. The car stands as a rare survivor of Alan Mann Racing’s legacy.