Sir John Whitmore’s European Touring Car Championship-winning Ford Lotus Cortina to go under the hammer with an estimate of up to £220,000
Sir John Whitmore’s 1965 Ford Lotus Cortina is estimated to sell for up to £220,000
In 1964 a Ford Lotus Cortina could have been yours for £1100.
Engineered by Colin Chapman, with a 105bhp twin-cam engine and light alloy body panels, it was heralded by Motor Sport as the most exciting British car since the Jaguar E-Type.
It was “Chapman’s idea of a British [Alfa] Giulietta, which Ford sells at a price poor men can afford!” wrote Bill Boddy in 1964. “As for the race-tuned version… ”
A race-tuned version is now worth between £190,000 and £220,000, which is the estimate for Sir John Whitmore’s 1965 European Touring Car Championship-winning Cortina, which also won that year’s Nürburgring 6 hour race.
It’s due to be sold by Silverstone Auctions at this year’s Silverstone Classic Sale on the last weekend of July, with 11,464 miles – mainly accrued through racing – on the clock.
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Driven by Whitmore, the Cortina won eight of the nine rounds in the European Touring Car series, and also set a lap record at the Nürburgring where driving duties were shared with Jack Sears.
Sir John Whitmore leads the 1965 European Touring Car Championship round at Snetterton Photo: Motorsport Images
The road-going Lotus Cortina went on sale in 1964 to homologate the racing car, and was described by Motor Sport as having a 1 1/2-litre engine in a Consul Cortina 2-door saloon body-shell using light-alloy doors, bonnet top and boot-lid and a close-ratio gearbox.
Chapman-engineered suspension, servo-assisted front disc brakes and larger tyres also helped to improve performance and handling.
Whitmore’s Cortina was prepared by Alan Mann Racing, which was well-known for its red and gold livery.
The car was retired from competition at the end of 1965, and bought in 1967 by Whitmore until 1995.
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