Why are Cortinas so expensive?

[chicagojeff]

Has anyone else noticed that Cortinas seem to bring a lot of money? There's one on eBay now for 20K and the bidding isn't over, and this car is beat. Pretty original, but beat. Last time I checked, most Cortinas had the same engine as the Elan, a much worse body, and less racing provenance. So what am I missing?

Chicago Jeff with Elan in Garage and 14 Inches of Snow Outside

[adigra]

Jeff, actually the Lotus Cortina has a huge amount of racing provenance and was raced by some of the biggest names at the time, including Jim Clark. It was a hugely successful winning car which ruled the touring car championships in the mid 60's. Sure it was based on a humble car nowhere as special as an Elan, but it was turned into a race winner by Lotus which is now reflected in the prices.

Adi

[robertverhey]

Hmm how to answer.....Jim Clark....(or for us down under...Jim McKeown).

I own an '87 Excel SE and a Mk 2 Lotus Cortina. The former must surely be one of the most satisfying drives available....but given the choice I'll jump in the Corty every time.

As a recent ebay sales pitch for a Lotus Cortina said..."More exciting to drive at 40 mph than your modern car is at 100 mph"

[Jason1]

Hi

There was a low mileage Cortina in Practical Classic mag a few months back that had no racing provenance but made lots of money. I think it was over ?20k and nearer to ?30. They said something about it had set a new level in their price guide.

The Cortina like the MK1 Escort have a huge following and good ones make lots of money. I remember my dad having a MK1 Escort when I was a kid and it was so rotten he paid a guy to take it away and we 'upgraded' to a green Austin Maxi. I do not see people rushing out to pay ?20k+ for a Maxi.

I think it is that we remember these cars from our past with rose tinted spectacles.

Jason

[garyeanderson]

Jeff seems to be talking of the mk1 Lotus Cortina that is on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0395321588
It was bid to $10,850 usd and had 3 bids and did not meet reserve. The lister of the auction then put it back on ebay with a buy it now for $25k and he has dropped the BIN price several times. Its now at $19,950 and it will most likely drop a bit (maybe a lot) further before someone steps up to secure it. I don't know what the value is but from what I know the seller is offering one of 200 or (maybe less) LoCorts that were imported to the U.S. by Ford Motor Company. Lotus built around 3100 mk1 Lotus Cortina's from 1963 to 1966 and being steel unibody, not many survived due to rust issues and the cost to keep them running. Less than 700 LHD LoCorts were built, they were expensive in the U.S. and didn't sell all that well so we in the U.S. are left with around half of those that were originally sold here today. For every seat there is an a$$, and if you want one you need to pony up the cash, if not someone else will. My wild A$$ guess is that there are as many mk1 LoCorts still left as there are Lotus Elites, Lotus type 26 roadsters or any of the other sought after early Lotus cars of the period. There aren?t that many to go around and the mk1 is dragging the Mk2 Cortina Twin Cam up along with it. Others have hinted of the history and it has a good past and a bright future for those that own them today.

A lot of info over on Bob Woolners site
http://www.lotus-cortina.com/

with some photos of my project that I bought from Rich
http://www.lotus-cortina.com/photos/rl/rl.htm

The official Lotus Cortina owners club has a paid forum but some of it is viewable by the non-paying public
http://lotuscortina.7.forumer.com/index.php

Jewels has a great forum too that covers mostly mk1's but also talks about mk2 of all kinds. The forum has members from all over the globe and offers a lot of info for anyone that is interested in joining.
http://www.cortina-mk1classifieds.com/forum/index.php

Gary
------------------------
February 13th 2010
SOLD for $17,000 usd

[richgilb]

I'd rather have a Lotus Sunbeam for 1/6th the money.

[chicagojeff]

I really like Cortinas, and of course I know the Jim Clark history well. I wouldn't mind having one, but do we really think that a Cortina is more valuable than an Elan? I rate cars on 4 categories: rarity, design innovation, racing provenance, and driving experience. How can the Cortina compare overall? I am just trying to understand the current market. Thanks, Jeff

[Dag-Henning]

Jeff, you don't have to understand everything ! Just accept that the Lotus Type 28 was the father of all hot tintops that followed up until today, and that they are rare, very rewarding to race, and have lots and lots of soul....!
Quite a few people just love them, and if you don't, leave it. I saw one ice-racing i Norway in january 1965 at the age of 10, and descided there and then that I would have one.....Took me 25 years, but they still do something to my heart when I see one ! Can't really explain why and what it is, but I don't care.....! There are people out there that pay huge amounts for "Italien supercars".... - that beats me ! But again........


Dag

[robertverhey]

"rarity, design innovation, racing provenance, and driving experience"

I think it ticks all the boxes. In terms of innovation, it was leading edge in terms of use of minimal number of panels to achieve required rigidity. The others followed. This from "Ford at Dagenham" by David Burgess-Wise about the "Archbishop" as the Cortina was called at the design stage:

[Elanintheforest]

I don?t think that you can compare the Lotus Cortina to an Elan in absolute terms, because the Elan wins on just about every logical point and that doesn?t make sense from a value point of view. If you compare an Elan to a modern sporty hatchback, the modern will win on just about every point. But in both cases, you?re not comparing like with like, and your not taking into account the nostalgia / emotion or ?rose tinted specs? as Jason puts it. And it?s that factor that makes some Ferraris worth ?10 million.

In some ways you could compare the Lotus Cortina to the muscle cars of the late 60s. The Plymouth Road Runners, big Mustangs, Barracudas and Cameros are now fetching $100,000, $200,000 and much more for the rare ones. They were just based on mass-produced but tweaked products of Ford, GM and Chrysler. Very crude design with a huge engine, but highly prized by many.

The Australian Ford Falcon GTHO may be a closer comparison. A Ford homologation special as was the Lotus Cortina, but a bit later. Built for two reasons; to win the Bathurst 500 and raise the profile of Ford in Australia in order to sell more units than Holden. It was much faster in a straight line, but could be beaten by a Lotus Cortina on a twisty track. One of those sold last year for A$750,000. To many people it looked like any other Ford Falcon that would be driven by Grandpa, but it sounded like Armageddon. And in its day it won races in spectacular style.

There?s always been something very appealing about giant killers on the track, and that?s exactly what the Lotus Cortina was. It would often beat the Galaxy 500s, the Mk II Jags and the Mustangs. To top it off, it was driven by the motor racing heroes of the day, the Formula 1 champions and Indianapolis 500 winners, and was made by one of the top Formula 1 teams. And that team raced them in their own name?.Team Lotus.

The Lotus Cortina was also the beginning of an amazingly creative and successful engagement in motorsport by Ford. Its success, and the tie up with Lotus, gave Ford UK the credibility and track record to justify to the American parents the investment in the DFV engine with Cosworth (most successful F1 engine ever built), designing and building the GT40 with Lola, building one of the most successful rally cars ever in the Escort, and going on to build race winning touring cars in the Capri and Sierra Cosworth. Without the Lotus Cortina, would any of that have happened?

OK, that?s all nostalgia and association. But today, in 2010, they are still rated as the most competitive cars in their class in the various classic race series. This is down to the incredibly strong yet light monocoque, giving power to weight ratios and handling characteristics that can?t be touched by most of its contemporary cars, at any price or level of sophistication. It?s those same characteristics that make the Lotus Cortina such huge fun to drive as a road car.

Given the background and rarity of the car, I?d say that they were pretty cheap in the current market. A mint road car sold here in the UK a couple of months ago for ?36,000, which is pretty much what a professional restoration of the car would cost.

Add another ?25k or so and you?d have a competitive race car, and that does sound cheap. Try building a competitive Mustang, Mk II Jag or Alfa for the same money.





















Had to put the Mk 2 in as well! This is Graham Hill / Jacky Ickx

[richgilb]

Beauty and childhood wow factor are my main 2 criteria. And the Cortina scores 0 in both for me!

[Robbie693]

That's the Whitmore/Procter car isn't it?

I've a lovely Minichamps model of that, it's fantastic!

Robbie

[Elanintheforest]

Well spotted, Robbie. I'm going to have to go hunting for a Minichamps now!

Mark

[Elanintheforest]

They do look good...you'll have to get the Clark and Mann cars now!

Mark

[1964 S1]

Hi Jeff, I'm with Dag and that elanintheforest, what they wrote sounds good to me. Car market prices go with their own flow, the numbers will change in the future, and the Lotus Cortina will dip below Elan prices. (maybe)
Rust will decide the outcome, decades from now.
Eric