Classic Cars January 2017

Welcome A childhood infatuation defined Phil’s motoring aspirations in 1977 – and our cover feature brought it all flooding back Back in 1977 this particular schoolboy was left awestruck by road test reports of the new Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Its brutally handsome grand coupé lines grabbed my attention like no Aston, or indeed no car, before. And colourful descriptions of its urgent and relentless surge all the way a top speed limited more by the bravery of the driver than engineering or aerodynamics distilled all of my motoring aspirations in an instant. I had to wait 30 years for the chance to drive one and despite having driven many great cars in the intervening years, it still impressed. On a mixture of the fast, sweeping A-roads it was designed…

Back in 1977 this particular schoolboy was left awestruck by road test reports of the new Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Its brutally handsome grand coupé lines grabbed my attention like no Aston, or indeed no car, before. And colourful descriptions of its urgent and relentless surge all the way a top speed limited more by the bravery of the driver than engineering or aerodynamics distilled all of my motoring aspirations in an instant. I had to wait 30 years for the chance to drive one and despite having driven many great cars in the intervening years, it still impressed. On a mixture of the fast, sweeping A-roads it was designed for, and the twiddly country lanes that should have outwitted it, this athletic heavyweight combined TVR Griffith brutality and Jaguar XJ6…

[ Lotus Cortina MkI ] [ The List ] Childhood memories of watching Lotus Cortinas three-wheeling at Goodwood have never left Mark Heath. Over 50 years on we finally put him behind the wheel for a taste of the real thing Words RUSS SMITH Photography JONATHAN JACOB Arriving a comfortable ten minutes early for our meeting at Manor Classic Cars in North Yorkshire, I find enthusiastic Classic Cars reader Mark Heath is not only already there but has finished his first cuppa and is talking cars with Manor’s Paul Campbell. His excitement should come as no surprise because Mark has waited almost a lifetime to drive the car we’ve got lined up for him – he can accurately date his love of Lotus Cortinas back to…

Arriving a comfortable ten minutes early for our meeting at Manor Classic Cars in North Yorkshire, I find enthusiastic Classic Cars reader Mark Heath is not only already there but has finished his first cuppa and is talking cars with Manor’s Paul Campbell. His excitement should come as no surprise because Mark has waited almost a lifetime to drive the car we’ve got lined up for him – he can accurately date his love of Lotus Cortinas back to the early Sixties, ‘I have indelible memories of watching drivers like Graham Hill and Jim Clark hurl these cars round Goodwood at the Bank Holiday race meetings. We lived not far away in Worthing at the time and my father used to take me along for a treat. It was so…

THE IMPORTANT MODELS LOTUS CORTINA MKI 1963-64 Having used Ford’s cylinder block as the basis for the Elan’s twin-cam engine, Lotus returned the favour by installing the 105bhp unit in two-door Cortina GT bodies. They were made even sportier by having aluminium doors, bonnet and bootlid. Suspension was lowered, and while the front just got a fatter anti-roll bar, the rear changed from leaf springs to coils with trailing arms and a wide-based ‘A’ bracket to aid lateral location. Wider 5.5x13in steel wheels, front quarter-bumpers and a white-with-green flash colour scheme finished the job. LOTUS CORTINA MKI 1964-66 Sometimes referred to as the Mk1½, revisions made to the Lotus Cortina in late 1964 including reverted to leaf springs (stiffer, so the car rolls less) because the A-frame on earlier cars…

LOTUS CORTINA MKI 1963-64 Having used Ford’s cylinder block as the basis for the Elan’s twin-cam engine, Lotus returned the favour by installing the 105bhp unit in two-door Cortina GT bodies. They were made even sportier by having aluminium doors, bonnet and bootlid. Suspension was lowered, and while the front just got a fatter anti-roll bar, the rear changed from leaf springs to coils with trailing arms and a wide-based ‘A’ bracket to aid lateral location. Wider 5.5x13in steel wheels, front quarter-bumpers and a white-with-green flash colour scheme finished the job. LOTUS CORTINA MKI 1964-66 Sometimes referred to as the Mk1½, revisions made to the Lotus Cortina in late 1964 including reverted to leaf springs (stiffer, so the car rolls less) because the A-frame on earlier cars had distorted and broken too many…