WORKS CORTINA GT STORY
How the Mk1 Cortina was turned into an unlikely rally car by Ford’s engineers, and evolved into a multiple-winning marvel that defied all expectations.
Not that this helped the team in Monte Carlo for various mechanical and en-route problems intervened, and the highest placings of the five entries were 22nd and 24th. There was, at least, one minor consolation, for Ford then entered the surviving cars in the ‘Prescott Monte’ TV spectacular which followed — a frolic up the famous hillclimb test in Gloucestershire — where team leader Henry Taylor (in 888 DOO) won outright, with Geoff Mabbs third and David Seigle-Morris eighth.
Safari success
During the winter, Boreham’s overworked mechanics also built up six white, brand-new, Group 1 Cortina GTs for the East African Safari, and several practice cars too. Bill Barnett remembered not only planning the operation, but also actually being in a practice car: “This all took me six or seven weeks of preparation, all of them in Africa. I surveyed the entire Safari route with John Sprinzel, which was an ideal way of settling all the service points.”
Miraculously, the team delivered a brilliant performance on the event, which meant a lot to Ford in marketing terms. Not only did Peter Hughes/Bill Young’s car win outright, but Mike Armstrong/Chris Bates took third place, and it was Hughes and Armstrong’s — both Kenyan residents — knowledge of local conditions, not only the worth of the GTs themselves, that helped them on their way to such an emphatic victory.
This did great things for Boreham’s morale, especially as the very tight regulations meant that the white GTs were running in virtually standard condition. Four of the six cars that had started made it to the finish, which was remarkable in an event where only 21 of the entire 94 entry made it so far.
After its return to Europe, the team found time to sit down and see how far it had progressed. In less than a year the Cortina GT had been turned into a world-class winner, but everyone wanted more.
The good news was that the Cortina GT was now competitive, but even so, everyone still wanted a lot more horsepower — it was frustrating to have to use highly-tuned,
“WINNING THE SAFARI RALLY DID GREAT THINGS FOR BOREHAM’S MORALE FOUR OF THE SIX CARS ENTERED FINISHED”
pushrod, overhead-valve engines, for the twin-cams fitted to Lotus Cortinas could push out 140-150 bhp with few reliability problems.
Their performance on the fast and furious French Alpine Rally of 1964 though, established the legend forever, for the cars were now fiercely competitive. After the first night David Seigle-Morris’ car was ahead of Vic Elford’s sister car, and led the Touring Car category. Then, only 25 miles from the finish of the event, David’s car blew a cylinder head gasket, handing victory to team rival Vic Elford. The team had won a major tarmac event too — and morale was extremely high.
They say, though, that pride comes before a fall, which it duly did on the last of the great Spa-Sofia-Liege Marathons. Every team car retired, battered into submission by the awful rocky tracks of the Yugoslavian countryside. However, back in Britain, in the RAC Rally, three red works Cortina GTs — for Taylor, Elford and Seigle-Morris — came very close to victory. Boreham’s fastest contracted driver, Vic Elford was not always consistent though, and a phenomenal run was marred by several off-track excursions. He went on to take third place, but was none-too-pleased with the result.
At the end of 1964, PR director Walter Hayes was so delighted that he decided to throw a party to say ‘thank you’ to all his drivers. Typical of Walter, he decided to hold it in an exotic location — actually in the Italian ski resort of Cortina!
“All the National champions were invited along,” Henry Taylor said, “but Walter couldn’t decide what to do with the journalists on one particular day. So, as I had been in England’s bobsleigh team, he asked me to see if a Cortina would go down the bob run! There wasn’t much snow, so I said I would have a look. Jim Clark was sitting next to me when we drove down the run. It was very narrow, but maybe just wide enough. We actually pranged three cars trying this out!”
Final performance
For 1965, Boreham knew that the leaf-sprung Lotus Cortina would soon be on sale, and they would use it as soon as it was homologated, so the evolution of GTs dried up. Even so, five refurbished cars — all of them carrying the old DOO numbers — started the Monte Carlo Rally in Group 1 trim. However, the GTs couldn’t get enough grip in the blizzard-like conditions, so Bengt Soderstrom and Henry Taylor could only finish eighth and ninth.
Meanwhile a young man from Leicester, Roger Clark, had prepared his own Cortina GT (2 ANR) in the family Ford dealership. In 1964 that new car had won the Scottish Rally, then in 1965, in a matter of weeks, it finished third on the Circuit of Ireland (Elford’s works car was second), won the Scottish again, and then went on to win the Gulf London International a few weeks later. Was it any wonder that Roger was swiftly swept into Boreham’s works team, where he would stay for the next 15 years?
The team’s last full outing with the original MkI GT came in the 1965 Safari, where showroom-spec cars had to be used. Perhaps a repeat of the 1964 success could not be expected, yet Kenyan crews achieved third overall in a locally-registered car, with another team car down in ninth place.
The end, though, was near. When Ford turned up with a smart team of brand-new Lotus Cortinas on the French Alpine Rally in June, the Cortina GT’s rally career was virtually over. Not a bad rally contender for a car originally conceived as a rep’s delight. And the Lotus Cortinas would perform even better.
“HAYES ASKED ME TO SEE IF A CORTINA COULD GO DOWN THE BOBSLEIGH RUN”