The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Racing legend Jim Clark’ s historic cars put up for sale
Apair of remarkable cars indelibly linked to Scots Formula 1 champion Jim Clark have gone on the market.
The racing Lotus Cortina and two-seater Lotus Elan are legendary machines in the life of the Fife-born legend.
And they are being offered for sale by Angus historic car dealer Gregor Fisken.
Forfar-born Gregor has sold some of the world’s most beautiful cars from his showroom in London’s exclusive Kensington.
He is part of the Fisken family, which celebrated 50 years in the Angus motor trade last year.
And the Clark cars hold a special place in the motorsport great’s life story.
Clark took the F1 world title in 1963 and again in 1965 – the same year he won the Indianapolis 500.
But away from the track he was an unassuming Borders sheep farmer.
Clark competed in one of motor racing’s deadliest eras.
He was tragically killed at Germany’s Hockenheim circuit in April 1968 at the age of only 32.
But even by then Clark had amassed a record of 25 wins and 33 pole positions from only 72 Grands Prix starts.
Their remarkable provenance means each vehicle is likely to command a significant six-figure price tag.
The current record price of around £200,000 for a Lotus Cortina is around 200 times the original price for the souped-up humble family saloon.
So potential new owners of the Clark Cortina or Elan will require pockets as deep as their affection for the racing driver many consider to be the sport’s greatest-ever.
The bright red, silverroofed beauty is the earliest surviving Lotus Elan.
Lotus founder Colin Chapman gave the preproduction model to Clark.
He put around 15,000 miles on its twin-cam engine – probably spirited driving on Borders roads made for the nimble two-seater.
And it famously featured in a Lotus advertising campaign with a kilted Clark at the family farm and the slogan ‘I drive my Elan for pleasure – not because I have to’.
It was comprehensively restored in the 1990s after being rediscovered in poor condition.
“997 NUR is a superbly drivable living link to one of Formula One’s greatest and best-loved champions,” says Gregor.
The Lotus Cortina, registration BJH 417B, is the machine in which Clark won the 1964 British Saloon Car Championship.
Across the season, Clark took it to three outright victories and eight class wins at famous circuits including Goodwood, Silverstone and Brands Hatch.
It was also driven that season by three-time F1 champion and fellow Scot Jackie Stewart.
Gregor says it is unquestionably the most famous works Cortina – a racer derived from Ford’s family saloon but utterly dominant in the hands of such a prodigious motorsport talent.
“In this car Clark perfected the Cortina’s trademark manoeuvre of cornering on three wheels – levitating the inside front over the markers to shave a few precious inches off each apex,” he said.
“The results were simply dominating.”
And it is being offered for sale from the stable of perhaps Clark’s most accomplished fan.
“Quite simply, BJH 417B will always be Jim Clark’s Lotus Cortina,” said Gregor.
I was honoured to sit behind the wheel of the Elan one crisp, clear day in November 2018.
To simply sit in the same seat as racing legend Clark, turn the key on the Lotus twin cam engine and select first gear for a journey from Forfar to Fife was the stuff of motoring dreams.
Through the generosity of owner Gregor Fisken we took the little Lotus to the hamlet of Kilmany where Clark was born.
The racing legend is remembered there in a stunning David Annand statue, striding out in his race suit.
Clark was six years old when the family moved to farm near the Borders community of Duns.
He became the town’s first Freeman in what he said was one of his greatest honours.
It is not hard to imagine Jim Clark guiding the Elan across Berwickshire’s rolling roads of the 1960s.
Especially after enjoying the privilege of looking out across the same bonnet as my motorsport hero.
A superbly drivable living link to one of F1’s greatest and best-loved champions