LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPS
Original classic Fords: Touched by the hand of Colin Chapman, the Lotus Cortina and Escort Twin Cam are race-bred icons, and these two examples live on through the skills of Tiger Racing.
Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. The inextricable link between motorsport success and booming sales on the forecourt has long been the driving force for car manufacturers to compete with their machines on track. And it was an attempt to cultivate that winning association for the Ford brand that led to the Blue Oval’s iconic pairing with Lotus, the firm lead by radical British Formula One engineer, Colin Chapman.
Unlike the ubiquitous ‘chicken and the egg’ conundrum, when it came to the Lotus
Cortina and its iconic 1558cc twin-cam engine, the powerplant definitely came first.
Chapman had been keen to build his own engines for Lotus for some time, so in 1961 he commissioned engine designer Harry Mundy to develop a twin-cam version of the Kent engine. Initial work was based on the 997cc and 1340cc bottom ends, but moved onto the larger 1498cc 116E mill when it was released in 1962. Keith Duckworth from Cosworth was then drafted in to tune the engine, which first appeared in 1962 at the Nürburgring in a Lotus 23 driven by
Jim Clark. This race-bred motor was then used in Lotus’ Elan production cars but was almost immediately replaced by a larger 1558cc unit to get it closer to the 1.6-litre capacity class for motorsport.
With the Ford/Lotus link made, and with Jim Clark adding a dash of motorsport chic, Ford’s then PR manager, Walter Hayes, soon saw the potential sales benefit in a successful British Saloon Car Championship campaign, so asked Chapman to shoehorn the potent powerplant into 1000 Cortina shells to meet the regulations for Group 2 homologation.
“I’D BEEN DOING RESTORATION JOBS FOR OTHERS OVER THE YEARS AND DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO DO ONE FOR MYSELF”
But the changes went far beyond a simple engine swap, with the car receiving a thorough reworking by Lotus to include a close-ratio gearbox, a unique interior, extensive suspension alterations to convert the leaf springs to coil springs and dampers, while lightweight alloy panels were fitted and painted white with a green stripe.
The combination of a light, stiff chassis, powerful engine, sophisticated suspension and a talented wheelman worked out exactly as Hayes had hoped, with Jim Clark winning the championship in 1964 and cementing the Lotus Cortina’s reputation as a true race car for the road.
And it was this winning formula that Ford hoped to rekindle in 1968 with the arrival of the Escort Twin Cam. The Escort shell was both smaller and lighter than the Cortina’s so the idea of equipping it with the potent and proven Lotus-developed engine looked promising, although far from straightforward. After some initial head-scratching by Ford’s Boreham-based competition department as to whether the larger 1.6-litre motor and three-rail gearbox would physically fit, a plan was devised to modify the Escort shells and complete the transplant, giving the project the green light for production at Ford’s Halewood plant on Merseyside.
In total, just 883 Twin Cams were produced, but their small number did nothing to diminish the car’s motorsport success, with Twin Cams going on to dominate both the British Saloon Car Championship and International Championship for Manufacturers over the next three years, notching overall wins in
both. In fact, the Twin Cam went on to become Ford’s most successful competition car prior to the arrival of the Sierra RS Cosworth in the 1980s.
The Escort
Two men that are no strangers to the motorsport legacy associated with these Lotus tweaked machines are the father and son owners of family-run kit car and restoration experts, Tiger Racing. Jim, and Paul Dudley, along with Jim’s daughter, Laura have been classic Ford and Lotus fans all their lives and live and breathe cars like the two examples you see here, having restored both back to the flawless factory fresh finish they are today.
The 1968 Twin Cam is actually Jim’s own car and the 72-year-old craftsman has spent
the last four years meticulously restoring it back to its original condition.
“I’d been doing various restoration jobs for other people over the years and decided it was high time to do one for myself. My son, Paul has a Mk1 RS2000 and that inspired me to do a Twin Cam.”
Originally in a tatty condition when he received it, Jim set about stripping the car to a bare shell (replete of all outer bodywork panels) which was then sand blasted on a spit.
“Blasting outer panels can damage them,” Jim says. “So on all the jobs we do here at Tiger, we remove all the outer body panels before shot blasting and use only paint stripper to get the panels back to bare metal, as it’s a much safer process.”
While the shell was being prepared, the engine and gearbox were sent away to be fully reconditioned. The twin-cam had a complete overhaul with all new parts, while the brake servo and radiator were both reconditioned original items.
“We designed and fabricated the whole exhaust system, from the manifold back, in-house,” highlights Jim. “We also fitted a 2.2-ratio quick steering rack.”
The other job carried out in-house at Tiger’s Wisbech-based HQ was the painting of the shell. Jim’s son Paul is a dab hand with a spray gun and completed the flawless Ermine White respray in the firm’s own paint booth.
“The immaculate shell and engine were accompanied with fully restored running gear, all new bumpers, glass and rubbers, plus a new interior complete with bucket seats,”
says Jim. “In total I’ve spent around 220 hours getting the car to where it is today, but I’ve only been able to work on it between customer jobs, so it’s taken a while. The results are well worth it though — I love it!”
The Cortina
Also resplendent in its fresh Paul-applied Ermine White paintwork, but this time wearing the trademark Sherwood Green stripe on its flanks, is the Lotus Cortina.
Unlike the Escort, the Cortina is a customer car, but one that has had no less attention lavished upon it by team Tiger.
“The Cortina has actually had a lot more work done to it, as it was in pretty bad shape when the owner, Lee Gamble, brought it to us for restoration,” Jim explains. “It was very rusty and needed extensive welding with new panels to get it structurally sound before the rest of the resto could even begin.” As an early 1965 model, the Cortina is one of the
“THE CORTINA WAS IN BAD SHAPE WHEN LEE FIRST BROUGHT IT TO US”
latest cars to be built to the original Colin Chapman specification, coming with the A-frame rear end instead of the later cars’ leaf spring arrangement as per the Cortina GT, a feature that owner Lee was keen to retain.
“The whole suspension system was completely reconditioned and made like new. In fact, this car is as pretty underneath as it is on top!” Jim beams. “Being such a rarity, it was crucial that all repair and renovation work was done absolutely as it was at the factory, to retain that originality and authenticity, so you really have to know what you are doing when working on these cars, as it would be very easy to get things wrong.”
The Lotus engine was in bits and a non-runner when it arrived at Tiger, so the guys stripped down what was left and reassembled it with all new parts including fresh internals, bearings, water pump, timing chain and head gasket, while the gearbox was sent off to be reconditioned.
“Just like with the undercarriage, there were various interior trim options throughout the years, so making sure it was period correct for the year of build was key,” states Jim. “With this in mind, a new interior was supplied and retrimmed by Aldridge Trimming in the correct period specification.”
It’s that attention to detail that runs through both of these cars like the writing through Blackpool rock. As longtime enthusiasts of the marque, with the skills and knowledge to offer this kind of restoration procedure across a broad range of cult classics, Tiger Racing has proven itself as top contender in the restoration game, with these two lightweight warriors the reigning champs.
“MAKING SURE THE CORTINA WAS PERIOD CORRECT FOR ITS YEAR OF BUILD WAS KEY”