Despite this less than auspicious start, the Lotus Cortina was a sporting triumph both on road and track.

Depending on who you listen to, somewhere between 2,894 (Ford’s number) and 3,306 (Lotus’ number) of the MKI cars were built between 1963 and 1966.

Of these just 660 were thought to have been left hand drive models with the key markets for these being the United Sates (160) and Canada (60).

The exact background of this fine example remains an enigma necessitating the time honoured practice of interrogating the chassis number.

Much of the Lotus Cortina’s chassis number sequence was generic with lots of “S” entries and the same “BA” Ermine White paint code and “A875” trim code referring to the usual black vinyl.

The “2” prefix, however, identifies this as one of those rare factory left hand drive examples and a late MKI car and hence a Type IV “aeroflow” model with leaf springs.

A rare car for certain.

Even a brief glance at our photographic package will further reveal that th...