The Lotus Cortina's serendipitous arrival resulted directly from Ford's decision to step up their motorsport involvement in the early 1960s.

Their Head of UK Public Relations, Walter Hayes, spoke to Colin Chapman, asking him to come up with a competitive saloon using their mainstream Cortina as a base, that could be produced in sufficient numbers to satisfy the mandatory 'Group 2' homologation requirements, and with which the Blue Oval could beat all-comers.

The solution was to take Ford's bullet-proof 1500 Kent engine, fit it with a twin-cam cylinder head, pop it into a stiffened Cortina shell, sort out the suspension and brakes and paint a green stripe down the side.

The cars would be built by Lotus at its plant in Cheshunt and marketed through their dealer network as the Ford Cortina Lotus.

Once fully developed, Lotus Cortinas (as they quickly became known) absolutely shone on track, driven by household names including Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, Jackie Ickx, Roger C...