Incredible story of Jim and his Mk2 Lotus Cortina

If you're a fan of iconic sports cars from the 50s and 60s, then you'll love this video. In it, we take a look at a rare Cortina Lotus Mk2, which drives beautifully. This Ford Cortina Lotus police car is unique as only 2 two Lotus Cortina's were delivered to Mid Anglia Police Constabulary in 1970 and both still exist today, this one has been saved thanks to Jim Payton who has lovingly restored the car back to its original condition having purchased the car for just £100, in this episode he explains how he nearly scrapped the car until he realised there was something very special about the Cortina after discovering the position for a split prop and accelerator cable parts thar were only produced on the Lotus versions of the Ford Cortina and the inclusion of the four door model meant he'd actually stumbled across a rare piece of motoring history and a police car to boot. Find below links to the Cortina Club and the companies that helped Jim create this classic.
The Ford Cortina MkII & 1600E Owners Club Ltd.
Membership :- [e-mail]
Ian - BIW Auto Crash Repairs ( Fobbing )
Gary Stuart Macrae - Paintwork and prep advice.
Dave Harms (Astra Signs) Jam Sandwich + Lettering and Crests
Aldridge Trimming - Interior Trimming ( Headlining , Seats, Door Pads, Sun visors, Parcel Shelf, Front & Rear Screens fitted. )
Just Dashes ( California ) Crashpad and glovebox lid recovered.
Norwood Engineering - Gearbox and Diff refurbished.
Do you own a classic car?
We don't just feature electric classic cars we also create videos about classics with an engine too and how owners plan to keep these cars on the road in the future and the stories behind them, with our "lovemycar" specials, so if you have a story to tell about how , where and when you purchased your cherished classic and the highs and lows of owning these great cars please get in touch and maybe we can feature your car in a future episode.You can like our facebook page here.
Thinking about converting an old classic? You can find the link to Nick Mason and his company eco classics who contributes to our channel below
www.ecoclassic...
Facebook
/ downatthebarns
Or our webpage
www.downathebarns.uk
We can also be found on twitter
@at_barns
We have some excellent pictures of all our projects on our instagram page, please follow us on the link below
follow us on instagram
/ downatthebarns
DATBS Opening Theme Music: I will be home By Wildson

[@SkotiM]

This guy's great to listen to chatting about his car. Really calmly enthusiastic.

[@levelcrossing150]

A great car and story.

[@datbs]

Welcome to the channel level crossing thank you

[@janeeccleston9196]

Wow!!..What a fantastic story

[@billywhizz98]

What an incredible story the car is fantastic nicely done

[@datbs]

Thank you William

[@Dudleymiddleton]

The coolest jam sandwich on the planet!

[@hughrobinson9978]

Fantastic story - Really enjoyed this!

[@datbs]

Thank you

[@mickyhamer1300]

I also had a mk2 cortina lotus...fabulous car back in 1970... unbeatable...except by rust!

[@tonycraib5939]

What a beautiful car. I used to own a 67 1600E Cortina years ago now wish I still had it

[@datbs]

Yes it’s lovely unique car this one

[@Bladerunner4511]

What a fantastic story love videos like this gem of a find

[@datbs]

Thank you Paul

[@mikeuk4130]

Good work, Jim!

[@datbs]

Yes this is a pretty cool car and a great story what do others think

[@alanchurchill7305]

Brilliant video,and fantastic resto,what agent, lovely to see it back to original,superb.

[@swm320tl]

Very interesting hystory & great restoration. Congratulations from Milan.

[@datbs]

Thank you for your comment

[@northstar1950]

Good to see this and it proves the original Lotus Cortina did have 5.5 inch J section rims. It appears to me that a lot of the restored ones seem to have even wider rims. The dash is exactly like my Mk II 69 GT

[@craigbuckley3373]

Brilliant and a fantastic story. My dad had a lotus Mk 2 around 1973 which was white with a red coach line. I recall it also used to burn spark plugs out after some time although it was checked and passed off as a quirk and eventually was passed on with the car. legendary vehical Nice1...

[@datbs]

Thank you for your comments Craig

[@craigbuckley3373]

@Down at the barns A pleasure my friend and thank you again for an excellent, informative and thoroughly entertaining program. Excellent

[@terryjacob8169]

In the late 1960's West Sussex Constabulary ran quite a fleet of Mk1 and Mk2 Lotus Cortinas.

[@datbs]

Interesting

[@philtucker1224]

Incredible that the chap had the car for three years before he realised that it was a genuine Lotus! 😂🤣

[@datbs]

Yes pretty amazing Phil

[@davidwellington4186]

A few decades ago I owned a 1600E lotus four door. Series 1 in Blue Mink (but re sprayed red) black vinyl roof and black interior MOD299F. There was a company in the Torbay area that converted new 1600Es with the correct twin cam parts ‘donated’ from Twin cam Escorts. It had Lotus badges on the rear wings & 1600E boot badge. I sold it to a couple of classic car dealers from Ireland, would love to know if it is still about, it didn’t have any structural rust back then.

[@datbs]

Interesting story David thank you for sharing

[@paulgoode5245]

Beauty❤

[@datbs]

Yes it is Paul , great rarity

[@martiniv8924]

What a stunner, miss my mk2 1600GT (TOF264H) 👌🏻😎

[@datbs]

Yes Martin a very special car , what happened to yours ?

[@martiniv8924]

@@datbs I sold it to my nephew, then he sold it on , I think it’s still on the DVLA register

[@rosey699]

Nearly bought the other car from a classic car dealer in Rushden about 25 years ago was put off by the fact that it was a four door the seller said it was a police car and the Internet wasn't really an option

[@datbs]

Very interesting

[@andrewaylett2952]

there were some other oddball lotus cortina's , my Dad bought a 1963 MK1 cortina wagon off lotus with all lotus running get , alloy front guards and bonnet , from Lotus in 1967 , apparently Lotus built it as a development/test car , which was later used as a company car for one of their engineers.

[@datbs]

Hello Andrew sounds very interesting, wonder if the car still exists today

[@andrewaylett2952]

@@datbs we brought to New Zealand in late 1967 , Dad sold it in 1969 , the lotus running gear was apparently used in a MK1 escort race car , and the cortina was probably scrapped , I still have the original UK registration plates somewhere

[@datbs]

Oh that’s a shame would liked to have tracked that one down

[@andrewaylett2952]

@@datbs apparently they used 3 estate cars for development mules as they were pretty inconspicuous thet also used 105E anglia's to test the lotus ford twincam . one of the 105E's Still exists in a very rough and rusty condition in Wales .

[@datbs]

Interesting

[@monteceitomoocher]

Great car, my absolute favourite modern classic, my dad had a mk2 in 69, very fond memories, don't remember the top mounted air box though, the carburettors just had stubby intakes, remarkably the car is still very much alive although i can't trace the present owner, if you ever see KMJ521G about I'd love to know.

[@scottsoul64]

4 door Lotus?

[@datbs]

Yes indeed Scottssoul64

[@thomasshepard6030]

My oldest brother had the mark one lotus cortina that he bought when he was stationed out in Germany with the RAF he only paid £80 for it as the guy who owned it was being posted out the Middle East it needed painted really badly so he got the guys in the workshops to paint it the original white but the only white paint they had was the white paint that they painted the nuclear bomber the HANDLEY PAGE VICTOR SIMILAR TO THE VULCAN BOMBER SADLY HE WAS DRIVING INTO THE CAMP WHERE HE WORKED AND A GERMAN FARMER CAME RIGHT OUT OF A FIELD WITH A HUGE TRACTOR AND WROTE HIS CORTINA OFF I WOULD IMAGINE THAT WAS THE ONLY MARK ONE LOTUS CORTINA PAINTED WITH THAT PAINT 1970

[@datbs]

Thanks Thomas great story , such a shame what happened to it , thanks for sharing 😊

[@mick0846]

Amazing story. Sad that he had to break a genuine lotus though tbh

[@rogerwilco4736]

I owned a 2 door 1967 Lotus Cortina in the mid nineteen seventies, regrettably sold it

[@user-nw3zt3ig2c]

some kind person nicked mine in 1976 never to be seen again

[@datbs]

Sorry to hear that

[@georgejames1370]

I'm wondering if you can share the registration number (or part of it for security reasons)of the donor lotus!!! Reason being I am the very proud owner of a lotus mk2 series 2 1969..... I bought this as a complete restoration project, I have completely restored this 'donor' back to its original condition The lotus was sold with the original log book chassis number was found under a braised panel, this was confirmed by the lotus club as being a genuine lotus woohoo...... I finally found a genuine shell.... Wouldn't this be an amazing coincidence if this turned out to be the donor shell? I look forward to your reply!!

[@datbs]

Hello George, yes it would be can you email me please at [e-mail] and we’ll have a little investigation!

[@TC-qd1zw]

Sorry have to say. Marks 2 Ford tuned Twin Cams were rubbish compared to Lotus tuned mark 1s. To me this is a hybrid.

[@peter8084]

I owned a MK2 Lotus Cortina back in the late 80’s, MAM 500F and was a member of the register. Got nicked in London one evening never to be seen again !

[@datbs]

Sorry to hear that

[@peter8084]

@@datbs So was l !

[@wackadakka3134]

no ecu , no map sensors or egr valves .just a great simple engine

[@ramishrambarran3998]

Yes. And no engine check light ! Trinidad & Tobago. West Indies.