Proof Test: The Cortina at Sebring - 1964

[@LeoWuerde]

JIM CLARK - By far the greatest driver ever - no doubt. He is and was the Best of the Best. No other driver in history until today was so superior as Clark. This man is the Olymp of driving - the Michelangelo of racing - a dynamic art at the highest level. So smooth, so precise, so fast....simply out of this world. One, who won in Spa by 5 minutes (!) in monsoon rain with only one hand at the wheel (!) because of gearbox trouble...One, who takes back a complete lap (!) in Monza and back into the lead... One, who took pole on the original 22,8 km Nürburgring track by 9 (!) seconds and more....One who won Indy by 2 whole (!) laps...For eternity and by lightyears unmatched in the sport. That`s just four examples of his mesmeric unique genius...

[@stuartbritton4811]

Jackie Stewart said there were very, very few truly great formula one drivers. He was talking about Fangio and Clark. Even the likes of Senna, Schumacher, Prost, Piquet or Hamilton would not keep up with him in a level field , I believe.

[@sanjursan]

The interchange between Clark and Gurney at 7:56 is priceless. You could see how friendly they had become, and contrary to his reputation as a quiet reserved shy fellow, just what a warm human being he could be when in trusted company. This is one of my favorite clips of my childhood hero, Jimmy Clark. I mean, could you imagine tweaking Dan Gurney's nose!

[@davidfoster1762]

Couldn’t agree more. When you Dan Gurney in later years remembering Jim Clark he’s in tears. As I nearly am now.

[@Kidraver555]

@@davidfoster1762 Yes the world really lost someone very special.

[@saltydog4759]

As an American I can see why Brits lionize this man. Jim and that Cortina are a beautiful to watch.

[@lesflynn4455]

What a brilliant old video. Ford did so well documenting events like this, and watching the peerless Jim Clark dance that Lotus Cortina around the track is a true pleasure.

[@ianquay3386]

Agreed! And the quality of the restoration is first rate (either that or the original footage was that good to begin with 😊)

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

jim is so amazing to watch. so smooth while pushing it that much more, cruising on an edge-beyond, steady and smooth. the cortina's lean is entertaining too.

[@davidh.8798]

Crazy event, crazy film. Loved it. Clark is enduringly special.

[@petergardner4094]

Simply sublime, what a great film and an absolute joy to watch.

[@alinskyrocks784]

I race frequently at Sebring and it’s very cool to see what the track looked like back when I was 5 years old!

[@BackMarkerStudios]

Jim Clark - The greatest driver of all time.

[@timvins]

It’s awesome to see Sebring today and still recognise it from the past, love the circuit and the atmosphere there.

[@tangerinedream7211]

Loved the Corvair in the line up ,brave man indeed.

[@ldnwholesale8552]

There was VWs,, far less safe than a Corvair.

[@RETROCAM73]

Love this great film 😊❤️👍🏻

[@kennywright8537]

I highly recommend a visit to the Jim Clark museum in Duns.

[@helpmehelp3009]

Been there when I was fishing in Scotland, and got rained off.

[@GrrMeister]

*Amazing - well done Jim Lad !* ❤

[@ralphjones1930]

I was at the 12 hr- I have to laugh, I could say I got to see Jim Clark drive but it was only in the Cortina... Hehe.

[@HoosierRooster]

I was talking with Derek Bell one time and I mentioned that when I was a young kid I was an absolute Jimmy Clark fanatic and he told me that he was his Idol when he was coming up also.....I think that says it all

[@cozmcwillie7897]

13:40ish 'Pit crew makes a quick and thorough check': then unscrews the radiator cap with his bare hand....WHAT ! Must've been a piece of film from before the start when the engine was stone cold, edited in halfway through.

[@cozmcwillie7897]

@Marc Gene Yeah. lol. Their hand would be scalded before the cap was off; which might save them from opening it all the way and getting showered with boiling water.

[@davefloyd9443]

Clark absolutely minted that Le Mans start! Piddled all over Gurney getting to, into and away in his Cortina, then outdragged the field to lead by the bridge.

[@stuartsmith5308]

For those of you that think Senna was the best driver of all time, Senna himself said no, Clark is the best driver of all time.

[@Johnnycdrums]

Wow that 427 Galaxie handles that first turn wicked flat.

[@tomohawk5567]

Anti roll bar wouldn't have gone a miss, what a great video thanks for sharing 👍🇬🇧

[@patbutete1722]

But Cortinas do have anti roll bars as part of their suspension set up?

[@pashakdescilly7517]

The front anti-roll bar is why the inside front wheel lifts during hard cornering

[@robair67]

It's more about roll centre differences between front and rear suspension design. Live axle rear is the biggest factor in this classic racing car cornering stance! Anti roll bars are more used for tuning under/oversteer characteristics to suit a driver's preference, and actually reduce an axle's ability to generate lateral load through the tyres, thus enabling such load-transfer tuning. That's not to say the Cortina did or did not have them fitted. Definitely looks like a front arb is present, at least!

[@ldnwholesale8552]

The Cortinas had A frame rear end which made them hike inside front wheels.

[@philiptownsend4026]

Fascinating too see the vintage racing scene, a Lotus works team pumping tyres with air by hand... And I saw a Mini there too.

[@MrGaryjames1]

74.58mph for 12 hours impresive stuff when you concider the tyres of the time

[@richardwilton722]

Amongst other nationalities, the Sebring 12 hrs was entered by English drivers -- and Jim Clark too.

[@lotusman1974]

Jimmy was the best even Fangio said Clark was the best which carries a lot of clout being a 5 times F1 champ himself. This was also the first race for the new Pete Brock designed Cobra coupe and instead of letting Ken Mile drive it, (as he was the driver Shelby used to develop the Cobras to race, who got everything sorted ) they put in the reserves and they forgot to turn on the switch for the rear end fluid pump so when the car came into the pits way ahead, the rear end was so hot it caught fire and ended the Dayton debut sad to say.

[@patlatorres7000]

I noticed that as Gurney took off not only did he not close the door, but he didn't bother with those pesky seat belts either. Thank goodness the Le Mans starts went away!

[@andynixon2820]

Cool film

[@Musique61414]

The original GTI. Maybe the Mini. Britcars were so awesome.

[@johnnyjrotten59]

My dad used to race these too, but Junked it when the big V8s became more popular.

[@geoffreypiltz271]

What a great performance for a souped up sedan against all those sports cars. Jim Clarke gets all the praise but Ray "Digger" Parsons deserves more credit than he gets. He was a talented mechanic, development driver, racer, and team manager in Britain, the USA and Australia.

[@johnwelch6490]

I worked at the Sebring Track and Airport in the 80's. Old WW2 bomber Airport with all the drug confiscated aircraft lined up.

[@ldnwholesale8552]

Pity about the Jaguar noises for the Cortinas driving through!

[@mctavish199]

The commentary is so embarrassingly dated it's classic. But thank you Ford for recording this. Like Castrol in the UK, you preserved episodes like for posterity.

[@robair67]

Although I get what you mean, I find today's commentators are several notches up in the embarrassment league table! Their style won't age well over 10 years, let alone 60!!

[@raygunn1083]

Those Cortina engines modified by Lotus look like early 90's Toyota engines. They were way ahead of their time.

[@pashakdescilly7517]

The engine you are thinking of is the Toyota 4age, which was actually a close copy of the Ford Cosworth BDA engine. This had a twin cam head with four valves per cylinder, and is based on a Ford cylinder block. The engine in the Lotus Cortina is a Lotus twin cam. It has a twin cam cylinder head, with two valves per cylinder. It is also based on the Ford cylinder block (specially cast for Lotus with extra metal), but in reality few parts are actually common to a production Ford. Also, the Lotus Cortina is not 'a Ford modified by Lotus' - it was built in Lotus's factory in Cheshunt as a Lotus Twin Cam. It was not built by Ford as a Cortina and then modified later.

[@saxongreen78]

Rather a glib reference to a violent death there '...their necks.'

[@robair67]

I thought exactly the same at the start of the film. Later, it transpired that Paddy Hopkirk (of mini cooper fame) was the driver, and he was, amazingly, unharmed! Miracle!!

[@saxongreen78]

@@robair67 Wow! (Looks appalling...glad he was ok.)

[@frankhoward7645]

13:45. Removing the radiator cap from a hot car? I don't think so.

[@andyelliott8027]

My thoughts exactly, I think they got some of those shots before the race started.

[@Johnnycdrums]

Nice jazz background music.

[@tomsmith5216]

I remember that back in the 50s and early 60s. sports cars and jazz always seemed to go hand in hand. Nearly every film like this had jazz as background music. In '63 I had a '57 Triumph TR3, and the day I bought it, the radio was tuned in to KJAZ, the local jazz station...

[@allanhughes7859]

Sorry in my previouse rambling forgot to say Jim was one of the best and a natural If you have to go on a course to learn then you ar not natural Jim started on Tractors I think So a lot to be said for tractor drivers ???????????

[@mjbbell]

Border reivers racing team

[@mrivantchernegovski3869]

I had a Mk 1 cortina here in the 80s in New zealand ,modified it to Mk2 escort suspension and brakes and steering rack and a modded world cup xmember and i put the lotus green stripe on my 4 door and pulled off the bumpers and we jammed a Mk 3 Cortina 2.0 ltr OHC and 4 speed with a mild cam and 45mm weber side draught,4 into 1 and a side exit zoorst with a locked 3.5 escort diff ,Had Mk2 Escort 1600 Giha alloys with 195 yoko semis ,should of kept it lol was a 180 kph plus car

[@denishoulan1491]

Say what you will of the skill of modern Grand Prix drivers like Lewis Hamilton and others. Jim Clark would piss all over them. He could drive any car and drive it fast. Very fast !

[@stevenstrube5334]

TO BE ABLE TO DRIVE ANY VEHICLE AND WIN IN IT IS A ULTIMATE TEST OF ANY DRIVERS SKILLS, TIME HAVE CHANGED, BUT CAN ANY DRIVER NOWDAYS WIN IN ANY TYPE OF VEHICLE???? LUVTHISSHIT!!!

[@busman2050]

Stop YELLING!

[@menocat8353]

The Cortinas did pretty bloody good at Bathurst too!

[@craigyirush3492]

Was the Cortina that ran in the 12 Hour one of the two that did the saloon car race?

[@adamweston4152]

There's no way the lotus cortinas were doing 140mph😂.

[@KathrynLiz1]

Te Mk1 Corina was a great little car.... I once owned a 1500 Super, and also once drove a Lotus version. Mine was stolen and written off, sadly.....

[@donnypopovski7251]

I think Allan Moffat was there intending to buy the Cortinas to go for the ATCC?

[@davidrivero7943]

No tents. Kenilworth Lodge, great times.

[@ronaldvankuyk908]

Hay jimmy mis yo u tje flyingscot the one of the best respect ronadamn flying dutcbman nicy guy ron adamn0

[@TufteMotorsport]

140 mph in a Cortina? Was that possible?

[@FordHeritage]

That's a very good question. We have researched the race and found that the winner averaged 92mph in a 3.3 litre Ferrari and John Surtees took the lap record in a 4 litre Ferrari at just over 100mph. We think that the Ford marketing team maybe used a little creative licence with their 140mph claim for the Lotus Cortina!

[@ericsbuell]

Good discussion....ive heard claims of 145 !..wouldn't take much hp to do that...but maybe a long long l= straight.

[@stewartw.9151]

No stock Lotus Cortina would hit that speed. I owned one in 1965 and it maxed out at slightly under 120 mph at sea level and on a level road.

[@123bock]

Maybe stuck between two Cobras, and out of gear...

[@jockellis]

FordHeritage They said the Cortinas were hitting 140 on the back straight. That is probably true. An SCCA National EP champ told me his 1600 cc Porsche Speedster could hit 137 on the Road Atlanta back straight.

[@bluegtturbo]

I'm afraid the narrator got his dates mixed up - February 20th was a Thursday in 1964.

[@BRITTGYPSY]

Yeah, it was March 20th.

[@sz6498]

9:27 is that Stirling Moss interviewing Clark??

[@blxtothis]

Jim Clark had proven himself to be a top GRAND PRIX driver, True but not in a saloon car at a 12 hour endurance race mate!

[@NoosaHeads]

I didn't think a Lotus Cortina could even do 140mph, let alone average that speed.

[@ldnwholesale8552]

They could not. Fast little car for the period. The Galaxie though was 140 plus

[@rogerbarnard9409]

Jim Clark being interviewed by Stirling Moss at 9.28.

[@stevenstrube5334]

RECENLTY LEARNED OF MR.JIM CLARK AND ALL THOSE AMAZING DRIVERS,OWNERS, MECHANIC, DESIGNERS, PIT CREWS, WOW HAVE TIMES CHANGED, LUVALLRACING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@LathropLdST]

Never too late, in my opinion. Puts the current drivers into full perspective.

[@busman2050]

Turn off your cap lock bro, all caps means you are screaming

[@allanhughes7859]

There are drivers There are those that think they can drive "most of us" and then there are drivers real drivers they feel they smell they re act to minus mechanical issues they understand they get what movement is all about !!Sounds dramatic but just look at history and it shows Today they have nothing of this sort its all done for them Alonso in todays terms is probably the only thinking driver AND IT SHOWS The rest are just Madonas of a funny sort of age when machine runs man not man runs machine Dont get me wrong there is probably an art to this also but I do tend to like the word natural A word that is becoming less popular over time I think Anyway anything with a petrol engine sounds good to me !!

[@jamesboniface8779]

If you are saying that drivers of that era are better than today's, I respectfully disagree. Driving on the edge, corner after corner, lap after lap is a rare talent that very few have, regardless of the tech behind the machine. Crossing the limit has, over the years, become less costly due to safer cars and safety protocols, so more individuals are willing to attempt it. Take any top driver in any type of racing and put them in a completely different car and they will adapt and be one of the fastest in the field. It's a god given talent and that is why we watch, sometimes in awe.

[@jockellis]

Who is Digger Parsons?

[@LathropLdST]

You mean Ray Parsons, the test driver for the Lotus Cortinas and in charge of that program development.

[@Spartanm333]

7 litres v 1.6 ltr Lotus :) if only they knew the future, We now have a nippy 1.0 ltr TSi turbo injection from VAG with 115HP and reliable all day long. I'm sure Ford have something similar, been a while since I had my Mk2 Escort...

[@TechnikMeister2]

The Americans were not used to seeing a tach with a 10,000rpm redline.

[@HAL9007]

Dan and his Spearmint chewing gum.

[@jgagnier]

Man, Dan Gurney was a hunk.

[@TS-1267]

,,, BROTHER OF THE DESERT ,,, 🙉🙈🙊

[@rickstevens1384]

Funny, the first thing that jumps out at me.....how skinny the tires are! MiniVans nowdays have fatter tires than the high performance race cars back then.

[@damiandelapp5490]

All on 22 gallons of petrol.. lol kidding!

[@mikewa2]

The Cortina wasn’t a great drivers car, I know I had a few! The only way these cars were so successful was the drivers skill and nerve. Quite a thing to see

[@bertiewooster3326]

most all dead now except the little girl who's in the local care home !

[@allanhughes7859]

One more comment and I will shut up but no roll cage probably no safety at all just pure gritt "NOT SO CLEVER"

[@nlpnt]

They still didn't require rollbars in sedans. Team Lotus is lucky Ford didn't have a Cortina hardtop coupe they wanted to sell - notice the Falcon and Galaxie DO have them, and I'm sure the teams argued with, and lost to, the sales guys in the Glass House on whether they could use the 2dr post sedan instead of those hardtops.

[@harryt988]

Junk cars

[@ChimeraActual]

What a waste of Clark's talent.

[@jordanrenaud-pq7rx]

NOT a Cortina. LOTUS engined Cortina body with racing suspension

[@jk3838]

Homologated officially as ‘Ford CORTINA Lotus’ and 1000 sold to the public titled as such

[@sonofplato]

@@jk3838 Indeed and all parts were transferable to a standard car as I did in the late 70's to my two door 1500 Deluxe. That certainly makes it a Cortina in my book. The engine block in the early cars was also pure Ford being a 1488cc 116E cast iron block. Seems some folks need to know there cars before posting.

[@andrewmoss8760]

Of course it's a Cortina. A Cortina modified by Lotus but still a Cortina.

[@jordanrenaud-pq7rx]

@@terrystevens5261 I owned both the MK 1(1966) and MK 2 (1969) variants. My comment was merely based on the fact that these cars are SO far from original factory spec that it seems strange to still call them by the original name. The MK 1 body was so much stiffer. Not sure whether the MK 2 chassis would hold up to the massively increased torque of the Lotus engine. The Yenko Corvair comes to mind also....massively improved car for the track, however a far cry from what the Chevy dealers had on offer. Anyway, just saying....