Corgi Vanguards Ford Lotus Cortina Mk2 1/43 Scale

Ford Lotus Cortina Mk2 FVA, Group 5, Graham Hill. 1967 British Saloon Car Championship.

Item code: VA04118

The car modelled, CTC 14E, was originally a press-fleet vehicle however, once its photographic duties were done, it was returned to Lotus’ new facility in Hethel, Norfolk, and, with sister press-fleet car CTC 24E, built into a racing machine for the 1967 season to the Group 5 regulations the British Saloon Car Championship (BSCC) had adopted in 1966. These allowed a greater degree of modification than previously so both were fitted with 1598cc, 210bhp, DOHC 4-valve Cosworth FVA engines homologated as a modification of the Ford ‘Kent’ OHV engine! They were also extensively lightened and fitted with bespoke racing suspension and brakes. A similar FVA-engined Cortina, UVX 565E, was built in Ford’s Boreham workshop. The FVA Cortinas dominated the 1.3 to 2-litre Class of the 1967 BSCC and ’14E’ is presented here as it appeared at Brands Hatch when driven to class victory by F1 Champion Graham Hill. Hill also won the next two events at Snetterton and Silverstone, harrying the powerful V8 Ford Falcons and Mustangs for overall victory on each occasion, but other commitments prevented him putting together a championship challenge. However the Cortinas won eight of the year’s nine BSCC Class C races in the hands of Paul Hawkins, Brian Robinson and Jacky Ickx but the Class C Championship went to Vic Elford, who won only one round but scored points consistently behind the Cortinas in a significantly slower car, a Porsche 911…