Is it a fake or real Lotus Cortina?

Post by **peteleo** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 12:30 pm

There is a Lotus Cortina posted on ebay #3100772664026. The bid is at $16.1K . I asked the dealer a few typical questions i.e hump in the trunk,
chrome stripping on the rain gutter, one piece front bumper,etc.
Reply was : hump is spotted welded on and come see yourself. the I.D seems to be correct. My suspicion: fake. What do the rest of you think?
Regards,
Pete

zephyrgary · Post by **zephyrgary** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 1:19 pm

the front bumper is no big deal as that is how they were sold here.contemporary ads show them with single bumper fitted.i was concerned that the trunk did not show the tubular struts that were fitted to the lotus version.lets face it,as cheap as they have been until relatively recently,and as easy as they are to fake,it is difficult to know for sure.only a car with uninterrupted history documentation,or low documented owners,could be trusted.hard to say.another one recently sold on ebay for over $30k,if i remember correctly.

angliagt · Post by **angliagt** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:23 pm

You want to see the inside of the rear fenders -
Cortina GT's had 3 studs on the GT badge,& the
Lotus only had 2.
You're correct - the US Lotus Cortinas came
with one piece bumpers.

- Doug

Post by **IFHP** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 7:17 pm

Is it a 1966? That was the only year that tey were sold here.

Michael

Post by **peteleo** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:04 pm

Funny thing is Michael the I.D plate is from a L/C. BA74FT59375.
FT: 1966 April. BA: Ermine White. Trim: A875 ( Lotus )

Further inspection reveals no brake power booster but a GT B/M/C.
A towel thrown over the hump in the trunk.
Chromed vent window frame, channel and gutter( though that maybe the norm for later L/C.
Anyway just a fun curiosity.
Regards to all,
Pete

zephyrgary · Post by **zephyrgary** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 4:14 pm

well it got bid to $25,000,reserve not met.disregarding the issue of its authenticity,for the moment,i still feel that was quite enough for what is a quite scruffy car.should have let it go,in my opinion.
cheers

angliagt · Post by **angliagt** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:27 pm

Seller probably saw where a really nice one went
for crazy money,& thought his was worth a lot.

- Doug

Post by **peteleo** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 6:09 pm

Sierra Classics relisted the LC. Either the highest bidders walked away from it at $25K or they think they can get more.
Pete

zephyrgary · Post by **zephyrgary** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:01 pm

pete,it didn't make reserve last time

Post by **peteleo** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:54 pm

Yes, I did notice the reserve. Sometimes a seller will purposely set a high reserve to encourge higher bidding. After the auction is over he may accept the highest bid. The highest bidder may have looked at it and walked away, only my speculation. After a few days later, it was relisted again. With a lot of pieces missing i.e., Heater, LC steering wheel, 5.5 steel rims, brake servo, etc. He should have been content with 25K. It would be interesting to see if the bid will go that high again.
Pete

66gt · Post by **66gt** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:32 pm

Hope this doesn't sound like a thread hijack..here goes!

So, if LC are going for silly money these day's, what are Mk1 GT's going for?
Just curious...
No, I'm not wanting to sell my wonderful GT.

Steve

angliagt · Post by **angliagt** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:57 pm

Steve,

MKI's seem to have been going for good money for
years now.I think $5000 for a nice GT would be a great buy.
If you've noticed,MKII's have been going for silly money lately.
I'm tempted to sell my '67 MKII GT,if someone's willing to give
me a good price for it.
At least they're being sold,& not scrapped.

- Doug

Post by **peteleo** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:54 pm

It would be reasonable to say a restored Cortina MK1 GT can go for around $10K. The money one would spent on restoring a high mileage one to new condition can exceed the value of the car. A good quality paint job without body repair is $3.5K min. in the SF Bay Area. The cost on restoring a GT and LC is the same, except the TC engine cost 3x more to rebuilt.
LC were special low production models. They are sought after because of their racing history. Just recently LC that were driven by famous drivers like Jimmy Clark, Whitmore, et al. were fetching well over $100K.
I've seen immitation LC. selling as much as genuine LC. They prefer starting with a standard Cortina MK1 as it doesn't have the extra bright trim with unwanted holes, spot weld a hump in the trunk and install all the necessary parts or from a wrecked donor car. I know of one MK1GT that was converted to a LC. It is easy to obtain original looking I.D plates from a source in England. Must stop now... ran out of room.

Post by **IFHP** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:09 pm

I would just hate it if a bunch of nice GTs were converted into faux Locorts.

Michael

zephyrgary · Post by **zephyrgary** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:07 pm

all of the above are reasons why an uninterrupted history and provenance are so important.especially with a car that can be so easily,and cheaply,faked