LOTUS CORTINA OGLE RESTORATION UPDATE

[ceed]

Just want to update everyone on the progress of the restoration. I will have pictures downloaded in due time.

Meantime, all the mechanical work has been completed. The Lotus engine has been fully rebuilt including the transmission and differential. All suspension and steering component have also been refurbished.

We have now dismantled everything on the car leaving just the bare shell. The rusted portions have been worked on and after carefully removing the paint, we discovered that the original color of the car from the factory is British Racing Green. On top of it was the lime green color that allegedly was the color painted on the Stirling Moss car.

My question is should I paint the car its original color or should I repaint again with the Lime green color? The car will be finished in time for the Manila Concour D'Elegance this April which is the most prestigious show in the Philippines.

Your thoughts and comments will be appreciated. Cheers.

 

[Andy M]

Hi Ceed,

Your choice your car!

I would presume Ogle took delivery of a "standard" finished car(If it has radius arms on the chassis then it might well have been a GT)
and obviously transformed it into what it is now. It would not have made any difference what colour it was from the factory as they were going to chop the body etc
The colour green was probably Goodwood Green as this was Fords interpretation of British Racing Green. If the chassis plate is present this will probably tell you.
If you want to PM me about it I will gladly decifer it for you.

My assumption is Ogle would then have painted it the special metalic Lime green(not a Ford colour) once it had finished reshaping the body.
Who knows it may well have been a car that they experimented on like Crayford. It was possibly a base model deluxe to start with as they were much cheaper and if it did'nt work out then they would not have lost as much as transforming a Gt/Lotus!

It would get more attention if it was metalic!
Anychance of some underneath pictures?

I had a Goodwood Green GT back in 1975 my first car!

Regards
Andy M

 

[ceed]

Hi Ceed,

Your choice your car!

I would presume Ogle took delivery of a "standard" finished car(If it has radius arms on the chassis then it might well have been a GT)
and obviously transformed it into what it is now. It would not have made any difference what colour it was from the factory as they were going to chop the body etc
The colour green was probably Goodwood Green as this was Fords interpretation of British Racing Green. If the chassis plate is present this will probably tell you.
If you want to PM me about it I will gladly decifer it for you.

My assumption is Ogle would then have painted it the special metalic Lime green(not a Ford colour) once it had finished reshaping the body.
Who knows it may well have been a car that they experimented on like Crayford. It was possibly a base model deluxe to start with as they were much cheaper and if it did'nt work out then they would not have lost as much as transforming a Gt/Lotus!

It would get more attention if it was metalic!
Anychance of some underneath pictures?

I had a Goodwood Green GT back in 1975 my first car!

Regards
Andy M

Thanks fror the comment Andy. I will have pictures of the car within the week.

Except for the exterior, the car's interior shell, wheel wells and underchassis still retained the original Goodwood Green. Also, there are lead fillings where the body was cut or worked on by Ogle.

Surprisingly, we were still able to find NOS parts like the suspension components, transmission parts, brake parts and tailight lenses in the Philippines. Cortinas were quite common here in the early sixties until the mid eighties. as well as the Ford Escorts. I remember my Dad buying me a 1973 Ford Escort Mexico as a high school graduation gift. It did'nt take long before I had the engine changed to a Lotus twin-cam. After 2 years, I traded the Lotus engine for a Ford Cosworth BDA engine in our Ford dealership. They also had the car set-up for saloon car racing which also was the start of my amateur racing career.

Cheers!

Eric

 

[Lashman]

Hi, Good to hear form you,
Personally i'd go with the lime green.

Looks quite nice.
Cheers
Louis

 

[ceed]

Hi, Good to hear form you,
Personally i'd go with the lime green.

Looks quite nice.
Cheers
Louis

Hi Louis,

Thanks for the comment. I am also more inclined to paint it lime green.

BTW, would you happen to have pictures of the car's interior and dashboard? Just want to make sure that all the switches and gauges are accounted for and also how the original upholstery of the seats and sidings look like. I suspect the car seats has been re-upholstered already.

Despite the cost involved in a full restoration, I believe the car deserves it considering that there were only 2 made in the world.

Cheers,

Eric

 

[cortina-mk1]

so what did the ID tag say ?

paint code wise ?

 

[ceed]

so what did the ID tag say ?

paint code wise ?

Sorry there is no Ford ID tag anymore on the car except for the one that I have posted before under the "Introduction" forum which probably was an Ogle ID tag..

 

[Steve 155C]

so what did the ID tag say ?

paint code wise ?

Sorry there is no Ford ID tag anymore on the car except for the one that I have posted before under the "Introduction" forum which probably was an Ogle ID tag..

Whats the diamond shape tag next to the hinge on the inner wing what you can see in this photo. Its the same shape and location as the original ford one would have been.

[/img]

 

[cortina-mk1]

yea good point steve

on the other thread i didnt find any reference to any tag either