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Ford wanted to change a few things for the Mk2, the Mk1 had done all and
more than they could expect in competition, but the public linked its competition
wins with Lotus and its bad points with Ford. Ford still wanted to build a mk2
Lotus and compete with it, but Lotus were moving from Cheshunt to Hethel so it
was a bad time for them to build another model. Ford were also concerned with
the unreliability of the Lotus built cars. So a decision was made at Ford that to
continue with its competition drive and make the car more cost effective they
would make the car at Dagenham themselves, alongside the other Cortina's. So
the Mk2 had to be much easier to build than the Mk1 so it could be done
alongside Mk2 GT production, just with a different engine and suspension.
The Mk2 took a while to appear, 1st appearing in 1967. The main difference
being the choice of colours and the lack of a stripe, although most had them fitted
at Ford dealers at extra cost.
The only cosmetic changes made was a black front grille, 5.5J x 13 steel wheels
and lotus badges on rear wings and by the rear number plate. The badge on the
front grille was an option at first. Unlike the Mk1 the Mk2 was made in left hand
drive from the start of production.
The Mk2 Lotus Cortina's also gained an improved and more powerful (109 bhp)
engine, which used to be supplied as the special equipment engine optional on
Elan and the Mk1. The gearbox ratios remained 2000E ones but the car now
used the Mk2 GT remote-control gearchange. The car also had a different final
drive of 3.77:1 rather than 3.9:1. The Mk2 was a wider car than the Mk1 so
although they look the same the steel wheels had a different offset so as not to
upset the tracking, radial tyres (thank you!) were now standard. Another
attraction was the larger fuel tank used in the Mk2. The spare wheel could now
be mounted in its wheel well, but the battery remained in the boot to aid weight
distribution.
As shown above the only real difference to the engine bay was the air cleaner
mounted on top of the engine. The interior was almost identical to a GT. The Mk2
did exactly what Ford wanted, it was far more reliable whilst still quick enough to
be used in competition, until it handed over to the twin cam escorts. The car did
have a few updates but none as urgent as the mk1's.
Only a few months after production started the lotus badge on the rear panel was
cancelled and a new TWIN-CAM badge was fitted under the Cortina script on the
boot lid. The new combined clock and center console was fitted.
In late 1968 the entire Mk2 range had some cosmetic changes, for the Lotus this
meant that the 4 dials on top of the dash were brought down and made part of the
dash. An internal bonnet release and a more conventional mounting for the
handbrake were also phased in. A new single-rail gearshift mechanism was used.
The car stayed in production untill 1970.
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