All too often the gap between performance nuts and vehicle purists is big enough to drive a Kenworth through. Sure, the hell-bent performance nut can make a Jaguar XJ6 haul butt by dropping in a Chev small-block, but the English purists won't want to park within a mile of such a shameless creation.
Well here's a modern tech retro car that somehow manages to attract performance nuts and, shall we say, the more mature car enthusiasts - a classic Lotus Cortina replica with a supercharged heart outa Japan!
This beautifully turned out little ripper has recently rolled out the garage of none other than David Tye - the man already behind two of our previous feature cars, "Pole Sitter" and "Shoestring Racer". The Cortina, though, was built with the intention of getting David's wife and daughter - Clare and Carole - out onto the track. Forget a day in the park for family entertainment!
When you start with a vehicle from 1967, though, the transformation into a circuit racer takes a little bit of time; it's not just a matter of bolting on all the go-fast equipment.
This particular project kicked off about 4 years ago when David bought a shell and took it along to his 'tame' mechanic. And, no, we can't tell you who that mechanic is because David says he already has the poor guy flat-out keeping up with his requests - any more business might eat into 'David's' time. Not long after dropping off the shell, though, David was informed that it was really too far gone to resurrect. No problems - a few hundred dollars later a shell in better condition was snapped up.
That humble Cortina shell has since been
completely stripped back to bare metal and the original panels painstakingly massaged to as new. Once straightened and prep'd, a Lotus Cortina colour scheme was then applied over those bare panels.
"We went to great lengths to make sure the colours were exactly right," says David. "There is some debate on the exact shades that were used on the original Lotus Cortinas." Brand new chrome bumpers, grille and Lotus badges were then whacked on to round out the immaculate, 'original' look.
Inside, the fully-gutted interior was left largely that way - this car was, after all, going to see the odd track attack. A pair of Aerotech front seats, TRS harnesses, a Momo wheel and a complement of metric VDO gauges - speed, rpm, oil pressure, fuel level and coolant temp - are the purposeful fitments. A roll cage is also installed to ensure safety should the unthinkable happen. Don't bother looking for power window switches on the sheet aluminium door trims...
And now let's take a look at the area of the car that really grabs you by surprise.
Instead of farting about trying to source difficult-to-get parts and fighting physics attempting to get grunt out of an original 1600cc Lotus motor, David turned to his local Japanese-importer - Japco Wholesalers - for a powerplant solution.
"I'm very familiar with the Toyota 4A-GZE - that's what I run in my Kestrel and Levin - so, of course, that was one of the first engines I looked at," says David. "Without doing really anything to the 4AG-ZE, it would give similar performance to the Lotus engine, it has the same 1600cc capacity and it would also give good reliability and drivability," he adds. No arguments here.
After purchasing an ex-MR2 1.6-litre, DOHC, 16-valve, supercharged 4A-GZE and rear-wheel-drive 'box, David handballed the installation job to his trusted mechanic. After working a little magic, the engine was mounted longitudinally (it came in transverse form) and runs with a standard Toyota management system with an EFI fuel system comprising a Bosch high-pressure pump and in-boot surge tank. The battery also lives in the boot now as well.
With the standard boost pressures of up to 10 psi available from the ZE's positive displacement blower, charge-air temperatures are kept down by a front-mounted ex R32 Skyline GTSt air-to-air intercooler. Intake air enters the system through a custom, bell-mouthed airbox that lives inside the front right guard. Expelled combustion gasses are channelled through a high-flow exhaust system - specific details are unfortunately unavailable. The extractors were hand-fabricated by David's mechanic and apparently perform better than the off-the-shelf aftermarket pipes on his Kestrel.
Not keen on sacrificing any of the 4A-GZE's factory reliability or overpowering the chassis, David has kept the power output comparatively modest in today's context - around 115 horsepower at the back wheels.
With this output, the driveline can also live without too much stress. Using a standard 4A-GE flywheel and Sprinter clutch, the RWD Sprinter gearbox has so far shown no signs of being overworked. The same goes for the diff - a factory Cortina LSD, which is said to be good for a couple of hundred horsepower.
No, this is not a top-fueller but it will more than happily give a 'real' Lotus Cortina a run for its money! Circuit work has always been the plan for this car, hence the fitment of a serious brake and suspension upgrade...
Front brakes comprise slotted early Porsche rotors clamped by Volvo 4-pot calipers, while the rear uses the standard disc brake arrangement from a R31 Nissan Skyline. A Lotus brake booster (albeit not in the factory location) and an in-cabin adjustable brake balance valve round out the ability to stop in a hurry.
Good on-track poise is delivered by aftermarket front coil-overs with Eibach springs - both ride height and camber are adjustable. As seen here, the standard front swaybar remains in service.
The rear suspension, meanwhile, uses a single leaf - which David says help to keep unsprung mass to a minimum - teamed with what's simply referred to as "a very expensive" pair of rear dampers.
A road/race set of 205/55 Toyos Proxes RA1s inflated onto '60s style 14-inch Performance Superlites are more than capable of keeping contact with the black stuff.
So has all this build-up effort - and money - paid off? You bet!
With David's daughter - Clare - behind the wheel, this tidy retro tech racer can lap Adelaide's Mallala circuit in 1:26s. And in case that means nothing to you, we've seen standard-ish Impreza WRXs take considerably longer to go 'round...
It doesn't matter if you're a traditionalist or not - the sight of a '60s Cortina rounding up a Rex surely earns a lot of points!
Contact:
Japco Wholesalers
+61 8 8347 3599
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