The next time anyone tells you that Cortinas were too light, too flimsy, and should have been made much more sturdy for top-level rallying, get them to look at their epic performances in the world’s toughest event — the East African Safari. In six years, Cortinas won the Safari once, took second place three times, and third place three times as well. Not only that, but they also won the highly-prized Manufacturers’ Team Award on three occasions. And against all the odds, Lotus Cortinas (whose engines might have been expected to blow up when using poor-quality petrol), finished second twice.
In an ideal tale the Cortinas would have won more than once — if the works team had enjoyed even average good fortune there would have been at least three victories, for sure — but it’s an incredible record nonetheless. It helped that the same team of managers and mechanics were involved throughout. Not only that, but Ford’s original Safari win had come with Vic Preston in a Zodiac in 1955 — and he would be a formidably
